ELC is doing better than some may think

[D97x7]

Have anyone went to their showroom in Devon by the way??

I went down there earlier this year, it's only about an hour from me so I'll definitely be back again, when I remortgage the house that is.

 

[Serghei87]

Spot on John. You only have to look at their Instagram page now as well, where they're positioning their products in photographs alongside things like Louis Vuitton bags - other hugely popular luxury products in the Far East.

It is understandable..they want to become a luxury brand...it is a strategy that will work because image nowadays counts a lot especially when you wear a premium brand

 

[Smithy]

I just want a lead on the Chinese limos with the Austin 1800 front ends!

Wouldn't be a bad time to have a Bentley dealership in Shanghai or Guangzhou.

 

[Skanstull]

I had my two jackets, made to order I assume, dispatched in three weeks and five weeks respectively, with orders placed in August and September this year. One 55J14 and one 1401P.

 

[Smithy]

It is understandable..they want to become a luxury brand...it is a strategy that will work because image nowadays counts a lot especially when you wear a premium brand

It's not entirely set in stone that it will work for them in the long term though. ELC has a very niche product in terms of comparison with the big high end luxury brands - even Ralph Lauren is far more flexible and can change product line up from season to season, year to year, to adapt to fashion trends and movements. ELC don't have the similar freedom of just changing what they sell to adapt to a changing market. If there were suddenly a big move away from vintage, flying jackets and mid 20th century/wartime Americana in markets like China and Japan, they'd probably be very vulnerable. Because of their business model and their relatively small size they can't overnight change to making something else. And because their pricing strategy has been deliberately developed to move them more into those markets, they couldn't just try and pick up business in their traditional markets without changing their pricing, and that would throw up huge problems.

I'm not saying that that is necessarily going to happen, it's probably highly unlikely that it would, but if it did they'd be up shit creek without a paddle.

 

[crism1]

Great ! Business supports society....

Business supports Business

 

[Officer Dibley]

They have indirectly cut away the poor people from their customer base.

Says the guy with hundreds of jackets all still unworn in their bags ! You & people like you Couchy are part of the problem ! Rich people buying more than they could ever wear in one lifetime lol If i win the lottery, i’ll be just like you !

 

[MikeyB-17]

I can see it getting to the point where you can no longer afford the jacket that you used to own, but sold offA few years back.

It’s already happened. My house A-2 cost me £250 in 1997. The equivalent now is £900 (I see the steerhide house A-2 appears to have disappeared from the website). I am not paying that.

 

[Brettafett]

At the Air shows they were exposed to a cross section of age groups, of aviation-interested people. Yes, people were interested and tried on jackets, but I dont know that they sold a lot.
At the pop-up, I was there twice this season, second time for well over an hour, maybe hour and a half. Have been to every pop-up since they started and Airshows every year.
What I noticed, was that the people coming into the London pop-up were older guys (a couple with their partners). I don't mean 'old', but from I could judge, mostly in the 30s to 50's plus... All well-dressed, neat looking folk. A few were clearly familiar faces and return customers. I never saw anyone that appeared below 30, or even late 30s/ 40s this last time. Of course this is relative, just saying...
Also, while I was there, at least two jackets were bought, and another seemed imminent. One was an A-2, one was a Buzz MA-1 and the other was either a B-3 or something...

 

[Officer Dibley]

You have to sell a lot of merchandise to pay for wages, loss of personnel at the factory ( customer service types who’s absence needs back filling), lodging, travel costs, rental of shop etc.......

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Wait times are more to do with staff numbers than any other single factor. Ask John Chapman
Anyone ever seen inside the actual workshop in Gary's new premises, I believe the old facility had 5 machinist but that's hearsay

 

[crism1]

Well below 30 it would be very hard to shell that sum of money I'm at the door of 30 and only now I'm prepared (mentally) to afford this kind of items, but maybe for UKers is not such a drastic money investment for the average income.

Also, younger audiences are more into cheap and fast-fashion trends (a bliss of fashion houses, they can build low-quality stuff and sell it for high prices), while this stuff tends to be on the other spectrum of the clothing philosophy. That's also where the problem of the Far Eastern market would be in the future. Rich Japanese\Chinese kids are buying these kinds of goods for a number of reasons, one is, as Smithy pointed, a huge fascination for American culture and Americana. Thankfully for Eastman, in that area, this trend doesn't seem to be a fast one, a matter of fact it's been quite a few years, but it's a trend nonetheless.

Would it be better to chase the momentary gold mines or to build a specific customer base? The answer is not that simple also because, as already mentioned, they offer quality pieces that once you buy you may be done for the rest for your life, never becoming a regular customer. And what if they are raising prices because now they can afford to pay a bit more their workforce?

The only definitive part of the equation is that with the prices rising the quality never went down as sometimes you would expect.

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

You have to sell a lot of merchandise to pay for wages, loss of personnel at the factory ( customer service types who’s absence needs back filling), lodging, travel costs, rental of shop etc.......

Shows, whether trade or open to the public, are in my experience "loss leaders" a bit like an advert in a glossy mag or a "meet and greet"
Shows held on one's own premises are a whole other ball game. visitors love to see all the workings and day to day goings on

 

[D97x7]

Must admit I didn't take much notice of the machinists, the whole place did strike me as smaller than imagined though. I don't think there was more than 10 cars in the staff car park, which again struck me as not very many.

 

[Serghei87]

As i remember from the pop up shop, they told me they have 7 people doing the jackets

 

[Officer Dibley]

Better to have a backlog than employ too many people - all of whom require training, sick and holiday pay, pension contributions etc, only to let them go a couple of years down the road with severance pay......
Running a business, even a profitable one, is a real headache and responsibility. I’d not want it again. Respect to Ken & Gary for having the balls and stamina to do it.

 

[tjoenn]

Wait times are more to do with staff numbers than any other single factor. Ask John Chapman
Anyone ever seen inside the actual workshop in Gary's new premises, I believe the old facility had 5 machinist but that's hearsay

Been to both the old and new facilities. Took pictures but promised Rob I wouldn't post them online

 

[colekwok]

Well, judging from their pop-up at Shoreditch every year, you know what their targeted fan base is these days, more like young middle-class with plenty of disposable income. Besides from us hard-core flight jacket enthusiasts, I suspect people who buy ELC/ELMC jackets are those who want to stand out from the crowd, who want to be different from the norm.

As for the Far-East market, I am not really sure about the volume size that they are shipping to China, but I know that there are huge demands in both Taiwan and Japan. From what I observe, most people there will probably just buy one jacket and one jacket only, and that is A-2, simply because it is iconic. I am also not so sure about how popular their ELMC range is over there.

 

[Smithy]

As for the Far-East market

Another interesting little clue about this is go over to their Instagram page and see how many Asian people they have wearing their clothing in their images. Once again I think this is very telling both in terms of who is buying their things but also just as importantly - and maybe even more so - who they want people to see is buying their things. You can tell a lot about what and to whom a company wants to market from looking how they position their products via their social media presence.

 

[John Lever]

Just checked the web site. Eastman sell from 21 shops in China and Taiwan, and I bet they will all have stock. That number of outlets takes a lot of filling. There is your 6 month wait time.
Sorry but unless you offer a bespoke service like J.C or Thedi, 6 months to me means the product is unavailable.
Also as batches of materials vary, you have no clue as to what you will get.