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| 2005.Mar.02 |
A brief history of retail power kites |
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This talks about
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The evolution of power kite sales has an interesting
history. Many of us buy our regular needs (food,
clothing, appliances) from either large established
franchises or the local retail shop. We're used to
knowing what we want, walking into a store,
traveling the isles, maybe reading the label,
choosing from a wide array of brands then it's off
to the cashier. The items we have available are the
same ones, with of course the
new and improved labeling. There is very
little risk involved. |
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For the sake of this article, we'll consider kite to
mean any power kite than can pull an individual
across the surface of the earth. The kite is
controlled by the rider using a control bar or
handles. The rider may be traveling by board or
modified catamaran on water, skates, skis or
snowboard on snow, a buggy or mountain board on the
beach or large open area, or simple standing still
flying under power. |
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Compared to most of what we buy, kiting has only
been around since the early 1980s which is a
relatively short period of time in the retail sense.
The development grew from passionate individuals
that eventually replicated their designs for other
users. The were sold through networks of other
passionate kiters simply for the love of the sport.
As the kites developed, distributors and dealers
established themselves as the formal network, still
often without a storefront. There simply wasn't
enough volume to sustain a power kite retail store. |
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At some point in time, wind surfing appeared in the
retail stores. Many were sport sometimes bike shops
that attracted like minded free spirited
individuals, that eventually also sold snowboards
and sometimes skis. Somewhere in the late 1990s, the
first kite surfing equipment appeared on the market.
Some of the first kite boards were water skis,
modified surf and windsurf boards which could be
found in surf shops or windsurf shops. Thus it was
quite natural that windsurf shops would carry kite
surfing equipment. At this same time foils started
to be seen in the shops but only as trainers to
prepare riders for kite surfing. For the most part
people interested in foils still purchased from the
non-store front network. |
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At the time of writing this article, there still
seems to be a line in the industry between people
with water based inflatables and everything else
that can be used in power kiting. We see this
changing over time as the popularity of the land and
winter based kite sports grow. New kite
designs such as the Peter Lynn Twin skins (hybrid
all terrain kites) and traditional foils are
attracting kite surfers into land based kite
buggying and kite mountain boarding as well as
winter kite skiing and snowboarding. |
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As the power kiting sports grow we're likely to see
more sponsored and organized events, competitions,
teams and of course lots of new products making is
safer for everyone. With this market growth and
awareness, it's our expectation that we'll see more
full service specialty shops for the all terrain all
year wind rider. |
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Grant Fitz |
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