Monday, September 21, 2009

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Riding wake of 'board' culture

Financial Post

Handout

OffAxis (offaxis.ca)

Entrepreneurs: Doug and Danny Elder

Location: Regina

Brothers Doug and Danny Elder were teaching wakeboarding at a lake near
Regina in 2001, when they got the idea for Off Axis, a retail store offering
wakeboards. "It's like water skiing behind a boat, except you're on a board,"
says Doug Elder about the sport.

Later, they expanded inventory to include snowboards, skateboards, and
clothing that caters to the culture of extreme sports.

At first, things were tough: "We didn't have a lot of money to advertise. To
profile our store, we built a snow slope in our parking lot, and staged a
snowboarding event," Doug recalls. That event became the annual SaskTel
JibFest.

In the summer, the Elders stage SaskTel Summer Invasion, a festival featuring
wakeboarding, motocross, skateboarding, a vendor village, and live-band
performances. Both events attract large crowds and corporate sponsors.

But it is the brother's complementary skills that have driven their success.
"I'm the paper pusher who handles the day-to-day management. Danny's the
visionary, watching for fashion trends and recruiting the right bands for the
sport events," Doug says.

The brothers also run Super-Grom, a shop for children, and plan to open
another store in the fall. Cross-marketing of apparel, music, and sports events
has spread their reputation far beyond Regina.

In 2008, the Elders received the Business Development Bank of Canada Award
for Young Entrepreneur for Saskatchewan which Danny attributes to their
strategy: "Our customers come first. They are why we're here. We're here to
serve them."

Burke Campbell, Financial Post

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