Amount to National from scout shops

[AKdenldr]

In another post a discussion raised a question for me:

 

Does anyone have any idea what National BSA makes on their uniform, awards, handbooks etc?

 

I assume that this is part of their revenue because those little tiger badges can't cost close to two dollars when manufactured in bulk.

 

I know when I worked in retail minimum markup was 100% on clothing. Any thoughts?

 

-- AK

 

 

[Eagle92]

I don't know. But I do know that when I worked for a national shop, we paid the local council rent in the form of a percentage of our net sales. Also I believe online sales are the same, if you go through your council website.

[TheGong]

I currently work for a national scout shop and we also pay rent to a council, but that is only the case in which the shop and council office are in the same building. Now for the patch price, most are made for mere pennies including the world crest which is made for one cent but sells for $1.51

[Tokala]

They have to fund Mazzucca's golden parachute somehow?

[TheGong]

We have a joke in our lodge that we must contribute to our embelzelment fund. (Our lodge is joing with 3 other lodges)

[Adam S]

Our council (Patriots' Path) has a local scout shop, I am guessing, being the middleman they pay more to national, They typically charge the same as National but they don't always have the same sales (I'm guessing it's because of the premium they pay) I imagine their profitable otherwise why not just let national run the shop.

 

Are Council run shops, still common? I remember as a youth almost every dept store and sporting good store carrried Scouting stuff but now it seems only a few stores in our area do. Is this a comon experience? I am in Northern New Jersey and I can get to 3 council shops within half an hour so those non BSA shops are not as important, but I remember someone in these forums saying they drove 3 hours one way to their district meetings and that was much closer then their council office, in cases like this I would think a local store would be a life saver. Sure there is scoutstuff.org but you cannot try anything on...

 

 

[emb021]

Adam S-

 

yes, in the old days there were local scout distributors setup in many local department stories. This was before the days of Interstates and the like, so going to where our council office was was more of a day long trip (up and back). By interstate its about a hour roundtrip.

 

By the 90s or so, the local scout distributors started to drop as National started to setup Scout Shops in local council offices, which were often better run & stocked then the old council shops, and sometimes would run satellite offices at scout camps (in cases where they might be closer to some then the council office).

 

The advent of internet sales has made it easier to get stuff, plus the improvement in shipping. (ie, now a days I can order something on-line and get it in a week, whereas in the past you'd order something and wait several weeks).

 

As noted, using a local shop is better for buying clothes, as you can try them on. When I had to get official scout shorts, I routinely tried them on, as the sizing for some reason didn't match what I could get in clothes stores. I knew I could reasonably go an buy size X at the local GAP, but knew I couldn't get the same size with scout shorts, and would usually have to get a couple sizes different.

 

[TheGong]

Up here in the Area 2 project all of our council shops will be or have already been changed into national shops, so I suspect that this will happen accros the country. Local shops dont make enough or carry enough supplies to fullfill the needs of the public.

Plus unless its a council run or national run shop they cant sell advancement.

[Scoutfish]

Our scoutshop changed to a National shop a few years back.

 

The change was better all the way around: More products, shorter wait time if you ordered something, same great employees employess with same great knowledge of products.

 

Now, If I want something, and the scout shop doesn't have it in stock, the store manager will look on her computer and let me know if it is in "the warehouse". If it is, they will have it in two days, if it's not, I know to make plans to do/get/buy something else.

 

Prices have actually become competative with outside retail shops too on alot of things like backpacks, mess kits, stove( pocket rockets) etc....

[ScoutNut]

I think that all of the local, non-Scout, privately run, shops were shut down by BSA when they moved all of their business to shops inside the local council offices.

 

We used to have a small local business which sold books, uniforms, and crafts, for both BSA, and GSUSA. The local JC Penny department store also had a Scout department. All are now history.

 

Our council changed from a local council owned Scout Shop to a National owned Scout Shop a number of years back. It made a lot more sense for both the council and it's members.

 

When the council owned the Shop the inventory was rather limited. Council had to purchase inventory from National, so anything not sold was a financial liability, moving further into the red with every second. Council was also responsible for the salaries of the Shop employees, and maintenance on the Shop area/structure itself. That all added up to a lot of overhead.

 

With a Scout Shop owned by National, all inventory is owned by National, so if it is not sold, it is simply returned to National Supply. Therefore, they have a much broader, and in-depth inventory. National also owns the Shop space, and is responsible for any maintenance, or improvements to it. They pay the local council rent for the privilege of having their Scout shop on the council premises. All National Shop employees work for, and are paid by, BSA National.

 

So, the local council gets rid of a financial millstone around their neck, gets an improved building space, and gets paid for it all. The Scouts, and Scouters get a larger, and more diverse, inventory, with easier access to National Supply.