The merger of Gart and TSA is a watershed event forthe ski industry, but indications so far are that it will be several yearsbefore TSA will be able to really gear up on the East Coast, giving East Coastindependents a window to build customer loyalty. While it’s fairly simple tocompare, say, the cost of a baseball glove and decide whether Gart or TSA had abetter deal, selling $700 skis takes retail credibility and experienced saleshelp. At this point, TSA has neither in the alpine business and just a bit morein snowboard.

The best guess is that it will take two years ... Log in to view full article.