Orvis to Acquire the Scientific Anglers and Ross Reels
- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated May 28, 2013 at 2:30 am by
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Maybe old news but given what Steve Hemkens said in his podcast, things now make sense. Always liked SA saltwater lines…and now USA made Orvis reels …maybe?
The Orvis Company, Inc. of Manchester, Vermont today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Scientific Anglers and Ross Reels businesses from 3M….Orvis News-
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It’s a good purchase for Orvis. SA is by far the stronger asset. It will be touch and go to see if they can keep Ross afloat; I hope so.
Zach
<cite> @ZachMatthews said:</cite>
It’s a good purchase for Orvis. SA is by far the stronger asset. It will be touch and go to see if they can keep Ross afloat; I hope so.Zach
Hopefully they can use Ross to manufacture their own reels which could have 2 beefits: keeping Ross busy and a viable concern; dealing with the oft raised issue of Orvis’ overseas manufacturing of reels, particularly the high end/cost ones.
I’ll be interested to see how this plays out. SA has by far been the most persistently innovative of the line companies (coming up with microspheres, the AST type stuff / line coatings, density compensated sinking lines, textured lines and probably a lot of other stuff). I have, rightly or wrongly, attributed a lot of this to being attached with a larger chemical company and the knowledge exchange derived from that. What will happen now? Yeah, Orvis says they will keep SA independent – even if they do, what will the result be? Will the loss of the 3M infrastructure eventually leave SA fallow?
As for Ross Reels, I could always take or leave them – I viewed them a lot like Orvis reels – meh, mostly. (SA did sell some dynamite reels – the Charlton, the Mastery Series and System 3).
Scott –
I think you’re right that being part of the 3M structure was a big part of SA’s innovation level.
For years I would hassle Tim Pommer about them needing to make their microspheres with helium to lower the specific density of the lines and make them float higher. Turns out microspheres aren’t really made for fly line applications specifically at all – they are sourced from some other random industry that needs them for something else. Helium isn’t needed for that other application–and if it were not for that other need, they wouldn’t exist in the first place.
That’s just one example and there are probably a zillion more.
Zach
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