Pure (Hardy/Grey's, Pfleuger, Fenwick, etc.) Sold

[Ard]

For my money they could have remained small and I would remain loyal. What happened in my case was I went from being "Hi Ard" when I called to being just another unanswered e-mail in a very large and disorganized conglomerate.

Even the experience with the Rep. here that I mentioned went stagnant. Regardless of what is / was happening when I ask for him to order that reel for me he should have contacted me to say it wasn't coming. I have never heard from him again. Likewise all my messages to Hardy USA have never been answered and 2 remain unread.

I have my old Featherweight, the original Hardy reel I ever bought and my Princess which was my second. Toss in a mix of other models purchased during the last years of their heydays and I'm good. Given the poor service I've seen since the Pure experience I won't miss them at all. It was cool years ago owning Hardy. Many times, too many to number I would encounter people who would look at my reels and ask, "What is that, is that one of those Hardy reels"? When I joined the forums my username was Hardyreels, it still is on the UK forums and others but the love is gone. Now I'm a Sage and Bauer type and I don't mind change.

Too bad for the folks who have worked at Alnwick for so long but things don't look good.

[westcoast]

FF is an older man's sport, not too many kids are putting down their Iphones and getting into FF. Looks like the Baby Boomer generation's interest in fly fishing peaked a couple years back and now there will be a low in sales until the current medium workforce population ages a bit. Time to unload and let someone else take a speculative risk.

[duker]

Am I being naive in wondering why a venerable old brand like Hardy's can't make a go of it on it's own? Why does it have to be part of some conglomerate?

Scott

[westcoast]

Am I being naive in wondering why a venerable old brand like Hardy's can't make a go of it on it's own? Why does it have to be part of some conglomerate?

Scott

Filson could use a "fishing gear" category in their portfolio
Filson Seattle Flagship - Seattle, WA | Filson

[sweetandsalt]

Am I being naive in wondering why a venerable old brand like Hardy's can't make a go of it on it's own? Why does it have to be part of some conglomerate?

Scott

If you scroll up to my post #9 on pg. 1, I comment on how virtually none of our top fly fishing brands are self sufficiently independent financially. Wasn't Filson too bought by a big company? FF is a tiny market (good, the rivers are over crowed already!) compared to almost anything else.