The "cost pressure's" of manufacturing in Australia was one of the stated reasons for closing down..Originally Posted by chris69
I'm guessing a smart business couldnt continue to flog a dead horse but would have to move to manufacturing O/S to make the sidecasts and deckwinchs affordable....they already had some sort of arrangement in China to make the overhead, spin and baitcast reels there as well as much of their merchandise..
Seems to be quite an avid following from aussie enthusiasts and collectors for the brand..lots of blokes buying up extra reels with the stock selldown after the closing announcement...I cant see the same level of brand loyalty if they are all just getting pumped out of a Chinese factory..In fact I got booted off this page after just suggesting such a move might occur...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/176422189632514
Yer I agree that they have a lot of loyal followers it’s the reel we as young kids fished with as the fathers and grandfathers did too,simple and affordable and reliable just like Holden in there day ,time will tell what the future holds I think it would be a shame to see the brand disappear regardless of we’re it’s made.
The new. price of a Alvey reel is up there these days and brings them into a sort of decent spinner price range I remember my first 6.5 inch Alvey was $22 and Hervey , with the modern computer programs the can really reduce weight with porting and make them lighter than ever .
The way I see it the Reel for a Lifetime is not that good business sense....good reels yes, but once everyone that is going to buy their selection of reels they won't be coming back.
They need to diversify broader than in the past, and yes they did have a lot of pies being fingered in the past.
Jack.
Just like the old hills hoist and old victor lawn mower built to last.
I don’t think that when they started making them they did not think that we would be useing spinning reels and those baitcaster and overhead reel’s like we are today.
Just looked at the Alvey page>
We have some exciting news.
Alvey will NOT be closing it’s doors.
We have been acquired by Gowing Bros Ltd, securing local ownership of Alvey Reels.
Gowings has been in the business of Enriching People’s Lives since 1868 and is still operated by the family of the founder.
“Gowings is extremely proud and honoured to be able to keep Alvey Reels in Australia” - John Gowing - Managing Director.
Gowings also owns FCS, an iconic surfing brand, so there is a real symmetry between the two brands, centred around the ocean.
Please join us in welcoming Gowings to the Alvey community, the best community in Australian fishing!
John Gowing is a pretty astute investor ...... you bet you can look for some changes to occur .
A bit of a Greenie too ...... currently trying to make surf board fins out of recycled ocean waste (fishing nets)
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
Any ideas what some of those changes might be...?
Its hard to see the old sidecast reels ever gaining much popularity with anyone under 50, no matter how many funky colours or different designs they they make them in...
Looking forward to seeing what they come up with..
Well I'm over 50 and never liked sidecasts much but it comforted me to know that they were made here and had a following. Even if they do start making them again I can't see them being made locally so not sure what we are gaining...just more Chinese stuff.
Are Jarvis Walker, Butterworth and Wilson rods still made here?
I did love my Black Queen with a Shakespeare threadline back in the day.
Sent from my SM-G996B using Tapatalk
No idea - I'd be guessing
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
Most kids nowadays don’t even use bait. It’s all artificials.
Yeh to be honest - It's just an iconic Brand name that goes back 100 years
My observation is that the old dog dish had it's day decades ago & you can pretty well call them specialist reels these days with a very small market . I certainly dont see the new owners throwing good money after bad .
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
Those poor kids will never experience the joy of opening their bait esky and finding the 3 month old Abalone gut packs they forgot about
but back to the alvey thing doubt I’d ever buy another and even when I beached fished I started using 7000 abus or spinfishers
I kind of agree about fishing "trends" changing, the majority of the population will buy a department store combo (including the fishing department stores) almost all will be a spinning reel. The more experienced fisherman might buy individual pieces of gear, but it will be most likely a spin reel too, and lots are lure fishers only these days, Alvey reels I am sorry to say are a limited market and that market is shrinking every year.
They still have a following with whiting guru's, I know a few up here, they've tried the bait runner style of spinning reel but have all gone back to the sidecast. As mentioned previously there's no after market service required so it's a one off sale.
One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce and canonized those who complain.
Thomas Sowell
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