www.snowboard-women.com

There are a bunch of little random, independently- owned ski and snowboard shops scattered around the South Bay and this past Sunday I checked two of them out.  The first was H&H Sports, which gets foot traffic in the store by using huge signs on trucks parked along the main drag out front sporting the phrase “SNOWBOARD OUTLET.”  It ain’t much to look at from the front, but I was still intrigued.

I believe the store gets its gear mainly as leftover inventory that they buy from the ski and snowboard shows, such as LA’s recent Ski Dazzle event, then they resell to customers at a markup that’s still less than retail.  Most of the items I saw had stickers which I recognized as coming from Ski Dazzle.  But that’s fine, there’s an almost neverending aftermarket for snowboard gear even from many seasons past.  Most people just want gear that looks good, is durable, and highly functional.  Not to mention at a good price.  Hey, not all of us are using Daddy’s credit card!

It’s hard to say the size of the store in square feet, but it was decent size, and it was pretty full of merchandise.  There were racks about 15 feet long of each size XS thru XL, and each gender, full of jackets & pants.  Quite a good selection of styles in each size.  One whole wall was devoted to layering materials such as fleeces & long underwear.There was a small selection of socks, a smattering of helmets, a good selection of gloves & mittens, and even some roller bags.  The store only had about 4-5 styles of boots available in either gender - the only category where there was a very limited selection.

Finally, the hardgoods.  Their board selection was a little thin, but there were enough different styles and sizes available that most people could probably find a new board to suit them.  The store also sold bindings & goggles, all kept up at the front of the store.

I talked to one of the store reps, who told me that their merch is mostly from the current season, it’s not overstock that’s left over from past seasons.  As proof of this, I took a picture of one of the jackets I know is from this season:  this Burton Slub.

He told me that these Andy Warhol limited-edition jackets & pants from last year are NOT moving because they are too expensive… indeed - the jacket & pants pictured here were like $320 apiece!

They have I’d say over 90% Burton goods - when I asked about this he said it’s because Burton is the best quality, has the best guarantees, and hads the best customer service.  I took this to mean it is most cost-effective for them to sell the best products because it’s less headache for them.   No worries w/ me, I like Burton!  Other brands I saw were some Forum boots, and Nordica & Foursquare jackets.

I’m sure you’re wondering about price!  Well, I guess the prices were OK.  Jackets ranged from $119-$179, boards that were $549 were marked down to $479, and gloves didn’t even seem to be marked down.  The Lexa bindings I bought last year at around $180 at the Burton store, were on sale here for around $110.  But overall I didn’t think these were true “outlet” prices.  I would have thought jackets would be more like sub-$100 and boards under $200.  Ahh well.

(Sidenote:  Randomly, they have a huge section of swimsuits for sale there… if you need something for the hot-tub after your day of boarding!)

If you’re in the area, it is worth a look, the staff is nice and there is a decent selection overall.  You can check out their web site for yourself, and they even have a link to their online store:  H&H Sports