Lab Note Published: 29/01/10

Filo Jacket Woes

 

It is clear there is a greater demand for our jackets than we have been able to supply this year. Some people have not been able to get the colour and size combination they had been waiting for. We have had emails asking what went wrong with the Filos.. I'd like to flip that around and tell you what went right with the Filos.
 
- We ordered a lot of Filos this year, almost twice as many as last year. It was pretty scary looking at the figures on the invoices whilst placing the orders. 
- The cold weather and snow came unusually early and it hung around.
- We didn't advertise the Filo jacket on any media other than in our shop.
- We had some great reviews in magazines and websites on the quality and the price of the Filo.
 
The first question we are asked is why we didn't just order more jackets.. the truth is we did. What we didn't know when we placed our order 9 months ago is that it would be one of the snowiest winters on record. Because of our long lead times we can't just pick up the phone and get our supplier to make 1000 more jackets within the season. If we did you probably wouldn't get your new sleeping mats in the summer. Normally in the grand scheme of things most people do not make purchases of down clothing until the New Year (if you looked in most outdoor shops in the run up to Christmas, there were plenty of deals on down) so in a 'normal' season this wouldn't have been a problem. 
 
We are still pretty much on our own forging ahead with our Alpkit brand at Alpkit prices. As more and more people find out about us sudden blips on demand can leave us high and dry. If we were just another outdoor store we could stock another brand or style. If the shelves were bare you'd probably just walk out and try the outdoor store down the road. You can't do this with our jackets. We design them, we source them, we ship them, you benefit from the price.
 
We have always thought it more sustainable to order in what we thought we could sell for a fair price rather than over order, sell half at an inflated price and sell half the stock at a reduced price after a hot summer with some heavy guys knocking down our door. We love the fact you can email, call us and speak to us directly and we do feel bad so many customers have been unable to purchase a Filo this time round. However we are in this for the long run and we hope that our prudent approach will ensure we can bring you better and better products for many years to come. We are growing, we are taking a chance on the weather and ordering even more jackets next year and as we introduce more models and lines pressure on individual items should become less and less.
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alpjim

Comments

I’m with Si (and the others) on this. I’ve been in contact since last November, but didn’t get an “in stock” email, so I missed the “June” batch; now the price is up and going upper.
Is there an Alpkit jacket with synthetic fill?

Posted on 07 October, 2010 by powerjohn

Hi David

Jim’s message was written in January when the initial rush was taking our website by storm.  We finally sold out of the men’s jackets in February/March time but, for the first time ever, we will be getting some more in the summer.  They will be available in Lego Blue and Black and should be arriving some time in June.  If you would like to be notified when they arrive, please add yourself to the stock notification list online at http://www.alpkit.com/support/product_updates/

Thanks

Jenni

Posted on 05 May, 2010 by Jenni

Does this mean there won’t be any new Filo jackets until the end of 2010? Would have loved a Filo for the chilly alpine nights in may and beginning of june..

Posted on 05 May, 2010 by David

I totally agree with your attitude to substainable business. So many people nowadays are just out to make a quick buck, unfortunately the banks are like this too, so they’ve often been the ones to get most financial banking. Lets hope recession changes this model, if it does, you guys will hit the ground running!

On a different topic, reading through some of the older notes, I saw one idea was a synthetic bag. Is something along the lines of fibre- pile realistic? As more of a bushcraft-y person I’m thinking of dreich Scottish mornings where you wake up in your bivvy and think ‘this cannae be good for me doon’. Its not so much rain as just wet air.

Cheers

Posted on 02 March, 2010 by Malcolm

Hi Scotty and Si

I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t receive the stock notification emails.  They were sent out as promised as soon as the stock arrived.  I cannot see your email addresses from your posts so cannot check our customer service inbox to see if you have already emailed us about this problem, however if you haven’t and would like us to follow this up, please email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Thanks

Jenni

Posted on 18 February, 2010 by Jenni

Understand your situation, but as said in a previous email what happened to my notification that the filos were back in stock. I have missed out now and will now have to shell out another £75 and buy a ME Lightline instead.

Posted on 30 January, 2010 by Scotty

Hi guys, when are you going to bring out Filo+? A filo with a waterproof outer shell would really go down well in the UK given our damp wet conditions.

Great kit at fantastic prices

Posted on 30 January, 2010 by Paul McCarthy

Understand the ordering problem but the promised e-mail when they were in stock never happened. Been waiting since last September so a bit frustrated.

Posted on 30 January, 2010 by Si

yeah no worries, great kit!

Posted on 29 January, 2010 by Ian
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