From Transworld Business:
By Press Release
Posted 12.09.2005
One of Whistler’s snowboard retail institutions has officially launched its presence on the world wide web, just in time for holiday shopping season. Showcasesnowboards.com debuted this week, offering an online alternative to shopping in one of the in-resort stores now located in Whistler, BC, Banff, AB, Vail and Winter Park, CO.
Showcasesnowboards.com represents Intrawest Retail Group’s first foray into the e-commerce realm, with a substantive online retail partnership with Burton Snowboards. “We’ve been working with Burton for some time to develop an internet affiliate relationship that would deliver an excellent on-line retail experience for both their customers and ours,” explains Intrawest Retail Group Vice President, Paul Mutch. “With the marketing reach of Burton, and our well-established retail infrastructure, we are able to provide pricing and service that is hard to beat in the snowsports e-comm scene.”
Established in 1989, Showcase Snowboards flagship store in Whistler is the largest and most established snowboard shop in that resort. Long regarded as the source for snowboard hard goods, soft goods and accessories served up with a big helping of Whistler’s core snowboard culture, go-go dancers and a bowl of Kraft Dinner, Showcase Snowboards is a proven brand in traditional brick and mortar retail operations. Intrawest hopes to take what has made Showcase special and translate it to the web. The site can be visited at showcasesnowboards.com, but more importantly, it provides a direct link from Burton’s website when burton.com visitors want to purchase on-line. Beyond a comprehensive inventory of Burton hard goods and soft goods, showcasesnowboards.com features product by other manufacturers such as Sapient, Bonfire, Option NFA, Volcom, Nikita and many more. Although the site presently exists as strictly an e-comm alternative to shopping in resort, phase II of the site will further develop the on-line location as a provider of snowboard event information and rankings, resort information, pro rider profiles and snowboard culture.
The site architecture, design and development of showcasesnowboards.com was done by Origin Design + Communications Ltd. “Origin’s understanding of snowboarding and mountain culture, combined with their design and programming expertise meant for a great choice for developing the site,“ says Mutch. Origin Design + Communications Ltd is a strategic marketing, design and communications firm specializing in resort, sports and tourism marketing. With offices in both Whistler, British Columbia and Montréal, Quebec, Origin boasts a client list that includes Intrawest, Whistler Blackcomb, Tourism Whistler, Sun Peaks Resort Corp., Salomon Canada, Mike Weigele Heliskiing and many others from within the snowsports and mountain resort industries. For more information on Origin Design + Communications, visit www.origindesign.ca.
Intrawest Corporaton (IDR:NYSE; ITW:TSX) is one of the world’s leading destination resort and adventure travel companies. Intrawest has interests in 10 mountain resorts in North America’s most popular mountain destinations, including Winter Park Ski Resort, Copper Mountain and Whistler Blackcomb, a host venue for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Intrawest Retail Group is based in Golden, Colorado and has retail operations in four US states, as well as Colorado’s largest demo rental fleet. In addition to its five licensed Billabong stores, the group operates 45 retail and rental stores, as well as one one-line store, including Breeze Ski Rentals, Max Snowboard Rentals, Showcase Snowboards, and the Mountain Adventure Centers. For more information, visit www.intrawest.com.
