Leon wrote:
Robert, How you doing sir. Does SA ever have a ww show, I know there is
one in Dallas in the fall IIRC

I am not sure I would have believed it had I not heard it from the Laguna
salesman's mouth a few weeks ago but they have quit going to some shows to
simply avoid the hassle of dealing with sales tax collection.

Doin' fine. As for a WW show, forget it here in sunny San Antonio. We
used to be on the circuit, but no more. The vendors that frequent
WoodCraft told the guys there that the San Antonio market was too
small, and that they wanted to be in larger cities (SA is only about
1.3 million) that were more centralized.

Since we didn't provide the types of sales they wanted, they simply
quit coming. No doubt it was about the dollars, because if they could
make a buck I am sure they would be here. As a side note, I sure
didn't see a lot of people pulling their wallets out in Houston,
either.

I think that the show guys want to avoid a once or twice a year sales
tax issue, and that would be a hassle indeed for some of the larger
companies that sell at those things.

But I think that the reality is that many people just don't want to buy
at the shows. I know many like myself that will go shop there, but
won't pay retail, or a "show special" price which is still higher than
purchasing on the internet. When you were able to go to the shows and
purchase something that you wanted for about the same or less, that was
a good thing. However, even on saw blades, the prices I saw marked on
the Freud blades was higher than my everyday price at HD.

As for heavier machinery, it is easier to purchase from a reputable
internet dealer, have the machine delivered to the door, and the
shipping included usually beats the pants of those guys, or our local
guys.

I personally think that they should turn these shows into daily classes
and seminars that show people how to use the tools properly and how
they can be used, rather than just a quick, wham - bam product
exposition. Then I think they could move some product. As it was, I
really couldn't tell the difference between the Krieg guy and the guy
that was selling the rubber bristle broom.

Robert