John Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 Shimano bought G Loomis in 1997. They had a non-compete agreement with Gary Loomis so that he was not allowed to sell rods for 10 years. Now that the non-compete has expired they can no longer stop him from entering the rod business, hence Northfork rods. Gary cannot use the name "G Loomis" on his new rods since that brand name is owned by Shimano but they could never stop someone from using their full name on rod. No court order can steal your given name. I have not been able to understand why he has not used "Gary Loomis" since the non-compete expired...seems to me that there is an opportunity there?
Jer Posted January 22, 2011 Report Posted January 22, 2011 Well stated. I guess I'm worried that eventually we will be put in a position where the companies will say..."You will take what we give you, and you will like it" ...kinda like the government...
Whitemikeca Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 Consolidation is hardly new. Bigger companies have been swallowing smaller companies since the beginning (not just the last 20 years, Whitemikeca). If you dig into the history of fishing brands like Heddon, South Bend, Eagle Claw, Shakespeare and Johnson, you'll find each has had multiple owners over the last 100 years - each one swallowed up by a bigger rival. Consolidation provides manufacturing, supply chain, sales and distribution efficiencies that cannot be matched by independents, which is why it's been the way things work in every industry from fishing tackle to kitchen appliances to automobiles to computer software. On a separate note - Bigugli, if you aren't aware, Genmar went belly up almost two years ago. Some of their boat brands have been shut down, but most have been sold off to rivals .... Brunswick Corp and Platinum Equity Corp bought the majority of them. All of the fishing boats remain in production, just now owned by someone else. I agree that consolidation has been happening in some form forever, but mergers and acquisitions in the 90s and 2000s are up 1000s of % over the 70s, 80s and earlier. The difference is the opening of the global economy. Most most major companies used to grow by internal growth and product development, now the majority of growth is threw consolidation. That is the point I was trying to make re the last 20 years.
canadadude Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 I have not been able to understand why he has not used "Gary Loomis" since the non-compete expired...seems to me that there is an opportunity there? The Loomis name is a registered trade mark owned by Shimanno Corp, Gary sold the name along with company. It dosn't matter, him or any of his relatives or sons are not allowed to use the Loomis name wether it is there birth name or not.
Whitemikeca Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 I have not been able to understand why he has not used "Gary Loomis" since the non-compete expired...seems to me that there is an opportunity there? He has used his name. Northfork makes blanks for different rod companies including Kistler and Temple Fork. The Temple fork rod is called the "Gary Loomis signiture series". Tackle tour review of the Gary Loomis signiture seriers rod The Temple Fork rods apparently use the low modulus Northfork blank whereas the Kistler Z-bone rod uses the high modulus blank and has gotten much better reviews Kistler zbone review
Whitemikeca Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 The Loomis name is a registered trade mark owned by Shimanno Corp, Gary sold the name along with company. It dosn't matter, him or any of his relatives or sons are not allowed to use the Loomis name wether it is there birth name or not. No trademark can take your name away from you. He just can't use the name "G Loomis" See my post above about the Gary Loomis signiture series rods.
lunkerbasshunter Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 this is awful for the consumer. the reason being is these big companies that have the "brand" that consumers want and they force retailers to carry there other brands as a package deal if they want the "brand" Companies like pure fishing say they offer a one stop shop for the retailer but really its a forced hand shopping experience. It makes it a very tough road for the smaller sometimes better tackle companies to get in the door of the money making retailers for a manufacturer. WHat this means for the consumer is often dublicates of product types from different brands. This equals less options for the consumer other then what the big tackle companies want to be on the shelfs. Which is the items that they make more money on not always the items that actually catch fish. I sell retail, it is the same in most industries not just fishing.
outllaw Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 in the larger markets its force feeding consumers. in the tackle industry small independents create lures, only to be stolen from large corporate raiders. these corporations have the tools, monies to push out independents. . the largest dilema now is. Asia does not honor trademarks, patents as such. its the wild west dealing with offshore folks.
OhioFisherman Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 "And every time they buy another competitor to add to their corporation, they consolidate production......in China...but the prices don't seem to go down much." No, but it certainly allows for an increase in pay for the CEO`s!
canadadude Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 No trademark can take your name away from you. He just can't use the name "G Loomis" See my post above about the Gary Loomis signiture series rods. They advertise using Gary as the designer, but are very carefull about using his name on the product. The actual name is Temple Fork signature series and the Loomis name does not appear on the product. This advertisment may even be a copyright infrigment
Cudz Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 I have a Abu Garcia light spinning reel I use for crappie and walleye fishing....4 & 6 lb test line kept getting stuck in the bail roller guide and would nick or break the line...called them up and asked for advice...they said sent it in...but I said I didn't have a receipt...no problem, just send it in.....about week later I received a BRAND NEW REEL..... If they keep up that kind of customer service I don't care how many names they want to operate under.... Bob I had leaky gulp buckets. Talked to the lady at Pure fishing. Sent an email of a receipt I had for one bucket and told her I could not find the second one. Package arrived at my door with 4 days. 2 new buckets of gulp! I will buy more. Broken Daiwa rod (legit break too). Tried to call and email about the break. Told me to take it to Aikens. Did so and he told me it was not covered. Rod was less than one year old and was expensive enough (team Daiwa). Since that time I have and will not buy another Daiwa anything. Too bad for them.
Cudz Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 "And every time they buy another competitor to add to their corporation, they consolidate production......in China...but the prices don't seem to go down much." No, but it certainly allows for an increase in pay for the CEO`s! I agree with you but not 100%. I remember dropping about $70 bucks back in the day for a 7' lightning rod. Rods of that quality these days go for about $50. I remember paying $150 for my first baitcaster. Having said that, it still works and is about 25 years old.
Whitemikeca Posted January 23, 2011 Report Posted January 23, 2011 (edited) They advertise using Gary as the designer, but are very carefull about using his name on the product. The actual name is Temple Fork signature series and the Loomis name does not appear on the product. This advertisment may even be a copyright infrigment Read this. Loomis drops its suit against Gary Loomis Looks like templefork agreed to drop his signiture because they didnt have the money to fight the case. Loomis then dropped the suit. His signiture, the fish logo and the name G Loomis are all trademarks owned by Shimano. The name "Gary Loomis" is not a trademark of Shimano. Edited January 23, 2011 by Whitemikeca
OhioFisherman Posted January 24, 2011 Report Posted January 24, 2011 I agree with you but not 100%. I remember dropping about $70 bucks back in the day for a 7' lightning rod. Rods of that quality these days go for about $50. I remember paying $150 for my first baitcaster. Having said that, it still works and is about 25 years old. Well all of my Abu reels were made in Sweden, now their ads say engineered in Sweden, and made in Korea? China? My first new Abu reel cost me like 14 bucks when I was 10-12, I sold it and a couple grooved rim 5001`c I used for 25-30 years to a collector in Japan for 150.00 a piece, they were still like new, and I still used them. I do like the thumb bar better than the old metal push button, the one way bearing is a nice addition, but tactics, the ability to figure out what the fish are doing is a lot more important in most cases than what you are using to fish for them. Although they have managed to sell it well?
bassnass Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 Excellent string - cheers to all contributors. @ outlaw - Prime example of big guys working to push out the independents - Power Pole vs Minn Kota @ Cudz - I've never owned a Gulp container of any description that DIDN'T leak!
Headhunter Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 Leo Fender sold his guitar making business to CBS in the 70's... he could not use his name on any further business ventures... heck, he couldn't even use the same shaped headstock on his instruments. (It was the only part of his instruments he actually trademarked when he owned the company. He then opened Music Mann and produced instruments under that name, until he sold that business to Ernie Ball. He then opened up a company called G&L and ran that company until his unfortunate passing. So, here is a guy that basically "invented" and or marketed the first electric guitar/bass and was swallowed up by much larger organizations. There are many who will debate the quality changes that occured once new ownership had taken over, but as has been mentioned in an earlier post, it is the way of the world... Another example... Microsoft! Rather than try and reinvent the wheel, Microsoft has made it a huge part of their business model to simply buy ideas.... HH
bigbuck Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 Don't get me started on GULP and it's leaky containers. I had one leak in the back of the wife's minivan, took forever to get that fishy stink out trying just about everything. Vertical integration is the way of the future, or so we are told. Companies will buy out their little competitors to get the burrs out of their bonnets.
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