Merlin bows are NOT dead here in the USA contrary to the general concensus in this thread! Merlin USA is still up and running and we do still have dealers onboard. Contact us at
[email protected] for more USA info on specifc dealerships near you. Dealers wanting 2008 dealer packages can contact us at (603) 899-9888, Mon-Thurs 8am-3pm, or simply e-mail the above addy.
Customers can also order from within the USA thru
www.pinwheelproducts.com if they have no physical dealership remotely near them. Merlin on both sides of the pond continues to manufacture, distribute, and service top quality equipment that any archer can be proud of.
OK, I will try to cover as many things as I can here:
1) Merlin sales dropped notably when the US dollar started dropping steadily in value about a couple of years ago and the retail prices in turn went up. The current line carries an MSRP in the USA of $1059 for all models and most USA customers are now chosing a USA built product for less money with the economy the way it is.. really that says it all in a nutshell. The current exchange rate runs between 1.97 on a good day to as much a 2.03 on a bad one. That's roughly two of our dollars to every British pound. So a $500 British bow costs near $1000 here. Toss in an 11% FET and exhorbitant overseas shipping rates just to get them into the country, then dealer markup to boot, and viola----a great bow that is crippled by currency differentials and high shipping/import fees. When we opened Merlin USA back in 2004, the exchange rate was around 1.60 and we had a couple of good years before the exchange rate really started to hurt us. The exchange rate also hurts them in British and European sales as well, simply because those dealers are finding American bows a current bargain---they can buy them two for the price of one. So Merlin along with other European bow manufacturers are currently having a tough go of it from both standpoints.
2) Pro Staff---Staff all left of their own accord and 99% of them on good terms also. There are many reasons why Staff move on, and to my knowledge there was no one particular reason why anyone did. I speak with each one coming aboard or leaving and I can tell you that most resignations were amicable, and I also stay in contact with many of them to this day. In fact we do still have Merlin staff shooters in both target and hunting formats, there are just currently no target Pros. Reason there is because most Pros want a paycheck nowadays, and Merlin simply cannot currently provide one with sales numbers being what they are. I would think that when we get up to selling over 50,000 units per year, we would also be able to regularly buy Pro staff, and implement 6 pages ads.:wink:
3) Speaking of marketing--Merlin tried their hand at some limited marketing/advertising over the years but one must realize that Merlin is a small company overall....they do not have the millions of dollars to put into a full fledged marketing assault like the conglomerates do. Both the factory and Merlin USA put funding into USA advertising on more than one occasion over the course of a few years, but unless you have considerable resources for this tactic it doesn't even remotely scratch the surface of what is needed to conduct a strong campaign. So we now choose to keep on going by word of mouth and letting the bows and those who choose to shoot them, speak for themselves. It is sad to see that the word of mouth sometimes gets twisted around, and that is why I am here to help everyone understand. For those who do not know me, I am CEO of Merlin USA and have worked closely with both Chris and Ben Jones for well over a decade now.
4) Merlin is not updating the USA available line for 2008 I'm told. The XV was released less than a year ago and it shoots great, I myself am currently shooting one in fact and it is superb. There is also nothing wrong with the XT or XS as they sit, and I currently hunt with an XS. There is no need to upgrade each year simply for the sake of saying so, imo. Everyone at Merlin agrees on this theory. Next upgrade to the line is scheduled for 2009 I'm told. There has also been deep discusssion of a USA manufactured hunting bow built to the Merlin factory's specs at Merlin USA. This would effectively conquer many of the current cost and shipping burdens that hamper us. This discussion is ongoing.Stay tuned.
5)The Merlin website will be updated when Ben can get to it. He wears many hats and is spread quite thin from what I understand. As I stated, small company.
I hope this answers some of the questions one may have about the company and it's current state with regards to it's bow line and USA sales.
