| For over 70 years, the word
archery and Hoytusa have been synonyms and remain so today. Hoytusa has a rich heritage in
promoting and enhancing the sport of archery. In 1931 Earl Hoyt Sr. and Earl Hoyt Jr.
founded what was then Hoyt Archery Company.
Their first products were custom wood arrows. Granted, they were a far cry from the high
tech products of today, but in their day they were top of the line. Earl Jr. was an
engineer and over the years developed and patented many items that archers still enjoy. In
1983, Hoyt was acquired by the Easton Company, a leading edge developer and marketer of
aluminum arrows. Some might say that it was a match made in heaven. The dedication to
innovative archery products that both companies exhibit creates a great combination and a
real asset to the archery industry.
Randy Walk started in manufacturing at
Hoytusa while finishing his engineering degree. In 1995, he was given the helm at Hoyt and
is now company president. We caught up with Randy to find out what really makes Hoytusa
and the archery world tick. What we found is that Hoyt is much more that just a pretty
face in the archery community.
Q. There are a myriad of
different company types in the sporting goods industry, i.e. marketing, manufacturing,
etc. What type of company do you consider Hoyt to be?
A. Hoyt is different than many other companies in our
industry. We really are a complete company. At Hoyt, we do all of our own engineering and
the vast majority of our own manufacturing and all of our own marketing and distribution.
We pride ourselves on not needing to rely on anyone outside of our company to produce or
influence the products that we offer.
Q. Hoyt has a different distribution philosophy for their Hoyt
branded products. Why can't I buy a Hoyt bow from a catalog?
A. There are a couple key factors. The first is that
the support of the independent pro-shop is vitally important to the long term success of
the archer overall. Archery is one of those sports that demands your first experience be
positive or you probably won't come back. It takes time, proper equipment and training to
provide you with that first good experience. That pro-shop will become the expert to the
beginning archer. If the first experience isn't a good one, we lose a potential archer.
That training usually doesn't happen outside the pro-shop environment.
Q. Who is your target market archer and, if this person isn't
the beginner, what are you doing to get the beginner to that level?
A. We are a high-end bow company and most of our
efforts go towards the more experienced archer. We have a definite passion in our company
to build and sell the best archery equipment possible. Nobody else builds a better bow
that is suited for what you want to do. That forces us into the higher brackets much of
the time. Now to be honest, we battle with that a little bit, but in many cases the
consumer will pay a little more for our entry level bows. We guarantee the novice archer
that our product works and its intended use is spot on with no gimmicks. We aren't willing
to produce a cheap gimmicky product just to fill a void in the market. It goes back to
that first experience. It has to be a good one or we just lose a potential archer. When
you buy a product from us, you can be assured that anybody in our company would be
perfectly comfortable taking any of our products hunting or to a 3D range. We are not
going to design, manufacture or distribute a product that we do not believe will
ultimately help the archer, regardless of what category the archer is in.
Q. What are the most important elements that will determine the
level of
Hoyt's continued success?
A. The economy has the
ability to dramatically affect any market. Our general business practices will continue to
be conservative, so we can ride out whatever may be thrown at us. The general hunting
market is a shrinking market. That's scary. We work hard at trying to support and grow the
archery market where we can. The hunting market will continue to get pressure. We all need
to be doing what we can to
preserve those opportunities. We will continue to stick to our roots: high quality, high
performance products that absolutely work for the intended user. We will never be a low
end bow company, nor do we want to be. We couldn't make the caliber of product necessary
to satisfy our high standard and be a low end company. We will also continue to focus on
supporting our dealer base. They are the individuals that have the opportunity to really
impact the market.
Q. Joe archer walks into a pro-shop and is faced with multiple
bow manufacturer's products. What is going to make him pick up a Hoyt?
A. There are three significant factors affecting his
decision. The first is the professional behind the counter. This individual will evaluate
the customers and determine what level of archer they are and which product best suits
their ability or experience level. The second is that we rely heavily on our ad campaign
to educate the consumer on the quality features of a Hoyt bow. When you get right down to
it, the Hoyt bow may be more expensive, but you get what you pay for. We have the largest,
and I believe the most talented, design-engineering group in the industry. Because of our
abilities and the tools available, we are able to hold ourselves to a standard that is
unsurpassed in the industry. We pride ourselves in providing the highest quality,
best-built, safest products in the industry today. We refuse to cut corners. If you want
to buy a compound bow, I guarantee that Hoytusa produces a bow that will fit your style of
shooting. That guarantee comes without sacrificing quality, fit, finish, function or
durability. It is built into all of them. The benefits we get from our split limb
technology do not really exist in our competitor's products. Benefits like durability,
performance and uniform stress distribution make for a quieter, more accurate bow that
weighs less with less vibration. Our TEC risers are unique. TEC is a tremendous tool in
bow design. It makes a bow stiffer which makes it vibrate less and distributes the
vibration away from the grip. The consumer gets a vibration free bow, a quiet bow, a very
durable bow, but he also gets a lot more than that. He gets advancements in design
concepts that are not available from any other
manufacturer. And besides, it looks cool.
Q. What are the most innovative items or ideas that Hoyt has
contributed to the industry recently?
A. I think the AIM system (integrated string and cable
system) has improved the performance, noise level, overall durability, and adjustability
of bows more than any one item. Virtually every compound bow manufacturer in the world
today utilizes the AIM system. It was a tough sell. We were replacing steel with string
and that was scary, but the end result was a stronger product. The TEC series riser was
the second. It was developed in the 1994-95 period. We offered one TEC bow in 1996 and
today every compound bow riser in our line utilizes TEC technology. The third has to be
our XT 2000 limb. It is the pinnacle of durability and performance in a limb. It is
virtually indestructible. When you look at how much we preload the limb, it is really
amazing. The preload provides noise reduction, vibration reduction and performance
enhancements. No other limb allows for those features.
Q. What is the single greatest development in archery since you
have been
participating in the industry?
A. I honestly believe that it is the AIM system. It is
one of the only ideas that has been proven by the industry as a whole. It has improved
virtually every aspect of the bow that it influences.
Q. What does the future hold for bow hunting?
A. I think the future looks good and strong for many
years to come. We have a lot of issues out there to deal with. Obviously, the anti-hunting
movement is strong and well funded. Also the economy can hurt us. Archery is a hobby
sport, not a necessity, and a tight economy often hurts the hobbies first. The average
archer is in his mid-thirties and getting older each year. We need to get more youth
involved and introduce gun hunters to another opportunity in bow hunting.
Q. What is your dream hunt?
A. The one that I don't have to come home from. But, if
I have to be realistic, I think it has to be Africa. I have scheduled Africa with a bow
several times and circumstances haven't allowed me to get there. That is my next goal, and
I will follow it up with a brown bear hunt because they are just as addicting.  The Score Sheet |
