WILDWATER DESIGNS HISTORY

Wildwater Designs began in the Fall of 1972.

A group of my college friends had decided to start a commune at a trailer park outside of Lewisburg, PA. I had quit teaching junior high school the previous spring and was looking for a way to make money. My friends seemed interested in starting a whitewater gear business. We rented an old gas station. I slept in the office. We tried building kayaks, but quickly realized that we didn’t know how to build them at a competitive price. We tried making other pieces of gear, mostly for personal use. The commune broke up after a few months, and I moved to a house on my grandmother’s farm in Penllyn, PA about an hour north of Philadelphia to follow up on some of my ideas.

In the early 1970’s the sport was very small, and gear was hard to find. Many people made their own equipment but had trouble finding the right materials. I could help with that started selling kits because I didn’t want to run a factory. I bought the materials, wrote instructions, and put the kits together myself. I was modestly successful at first, but I had a lot to learn about running a business!

Wildwater Design Catalogue Cover Art

Over the next year I sold kits out of my truck while traveling the East Coast Whitewater Slalom Racing Circuit, at rivers, and at Philadelphia Canoe Club meetings.

I placed a small ad in the American Whitewater Journal. I continued the business while working as a river guide and instructor for NOC in 1974, and while trying out for the U.S. Whitewater Team in 1975. After that bid failed, I decided to focus on the business. I placed ads in Canoe and Downriver (later River Runner) Magazine, and gradually built up my mailing list. Most orders back then came via snail mail and were paid for by check.

By the late 1970’s kit businesses like mine struggled. Frostline, Carikits, and EMS Kits closed their doors! Women entered the work force in large numbers, and people had more money and less time to build kits. The Paddlesport “Industry” grew, more stores opened. and there was some excellent new gear on the market. I became a general whitewater retailer. In 1983 I bought a competitor’s mailing list when he went out of business and started preparing a more elaborate catalogue. This was before desktop publishing, with text pasted on rigid boards! Great photographers like Wick Walker and Kevin O’Brien offered me wonderful cover shots and many friends were willing to pose for catalogue pictures.

Wildwater Design Catalogue Pages Featuring Kits

Wildwater Designs Catalog Covers and Content

For the next 10 years I sent out 30,000 catalogues annually I sold Perception, Extrasport, Dagger, Kokatat, Body Glove and more.

I developed the HiFloat Life Vest and the Throw Line Rescue Bag along with several less successful products. I was the first national retailer to sell drysuits and hard-sole river boots. I bought The Bonnie Hot Pogie from Bonnie Losick and used her dealer network to start wholesaling. I kept making the kits, but sales were dropping. Most orders now came in by phone and were charged to credit cards. I hired two people to help run the business, increasing overhead. Margins were tighter than with kits. I was working harder for less money!

When whitewater kayaking went through its “New School” growth spurt in the 1990’s many new dealerships opened. Chain stores like Goldberg’s, Dick’s, and EMS bought whitewater gear and sold it at a discount to build store traffic. This competition made it difficult to get new customers who asked, “Why should I wait for a mail order delivery when I can just visit a local store?” Our mailing list slowly shrank. Some of this was normal attrition, some because long-time regular customers aged out of the sport. Profits declined. It wasn’t just Wildwater Designs feeling the pinch. These trends drove Cascade Outdoors, Wyoming River Raiders, Blackadar Boating, and Colorado Kayak Supply out of the mail order business.

Paddling Gear For Sale By Wildwater Designs

In 1994 I hired a consultant, and on his advice began an aggressive mailing campaign, I rented several mailing lists and sent out 70,000 catalogues.

Although this increased sales from around $380,000 to almost $500,000 annually, because of increased expenses profitability declined. It was time to move on. I ran a going out of business sale in the spring of 1995 and sold my mailing list to NOC. For the next 20 years I was the East Coast Outfitter Rep for NRS, visiting river companies from Maine to Georgia.

I do miss my regular customers. I met my wife, Sandy, when she came by and bought a kayak from me in 1989. The rest is history!

FYI, Online sales did not take off until the late ’90’s, several years after we closed. I didn’t even do email until the 1990’s. and web sites then were a clumsy novelty. It was another era!

Wildwater Designs Mailings

Swiftwater Rescue Articles and Posts

“The freedom to take calculated risks, in business, love, or whitewater, is one of the most cherished prerogatives of a free people. I don’t try to discourage knowledgeable people from willingly assuming risks; but I do work to educate inexperienced paddlers so they don’t get into trouble inadvertently.”