History Pt 2

Early 2002 I moved the shop and office into the local arcade and moved the factory into another unit. I worked in the factory with James and another part time worker during the days, then came out to the shop in the afternoons to relieve my office manager.

The new factory that I had just moved into was then sold and around Sept 2002 I once again I had to move the factory.

Rowens Arcade shop 2002

Mt Beauty Victoria. At the foothills to Falls Creek ski resort 2003

By now I was fast getting over Ulladulla and started to look around to find a place to move to. In Christmas 2002 I traveled to Mt Beauty Victoria. I wanted to get back into snowboarding and opportunities to open a shop there were looking good.

I found a factory to rent while I was there. I then came back and packed my bags. I hired a truck and with three trips, I had moved my factory, shop and house into the factory. February 2003 I was there.

Not long after getting there and living in the factory, I found a shop on the highway into town with a house in back to rent, perfect.

I set up the shop to sell skate gear and to sell and rent snowboards only, no skis.

Things were going OK. I had enough orders in the factory to keep both factory and shop open for the first year.

Mt Beauty Shop 2003 snow season. Showing my trade mark matt black wall with flames.

The second year in Mt Beauty was a little tougher. Factory sales of skateboards were slowly declining, and the shop wasn't going too well either. Sales and rentals during the 2nd snow season was less than the first season. Couple that with the fact that the town is very small, retail sales after winter, into spring and summer were almost non existent.

I injured my knee a year or so ago and found my knee wasn't able to let me snowboard. The big move to get back into snowboarding wasn't going so well. I got a knee brace which gave me a few days riding until my knee went again and now it was worse than before. It popped out if I ran and when I knelt down. So now I couldn't even have a roll on a skateboard.

Declining sales in the factory of skateboards forced me to realise that the days of manufacturing in Australia were over. Shops didn't care if your product was made in Australia, price now dictated. World prices were getting lower and I just couldn't produce them for a profit anymore. In June 2005 I traveled to China to tour many factories looking for a company that could produce decks to a standard I was used to and one I would be happy to put my name on. I did find a great factory.

Shanghai 2005

By the end of 2005 sales were so slow that I was forced to close the shop and move once again. I missed the coast and thought that a move to sunny old Queensland would be the thing to do. I was over having a shop and putting in major hours. During the winter season I was in the shop 12 hours a day 7 days a week. I wasn't making enough money to hire staff so I was it.

I packed up in January 2006 and moved to Caloundra Qld. My intention was to just import and wholesale skateboards, no retail shops anymore. Within a week of moving up there I injured my back moving all my gear around. It was slowly getting worse and the pain was increasing. For 5 months I was virtually incapacitated and unable to drive or walk, let alone any sort of work, so Omni was in limbo.

I finally had the spinal operation in late June 2006. After the operation I decided I missed my two sons way too much to be that far away from them. The surf wasn't that good up there compared to Ulladulla either, so I decided to move back to Ulladulla in August 2006. Not that I can surf just yet either until the knee reconstruction. Then there will be months of rehab. I hope I will even be able to snowboard again.

So here I am back in Ulladulla building myself and my business back up again. The team has drifted off doing their own thing over the past few years. I'm starting from the roots of skaters again now, with our team reflecting that with a 9 and 11 year old in Jakob and Steve. I hope to have a long future with these guys and others.

To be continued.........