How is the recession treating Spyderco?

[Bolster]

Just curious if anyone has their finger on Spyderco's pulse, how they are doing in the recession? I wonder if knives sold during this time will be especially collectable in the future, because people may be dialing back their knife purchases?

[RIOT]

my purchases have cut back a bit but i will never go to another knife!

the best part is though, i have enough Spydercos to last me the rest of my life and thats really good to know

[Jay_Ev]

Very interesting question, Bolster. I do not have an answer, all I can add is that I have increased my Spyderco purchases in the past month, to the tune of a thousand dollars. I'm doing my part to keep Spyderco afloat and support them in these hard economic times. It all evens out in the end though, because I just went through a seven month dry spell where I didn't buy a single Spydie.

[The Deacon]

As open as Sal is with us, I would not blame him one bit for not sharing that information with us. Have a hunch that, assuming anyone was privy to such info, they would have only been given it in the strictest of confidence. There are some things, in the business world, best kept private.

As for me, I'd say my buying patterns have changed in the past year or so, but not because of the recession. I pretty much ran out of storage space and decided to slow my collection's growth rate. My solution was to limit puchases almost exclusively to front lock models with usable finger choils and Spyderco has released relatively few new and Sprint Run models in that category.

[spydutch]

I guess in this economical dip it's maybe for the better that Spyderco doesn't make that many new fully serrated models :rolleyes:

However my bank account is the only one that's grateful for that though :D

[EarthDog]

I do hope that the great Spyder company is flourishing in this challanging economy. My own business has been off quite a bit; so new knives for the EarthDog have not been a priority.

[JLS]

They're doing alright by me lately. I just rediscovered a love for knives over the past 4 or 5 months and it seems that I've been making up for lost time!

If things keep going the way they have lately, I'd actually expect a downturn in sales of the mid-level stuff. Users will still buy the low end and collectors will still buy the higher end, but those in the $80-120 range may suffer. My guess would be that the Byrd line has impacted things more than the recession.

Probably most important to me right now, I don't think the Mule series will suffer too much. It's really a small sub-set of their customers that have a real interest in them and I'd expect that most will continue to collect them. If anything, they interval between releases may increase since they may not sell as fast, but I don't see the program being in danger. I hope I'm right in that speculation.

[JD Spydo]

If the truth were known it might surprise all of you. Because I can remember in past recessions many companies that sell extremely high quality merchandise have done well during times like this.

My personal motive is to concentrate on very high quality items at this time so I don't have to replace something in a year or so. Just like my Surefire flashlights that don't give me any problems to speak of at all>> I wouldn't think of buying a cheaper flashlight at a time like this because I want something extremely dependable during a serious crunch time.

Now don't get me entirely wrong because you're always going to have herds of "cheap-heads", bargain hunters and wal-mart refugees dotting the landscape even in good times. But for people who are quality minded to begin with it's times like now more than ever a thinking person wants to concentrate on quality for long term dependability.

I'm not saying that sales might be off just a bit but I would be willing to bet that they might even pick up new customers that finally realize that "QUALITY" is truly cheaper and more dependable over the long haul. But the wal-mart refugees will never buy based those principles anyway. I doubt if Spyderco is having any troubles to speak of at this time.

[Lord vader]

I hope that spyderco is doing well and continue Too.I personally cant see myself buying from anyone else,Spyderco is always striving forward to provide an excellent product and spyderco is where my loyalty remains.My best wishes go to spyderco and there continued success.Long live Sal & co.Spyderco :)

[elpidi0526]

I hope that spyderco is doing well and continue Too.I personally cant see myself buying from anyone else,Spyderco is always striving forward to provide an excellent product and spyderco is where my loyalty remains.My best wishes go to spyderco and there continued success.Long live Sal & co.Spyderco :)

Seconded. We LOVE YOU Sal & Spyderco!!! (in a cool and manly way...not in the gay way. :D )

[araneae]

...not in the gay way. :D )

"Not that there's anything wrong with that."
Any Seinfeld fans here? :p

[CombatGrappler]

We knife knuts may be feeling the pinch, but I think Spyderco is probably doing ok. Don't forget, they don't just sell to us...they have government and law enforcement contracts, as well. That helps to keep the lights on, I'm sure. :D

[DMgangl]

Considering that since Christmas I have gotten, Police 3, harpy, cricket, 2 ladybugs, Superhawk, Mule S90V, 2 E4s, and bought a dragonfly for my Dad. I'd say I am doing my best to contribute to :spyder:

When you have a sound product, excellent service, and unquestionable ethics, its not hard to sell your product.

DM

[bh49]

As open as Sal is with us, I would not blame him one bit for not sharing that information with us. Have a hunch that, assuming anyone was privy to such info, they would have only been given it in the strictest of confidence. There are some things, in the business world, best kept private.

This is the best answer, which we can reasonably get. Everything else is just pure speculation.

[clovisc]

in my opinion: it's none of our business.

i will say, though, that the companies that have the best chances of lasting and prospering long term are the ones with quality products and services.

[MCM]

Hard to say?

Some gravitate to a hobby to escape in tough times.......

Like when your retirement gets cut in 1/2 (stock market)

A knife seems like a great investment to me right now!
LOL LOL

[Domino]

Some of you might be surprised to know that only a few businesses are really taking a hit. My father owns a camera shutter company (they sell tons of things to Pixar) and it's doing surprisingly BETTER ever since this recession has reared its ugly head. Some markets just aren't taking hits, and some are. Perhaps the knife buisness isn't taking one at all.

[Sequimite]

I'm a retired CPA and former business owner. The last company I had ownership in was one that I turned into an employee owned company. We tried mightily to educate everyone as we opened up their access to financial information. About 10% understood and appreciated the effort but it created so much misunderstanding that it was a net negative.

Also, if Sal shared with us that they were having serious trouble, he might find Spyderco on COD with some of his vendors the next day. It would be not just unwise, but unethical and a violation of his fiduciary responsibilities to share any information not in public filings.

Those of us that are history nuts (that's me!) have a better idea of where this economy could be going. Sal seems enterprising and imaginative enough to bring the company through whatever comes, but virtually every business is likely to be badly hurt before this is over.

[clovisc]

guns and knives tend to hold their value, especially during tough times. and even though the worst might not come, it's better to be prepared for it. picking up guns and knives during this recession is a great idea.

at least, those are the excuses i use for new toys. :D

[tomoto]

spyderco has a very loyal fanbase and it sells quality goods and actually actively communicates with their customers :eek: , one thing that seperates them from the rest! my guess is that, if anything, they may suffer as many businesses are nowadays but not to an extreme.. for example, some restaurant businesses may falter because eating out for some, is considered a luxury

spyderco has been raising their prices though, but albeit at a steady rate. maybe that'll help them out or just deals with inflation