ORSM '12 New Exhibitors Preview: Corran
SNEWS highlights some new exhibitors at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2012 trade show. Check out Corran’s story and swing by its booth if you're at the show.
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Corran
www.corransup.com/ Corran Addison, president / San Clemente, Calif. / #PV629 / Founded 2012
Corran Addison on Corran: Corran is a one-stop shop for all things SUP. We have the most complete line of paddleboards on the market, from high-end epoxy to entry-level plastic, with aggressive pricing and dealer margins. The vast majority of our boards are made in the USA.
Tell us about your brands and products?
Our line of paddleboards is concise yet complete. Because each of the designs is so well made, it is unnecessary to have 50 or 60 models in the line-up in order to bring to the end consumer what he really wants. This makes ordering and holding stock easy for dealers, and purchasing for the end consumer less confusing. Our Surfing SUPs vary from some of the most advanced and aggressive shapes out there today, to easy-to-use fun shapes for beginners. The flatwater and crossover boards are truly unique, which is where the vast majority of the market is today, as well as being the fastest-growing segment of the market. Creating boards with efficient glide for lakes, harbors and rivers, yet still able to surf for the more eager paddleboarder. And finally, Corran’s race shapes are renowned for their top-end speed, which is no surprise given Corran Addison’s experience designing racing kayaks. Last, but not least, the plastic entry-level paddleboards are the most advanced shapes on the market today, offering the both lightest plastic board (Tahiti), and one of the most versatile (Waikiki) for recreational paddlers to fishermen.
What were you, as the founder of the company, doing before this?
I have been designing kayaks since the late 1980s and have worked for just about every major kayak company at one time or another over the years. In 2006 I began to design and build SUPs and was responsible for producing the worlds first plastic SUP, the Stand Up 12. Since then I have designed and manufactured almost a dozen designs for plastic, which are considered one of the premiere designers of both surf and racing SUPs today. My latest venture, the self-named Corran Inc., is the cumulation of this world of experience, and the products reflect this.
Where did your inspiration come from?
Having lived through the evolution of kayaking in the mid 1980s when kayaking was a sport practiced by dedicated participants using expensive and hard-to-use equipment, through to its present state as an accessible, easy-to-use-and-participate activity for everyone in the household, it has been obvious to us since the beginning of SUP that it would follow similar trends, moving away from the surf zone, where boards are expensive, fragile and hard-to-use, to inexpensive, hard-to-break, easy-to-use comfortable craft for open waterways. It was also obvious, looking at the surfing model versus the kayaking model, that the sport could not grow with the present set up of direct-to-end-user sales bypassing dealers. A similar structure to paddlesports was needed, with dealer protection, high margins, on time purchasing and so on, and Corran Inc. has set up its business model to address these issues.
What’s the one best feature of your product?
In the plastic range: lightweight, well designed, aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-use products at a very affordable price with high dealer margins. For the Epoxy range: a simple, easy-to-understand range that’s well built, and well designed for the end use.
What has been your biggest challenge?
We started the company in May of 2012 so getting everything ready for 2013 pre-season ordering in the fall of 2012 has been no easy task. Our company goal is to sell products, not vaporware, and so everything we do is done with this in mind.
Why are you exhibiting at Outdoor Retailer?
This is the best place to reach the largest number of potential customers in the USA and worldwide.
Who do you look up to in the industry?
The greats in kayaking — Bill Masters from Perception who was a visionary; Andy Zimmerman who founded Confluence; and later legacy, Tom Straus who started Emotion and came in as an underdog and built a great brand in a short time, and of course Jim Snyder who was a visionary designer in the 1980s and 1990s. In SUP the sport and industry is still too new to have any real personalities who have really made a difference (within the industry, not athletes of which there are many like Garrett McNamara, Laird Hamilton and others of course).
Who do you want to compete against in the industry?
I don’t compete with anyone. Our products and business model are so unique that I prefer to look at it in a way that we are plugging the gaping holes left open by the present business model in SUP. We’re all working to grow and expand this industry together, and we have situated ourselves in a position to where I believe every sale we make is to a new customer who would not have bought a board from any of the major players anyway because they don’t offer what we have.
