So, much has been made about handpicking recently. What has possibly been lost a little bit off the back of the discussion surrounding IJC's announcement that they are only stocking bats they can handpick, is that there are other shops out there who also handpick their bats!
You can also buy handpicked from us (or Uzi, or Talent, or VKS, or the handful of others who regularly handpick their bats) - you also get a wider choice by shopping with us, brands like GM and New Balance who don't offer handpicking can be purchased from Vitas Cricket. Equally B&S who we are very pleased to be continuing our now 4 year partnership with.
This is our 'philosophy' and a few reasons on why we stock the brands we do. This is also an opportunity to pass judgement, ask questions, call me a **** etc rather than continually intrude on IJCs thread.
H4L & Salix We've already picked our bats out from H4L and Salix, and being the keen beans we are, were the first retailers to both. Both are constantly producing bats so I'm not saying we turned up and took all the best bats, leaving rubbish for everyone else. If we were to go back in a few weeks, i doubt we would see much of the same willow. It's always nice to be greeted with a huge selection and a (relatively) tidy workshop though!
We first stocked Salix last year after they approached us, there is a bit of a gap in their market in our area and Andrew is keen to expand his volume in the coming years. We took a small amount of gear and it sold well, as a result we have ordered much more this year and can't wait to play with and against a lot more Salix equipment locally. Handpicking from a huge selection of willow with all the advice/expertise of one of the best batmakers in the world to hand is a fantastic experience, and the product the customer gets at the end reflects this.
We are H4Ls most Northern (and last time i checked, best priced) retailer, and the gear has been extremely well received locally with many repeat customers. Matt is a very highly skilled batmaker and deserves all the success and accolades he is enjoying currently. Matt sources as many trees himself as possible, and many people really appreciate the extra time and care taken in crafting their bat from the cutting of the tree stage, compared to brands producing from processed clefts (still extremely admirable) or the stickering up brigade. H4L is a great brand and we look forward to growing together.
We've got handpicking dates booked in with GN, Kook and TON already, B&S stock will arrive here pre-christmas too.Gray Nics is our biggest seller by quite a distance. The gear is always fantastic, used by some of the biggest names on TV and for me personally, has always been my favourite brand. We love going to Robertsbridge to pick out our bats and they are always very welcoming. For some reason they have taken a bit of a shine to us over the years and this has lead to unofficial things like the custom mades manufactured at Robertsbridge that we offer - something you won't find on the GN price list. I've also been lucky enough to pick out some equipment for myself from the pro cupboard in the past. GN have a range that is far reaching, and suitable for all budgets. Some of the Powerbow Strikes at sub £100 we picked out were lovely. We have a number of clubs in high quality GN teamwear and are picking up more all the time.
Kookaburra has never been my cup of tea personally, but much like GN they are a big brand with a lot of exposure, offering a huge range of quality equipment. Heading just down the road to handpick from their warehouse is always an experience. Easily the most cricket bats in one room i've ever seen in person. There are shops who claim to go through every single one of the bats and test for performance, pickup etc, I'm afraid they are talking nonsense, it would take days to do this. We pick from a huge number of bats, but I'm not going to pretend every single one has passed through my hands and then been approved or discarded. Realistically we take what we feel are the best from a fairly large but not all covering cross section of their stock. They also have a few drops a year.
We play with/against many of the guys on the warehouse floor at Kook so have some useful contacts in order to source things quickly. I've had customers a few times wanting a bat ASAP that we didn't have in stock. I've arranged to handpick it same day and driven over to select it. Against advice (knocking in etc) some customers used their bats that evening, luckily no issues.
TON are one of the biggest manufacturers in the world. The percentage of willow that they swallow up from the merchants is insane. The result is a consistently quality range of bats to suit all budgets. We stock them as they are distributed by a UK business. They are the only major Asian brand with a proper distribution setup in this country. All the others have unofficial distributors that amount to little more than someone buying a smallish number of bats from India/Pakistan and selling them from their van in this country. We can visit the warehouse in the UK, pay in pounds, pick through a huge selection of willow and most importantly, someone is always there to deal with things if a return is necessary.
If we wanted to stock SF for example (choosing them as we used to deal with them when they had a UK distributor) we would want to deal directly with the brand rather than an unofficial middle man. In order to do this we would have to pay into overseas bank accounts, and have bats sent over that we have no input on in terms of handpicking from a selection, and with no viable return option if they are not suitable. TONs 2016 revamp looks great and will be a fantastic seller in the £100-£200 price point as always.
Bellingham and Smith have been firm favourites in our local area for a very long time. Gary used to run a cricket shop near Cambridge and sold all the big brands alongside B&S and other niche brands. When Gary closed (the shop is now much more of a multi sport shop than a cricket specialist) he continued his relationship with B&S and we have stocked the equipment since we opened. Myself and Robin have known Gary for a long time, both buying B&S bats from him long before Vitas Cricket even existed. The quality of the products speak for themselves, and the pricing in my opinion is absolutely superb. 2016 softs are as good as i've seen, and whilst the designs of the bats is a still a little in flux (SA want the UK range to fall in line with their branding) I'm sure the bats will be as good as ever.
GM and New Balance bats are not handpicked, this does not strike us as an issue. GM's quality is very consistent, and they are probably the most up front and honest when it comes to their grading. GM until this year were actually comparatively slow for us (compared to direct rivals Kookaburra and GM) but in January we re-ordered an exact repeat of our October stock order, plus circa 20% on top, such was the strength of sales, this trend continued through the Summer and GM was probably only just beaten by GN. This was a real surprise, but also testament to their huge effort in the last couple of years to improve not only the image/branding, but also the quality/playability of the bats. Look back to forum posts 2/3/4/5 years ago and you'll see people moaning about GM bats being hard and taking ages to play in. This is no longer the case.
They are as up front and honest as it gets when it comes to everything they do. Anybody, and i mean anybody, can ask to go and have a look round their facility. They will welcome you in and be more than happy to talk you through everything they do. Easily the most technically advanced batmaking facility i've set foot in, with friendly, warmhearted, knowledgable people to back all the impressive tech up.
They are the only brand (to my knowledge) who offer 'training' to retail staff as part of their 5 star dealers program. We go every couple of years for what to us amounts to little more than a day out, a tour of the factory and a few updates on any innovations they introduce (such as the F2/F7/F4.5 faces) rather than an intense learning process. Last time we were there 2 girls with Summer jobs at a test match ground shop had been sent with no prior cricket knowledge. They left with a good grasp of the GM range, reasons behind grading, how to size kids up for bats etc etc. Wonderful people, and they take us to the darts at Ally Pally on VIP tickets every year, whats not to like?!
New Balance are new, based on the small number of bats we had last year we know what to expect, if they aren't up to scratch we will send them back and ask for alternatives. They have been fantastic to deal with so far, particularly since we became a key account with them. Any problems with footwear or bags have been swiftly rectified, and i would expect this to translate over into their service when it comes to bat returns. As i said they are still learning and everyone makes mistakes. We had a bat returned with a broken handle, was a simple rehandle job and i told them this, but they replaced it without even asking for the bat back. As their volume increases this wont make business sense to throw away perfectly repairable bats, but it shows at least they offer an extremely high level of service to the customer.
We don't actively stock much Hunts stuff as they are based so close to us, but if anyone ever wants anything either custom made or from the off the shelf stock, we always go and sort it in person. Equally if someone wants to visit Hunts with us and pick their own cleft (not having to rely on a retailer like us making the decision for you) you can do so and have the bat made in front of you at no extra cost. I'm going tomorrow, i went last week, i'll be going next week, hopefully you get the picture
They are the kings of cricket gossip, knowing everything thats going on long before it's in the public domain, and offer a quality product at a great price.
There will be other brands no doubt, we have a few things in the pipeline including at least one brand not currently offered in the UK. For now the above is our confirmed offering for 2016 bats though. Of course Asics, Adidas, Canterbury, Masuri, Aero, Paceman, Grip Grip, Zings, Horizon, CLADS, Stretton Fox and many other great brands who offer equipment away from bats will be stocked too.
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Topic: Vitas Cricket 2016 Brands (Read 3381 times)