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Have you ever wanted to carry Orvis products without the commitment of becoming an Orvis dealer? Well, Orvis has created a new dealer program that it says will make it easier for retailers to do business with them. According to the company, the program promises access to more benefits through a simplified dealer structure designed with a retailer's business in mind.

Under the old program, Regular Orvis Dealers had certain minimums they needed to maintain with the company but could buy competitive tackle, as well. Full Dealers, on the other hand, signed a contract to exclusively buy Orvis fly-fishing tackle. For these dealers, there was a wider range of products to choose from compared to Regular Dealers. As time passed and the number of fly-fishing products proliferated, these Full Dealers met some challenges.

"The Full Dealer is a big chunk of our business," says Orvis' Tom Kunysz. "But, as the fly-fishing tackle business has grown, a lot of new suppliers have cropped up. In some cases, we weren't able to supply all the fly-fishing tackle needs that a Full Dealer might have."

He uses the example of large arbor reels. "We have a great program now," says Kunysz, "but we were a little slow coming out of the box. We had some Full Dealers saying that they wanted to carry a competitive brand. Our managerial take was, well, you can't do that, you signed a contract."

So, Orvis discovered some tension. "I tell ya, for our single best customers, it's not a way to grow long-term successful relationships with them," he says. "You end up drawing a line in the sand, and both sides become so polarized, it can make for tough relations."

About a year ago, Orvis' director of wholesale left and sales have since been flat. It caused the company to rethink its philosophy on things. After about two months of research and meetings, the wholesale department ended up with a new program.

"Our fly-fishing tackle line is good," continues Kunysz. "There are good shops in the trade that we're not in. So, part of our program is designed to be attractive to good quality fly shops. In the past, we didn't have much to sell them on. They don't want to be exclusive with Orvis because of relationships with other manufacturers. This new program was made to take a wide range of benefits and make them more accessible to all of our dealers, but, at the same time, protecting our Exclusive Dealers."

The new dealer structure has four levels—Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum—which offer varying degrees of investment in Orvis' products. The Basic is an introductory level of up to $50,000 worth of Orvis signature product lines, including rods, reels, waders, lines, tippets, fly-tying materials and tools, as well as some others. All the way up to the Platinum level, a retailer becomes an exclusive supplier of Orvis fly-fishing products.

"[This new program] represents a major philosophical change," says Kunysz. "Rather than trying to rule our Full Dealer network by an iron fist and a contract, we want our program and our product to be so good that dealers want to do more business with us."

—J. Michael McGovern