These things have gone from a great commodity to being one of strictly luxury with only limited numbers of collectors. To survive, it must appeal to a much broader base of consumers beyond the current crop of 'die-hards'who buy every HL issued.
You make a very valid point, Pharologst. Harbour Lights definitely needs to launch a grassroots effort of reaching those consumers who have expendable cash. HL Dealers are disappearing on a regular basis and that is not a good thing. Dealers close and HL loses collectors who can no longer walk into a store to view the latest releases to get the collective juices flowing.
The demise of these dealers is not because of HL's but rather a sign of an economy that no longer supports what could be considered frivolous spending. Do you spend $75 on a collectible or do you need that money to buy groceries or put gas in your vehicle.
It reminds me of what a Block Islander once told me. There are two types of money, regular and vacation money. You wouldn't pay $5 for a hot dog at home but you would on vacation. Vacation money is considered expendable cash. Regular money pays your bills and feeds your family.
Harbour Lights needs to appeal more to those who are at an age where they have extra cash and are not planning on down-sizing because of retirement. They need to reach more people who are in it for the long run and are not worried about living on a fixed income. I would say their target should be people who have raised their children and are in a position to have a few extra bucks to spend to treat themselves to things they couldn't buy when they were raising their kids or working two jobs to pay for their home.
Another important factor Harbour Lights needs to work on is building a larger base of loyal customers. Increasing their current base will require establishing new dealers in key locations probably through heavy advertising. Special events will bring many potential new people in and a warm friendly greeting from company representatives, accompanied with representaion from several serious collectors to talk-up the line, will hopefully reach a few attendees that will be repeat customers for years to come.
Is there a future for Harbour Lights? I'm betting on it. The key is getting more loyal customers involved in the line. Think about it. We have millions of consumers out there and Harbour Lights will only need three or four thousand of them to purchase their offerings to sell out every new release. Can this goal be reached? If each new release sells out within a reasonable period of time, will this increase the value of that model? I would say so.
Bob
