Stores that Stock Spydercos

[kz1000s1]

In the central Florida there's an Army Navy store that a lot of the Spyderco line. Years ago I worked nearby and stopped often. They had the Dodo, Lil Temp and Lum plus the normal models. Last time I was there (it's been a little while) they had the auto models, a Sage and I can't remember what else. I think prices were a bit less than list. There used to be a great knife store, but it's gone now.

[RamDreamer]

There used to be a great knife store, but it's gone now.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of that going around the last few years.

[amar]

It's nice to hold them and see how they fit in the hand. If they're charging too close to MSRP, you can always try at the store, then buy online.

Unfair, I'd say. If you try it at the store, you should ideally buy at the store -- the extra amount is for that trial and other checks (fit and finish, blade centering, lockup, smoothness,...) that you cannot do online. I generally try to be fair with the dealers', if I expect them to be fair to me. YMMV.

-Amarendra

[O,just,O]

Well, amar, I tried a Tenacious at a store a couple of weeks ago, I liked it but not 97 Australian dollars of like. He also had a SS, SE Police $128 Aus.
The price of a tenacious from USA is just over its postage to AUS which is still les than 2/3 OF $97 Aus.
O.

[noddy]

About 10 minutes from me there is Warriors and Wonders - carrying a full range by the look of it - certainly a lot of them - and definitely a full range of Benchmades.

Lots of the outdoor shops, chandlers and so forth (there are many) will have one or two

[v8r]

Before I read this line, my first thought was "Someone who lives in Golden, CO is complaining about the availability of Spydercos?"

There is a Bass Pro about an hour north and another about 2.5 hours south. Their selection isn't great, nor are the prices. The closest (to me) really good knife store to my knowledge is in Foley, AL.

Been to the store in Foley. AL, that is where I bought my Kris. :D Lots of selection of some more desirable Spydies old and new alike.

[brandonreed2008]

There is an army surplus store about 30 mins from me that is a spyderco dealer.

You talking about stevens creek surplus? I love that place. Just got my salt 1 15% off there! :)


For me there is a local gun store, surplus store, Armorgeddon at oakridge mall(has everything!), and that's all I can think of at the moment

[Marion David Poff]

I sort of have the best of both worlds, my local cutlery shop, stocks and special order Spydercos....

Barney at BitterRoot Cutlery in Coeur d'Alene Idaho, http://bitterrootcutlery.net/

He is just 40 minutes from Spokane, the hub of the Inland Northwest.

And there are a couple big chains locally, that carry a Spyderco or two from time to time.... And we had a mall store, but they went extinct.

[clovisc]

up here on my little Alaskan island, only one store. the selection seems out of date, focused on "utilitarian" pieces, and the prices are higher. a couple salts, though. :D haven't bought any spydies from them. i probably would, even if they cost a bit more than ordering online, if the prices were a little lower, and the selection were more to my taste...

[Praxis]

I sort of have the best of both worlds, my local cutlery shop, stocks and special order Spydercos....

Barney at BitterRoot Cutlery in Coeur d'Alene Idaho, http://bitterrootcutlery.net/

He is just 40 minutes from Spokane, the hub of the Inland Northwest.

And there are a couple big chains locally, that carry a Spyderco or two from time to time.... And we had a mall store, but they went extinct.

Very nice store. I grew up just south of Coeur d'Alene, but wasn't into knives as a kid. If I had only known. Oh well... :p

[Agent_Ohm]

http://www.casualadventure.com/

Arlington, VA

an awesome grassroots outdoorsman store with all the top brands.

last time i was there they had delicas, enduras, waved delicas, natives, and the delica and endura trainer. they also have a lot of surefire flashlights.

[mm1]

Around me we have Gander Mtn, Bass Pro, Cabeala's, and this small warehouse size gun store called Mega Sports which has a few Spydies but, a ton of all the other major production companies knives. The box stores only usually have a few Delica's and Endura's.

[TheSavageRabbit]

Recon 1 in Reseda, CA has several counter cases filled with them. But, last time I was there, the selection was surprisingly light. Other than that, I have not seen them in any stores near me.

[jabba359]

I tried to go to a knife chain store in the mall (I hate going there), but apparently they closed down as all that remained was a gaping hole where they used to be. So I called a local knife store and got a guy who told me that he only had two Spyderco models in stock (Spyderwrench and something else). But he said if I told him what models I wanted to check out, he'd order them in, he said there's no pressure for me to even buy them if I don't like them, and he said he'd keep his margins low to compete with the online prices! I think maybe I just found my new knife dealer! So he's got a Manix 2, Sage CF, and Stretch 2 coming in so I can handle them and decide which to get for my soon-to-be-married best friend.

[Dr. Snubnose]

I don't rant often but something has been bothering me for a while now so when I saw this thread I figured I'd get it off my chest...I also posted a similar post on a another knife forums blog section some time ago. This will give you a little better insight from the knife retailers point of view...In my kung fu school on Long Island I have a rather large case from which I sell knives from....There are so few outlets nowadays especially where I am located that someone can go to handle knives in person and decide between different ones on display... I carry a selection of knives from different companys like Boker, Spyderco, Cold Steel, Kershaw, KaBar, Ontario, Buck, CRKT...etc etc. etc. I hand pick every knife for quality, fit and function, and have a mixed bag of price points...so everyone who is looking for a decent knife will find something they like that they can afford....I don't sell a huge quantity of knives and I do run a business, which means business expenses like heat, gas, water, electric, rent, insurance, security...basically overhead....unlike most internet knife sales companies who can offer knives at discounted prices...Even though I sell the knives that I carry at the MSRP and on occasion have sales for a limited time offering knives at 20%-50% off the MSRP, it is still hard to compete with those internet knife sales outlets and their discounted pricing. I don't have a problem with internet sales companies, and I feel my customers don't mind paying the MSRP because I offer a service with my sales....First they get to handle the knife they are interested in purchasing, Secondly they are receiving personalize and helpful sales help from a person who knows a lot about the knives....mainly me!....Thirdly my customers appreciate the fact that I spend hours picking the best of the best, which is a time consuming process for me, Sure every once in a while I'll get someone who comes in.... handles a knife....and walks out without buying a knife....and I'm pretty sure they then go on the web and find it cheaper and buy it there, some have even told me that that was what they planned to do... though disappointing for me, I can still understand where they are coming from....everyone likes to get a bargain and the best price....even me....What really gets my goat is something totally different....What upsets me the most is the lack of support from certain knife companies for their dealer base...Some of the companies (and I won't mention their names cause it's only fair) compete with me directly by selling their own knives right off their web-sites for the MSRP. Some of the companies when they discontinue a certain knife from production, offer them to the public for a discounted price to move their stock, but won't offer anything other then my normal dealer discount to me on the same items....by the time I pay for the knife and shipping I can't even hope to compete with that kinda of dealing unless I want to make pennies on the dollar. I recently heard one of the major knife production company's CEO mention that he was going to start making some of his production blades overseas (in China) to compete with other companies who are already doing so and by making such a move they will be able to make more knives cost effectively to sell to big chains at discounted prices like Wal-Mart etc., and another of the reasons mentioned was that the local knife shops were kinda drying up because there are internet discount sales going on that they can't compete with, so they are not buying as much of the stock as they once were....My answer: What a bunch of bullcrap! It's the company themselves that are driving the locals right out of business....and someday (mark my words) when chains like Wal-Mart no longer want to carry their products and they lose those big accounts...they will wonder why their business went down the crapper and what happened to all those local dealers that used to sell their products. Never even realizing that they screwed us all big time, just to make a few bucks here and there...and then further screwing the public by having to increase their prices to help offset their poor business practices....That's right they screwed the dealers, gave them no support, competed with them directly, skimped on their discounts, but someday when they are hurting they will be sorry they lost their dealer base who now proudly displays their knives in our cases and who displays their banners and logos in our windows and on our doors.....I've been thinking about making a switch, to carrying only custom made knives for sale and forgetting about those companies who don't have the foresight to keep the local knife shops open for business through their money hungry attitudes and poor business practices when it comes to screwing and not supporting their dealer base.....I for one have never liked the idea of buying a dead cat in the sack...Knife buying is a very personal, visual and Tactile Experience...It would be a crying shame for the consumer if all that remained was the internet discounted sales items where people only had a picture and description to go by as opposed to a local knife dealer who provided them with a service that no internet company could ever match....Rant OFF!.....Doc :D

[PSU]

excellent rant

[JD Spydo]

I totally agree with Dr. Snubnose's rant on the debacles of being a retail knife dealer. I've had 2 good friends who used to be in that business but reverted to doing it as a hobby and selling on the internet in places like Bladeforums and so forth because of the total disconnect between the factories and dealers. Also there is just so much cut-throat crap going on between dealers and their suppliers and a major distribution disconnect all the way around.

Now I do find Spyderco to be an extremely reputable and above board company and please realize this rant is not about them per se at all. With that said I still think that getting the knives in the hands of the consumer with a specialty product like Spyderco's great knives is a major marketing problem to be sure. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the Blade show in ATlanta ( the world's biggest Knife show on the planet) and I would go there to get a certain model ( or 3 or 4 of them) of Spyderco's only to be told stuff like "put on back order", our distributor is out of them or any number of problems.

For instance I remember when I went to the 2004 BLADE show and my number 1 goal was to come away with one or 2 Spyderco Titanium ATR models ( hopefuly PE & SE both). Not only did Spyderco themselves did not have one for sale there at the show but none of the many dealers at that show had one either It took me another 4 months before I finally landed one ( on Ebay).

The only 3 dealers here in the Kansas City, MO USA area that has any Spyderco blades are Cabelas ( they only sell Delicas and Enduras), Bass Pro ( almost the same scenerio) and Oddysey Martial arts ( now out of business). And on 2 occasions I tried to special order something from Cabelas and they didn't act like they even wanted to help me at all ( and that was after I had bought some other outdoor stuff from them).

Bottom line: There is a major dis-connect in the distribution of specialty items like high end production knives, high end flashlights and many other specialty items. There doesn't seem to be any incentive for brick & mortar stores to take on a wide selection of a manufacturer's goods. They only get what their distributors put at the top of their lists.

I'm not saying any of this to reflect anything bad on Spyderco or any of the other high end knife companies for that matter. But it is a complex problem that dealer's, distrbutors, and the manufacturer's themselves need to remedy and they need to do it soon or Wally World and the 3rd world **** hole manufacturers who make inferior, low priced infomercial items are going to have all of the retail business and if it continues on it's present course there won't be a manufacturing job left in this great country. There are people that want these great knives and are willing to pay the price to get them. But they don't want to go through 20 miles of red tape and search the internet for 6 months to try to find a certain item that's already advertised as being available. There just has to be a better way getting these premium knives to the end line user who wants them and is willing to pay the price. Because if this wonderful corrupt government get's their way and starts taxing the **** out of the commerce on the internet there won't be any way to market high quality items from great USA companies and for them and their dealers to have any kind of decent profit at all.

You "know it alls" and "naysayers" just go ahead and laugh and call me names. But you won't think it's funny when your job gets eliminated. And there are thousands of jobs that will be eliminated as well as American companies if this problem isn't solved soon. I think Spyderco either needs to look into the possibility of having factory stores in big markets like Dallas Texas, Atlanta Georgia, Kansas City Missouri and many other big markets. GOD Bless and long live the Great Spyder FActory.

[Slick]

Deacon I am not laughing at you. From what I've seen you are spot on in regard to being able to find 'specialty' knives here in town.

Small manufacturers are in a tight spot fighting this inevitable trend. Most people don't appreciate or even know of Spyderco. I was introduced to Spyderco at a local store that sold Delicas and Enduras. Other than those you usually must order off the web. I would not have bought all the knives I have if I had the opportunity to handle them first. On the other hand I would buy more knives if I had the chance to see and handle them in person.

I look forward to visiting New Graham some day to actually see and touch a wide selection of quality knives.

[Dr. Snubnose]

JD: You are right on target...something has to be done to correct this problem...and soon...or there will be no more dealers left...Doc

[angusW]

In all of the GTA (Toronto area), the only store that I've found to have any Spyderco's is S&R knives. They have an excellent selection but they over 40 miles away from me. I drop in every once in a while to give me a chance to actually handle a knife as pictures are not enough and also talk to the owner who's a good guy and is more than happy to let me handle any knife.

Small B&M stores are a dying breed. It's not just knife stores either. My wife and I have not gone to Walmart or any other big name department store in a long time and that goes with eating at big name restaurants. It's these small business owners that are part of the backbone in every community.

I have bought knives online but I would rather have the opportunity to walk into a store, handle a few knives, talk with the owner and perhaps buy a great blade.