Think about it: 11 hours driving each way plus $900 in fuel. What is the break even? Jack spent a lot of time and fuel to visit far away launches. He is a dedicated vendor and a great guy, but We have heard that the online business has picked up to a point where he cannot be away. Also, due to some unfortunate splintering of the clubs in AZ and the loss of some fields and/or waivers in AZ and CA, we also have had a drop in attendance at several western launches lately, (not Desert heat, which is always attended well) which cuts foot traffic and revenue. Jack's site being temporarily down and the sale of Polecat may indicate something else, however...
The desert also takes it's toll on inventory. Jack, Andy, Eric, Scott, Pete, and every other vendor we've had to our launches all have the same problem of the inventory getting trashed as it is constantly moved in and out of a trailer, sits in the sun all day, dust, light rain, etc. and people constantly handling but not buying. I gotta believe the loss rate on that stuff is pretty high. I have seen some amazing prices paid on old inventory...
BAR came to Desert Heat this year in addition to Discount Rocketry who always come, and the selection and support of these two vendors is excellent. Their trailers are smaller, so I presume their costs are lower. You get to a point where too much is too much I guess. Jack's trailer and Tweety Bird were so large that they couldn't go everywhere. A 20 footer behind a super duty can go just about anywhere we launch. At least they can go where I can go, and I pull a 25 foot travel trailer to launches.
I think going forward, the group buy method is going to start becoming the Norm. We're looking at this at SSS as an organized contingency if we lose vendor support. Luckily, the green guys at BAR are coming to SpringBlast later this month, and they will be serving hot dogs too!