Geoffrey Butler Cycles - closure

[David9694]

Screenshot

A4258B85-EAF7-4F32-97AC-3FC596017516.jpeg (26.57 KiB) Viewed 2169 times

Received an email this morning.

[PH]

That's a shame, I've used them several times and sometimes called in when I had relatives in the area. They ran the CTC shop at one time and continued some of the touring lines when it went elsewhere.
Tough times for a lot of retailers.

[Jdsk]

A little more information, but no explanation of the causes:

https://www.gbcycles.co.uk/pg/125/Coronavirus-Update

https://www.gbcycles.co.uk/pg/107/Opening-Times

Jonathan

[ket]

A real shame. I bought my Brompton from them and used them a lot. Always liked their staff for their help and advice.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

That's a shame, I've used them several times and sometimes called in when I had relatives in the area. They ran the CTC shop at one time and continued some of the touring lines when it went elsewhere.
Tough times for a lot of retailers.

It was me who ran the CTC Shop so I am really sad to see them close. I have the upmost respect and fondness for all involved at Geoffrey Butler Cycles, nearly all of them have been there for years, they must all be devastated. I fear there will be more casualties during this pandemic, cycle retail has not been as amazing as many may understanbly assume.

Yes the demand for everything cycling during the summer was much higher than normal, but supply was much worse than normal and it's getting worse. A few weeks ago I quoted a customer 'June' for a Medium Trek Slash 8; which is a current bike, we had just sold the one we had ordered back in the summer; the customer responded unsurprisingly with "Oh no, five months"; I then finished what I had started and said "not June 2021, June 2022!".

The availability of parts is not much better, a few days ago I tried to quote for a custom build using the customer's existing frame and updating to Shimano GRX810, nearly all of that had late summer and into the winter lead times. I still work for a LBS and am personally still part time Furlough, I am bike fitter and salesman, I can not do the former and am very limited to what I can offer regarding the latter. Brexit has also taken everyone by surprise as well, imports are slower and far more expensive, expect to see significant price increases to bikes especially.

All the above will have been the same for Geoffrey Butler, I had a few chats with their Director Stephen Delaney during the last few months, talking through how we hoped we would get through this with supply being so poor. The distributors seem to be supporting the larger multi outlet online stores more than a quality LBS, their business model is far more 'click and collect' and they use their stores far more as that, a collection point to distribute their large stock holding. For sure they were brave and invested heavily with large orders that the suppliers fulfilled while they could. I know the majority of local bike stores were more conservative and paused to see what was going to evolve, for all we knew we were going to have to close and then have no revenue to pay for all that stock, that slight caution was both understandable and arguably I believe they were showing due diligence; sadly in hindsight it effectively resulted in them missing the opportunity to get stock while it was still available. Fair play to the decision makers and those who fund these large outlets, they took an educated gamble and it worked perfectly, but for me it's similar to Supermarkets versus local Green Grocers, Butchers and Bakers, it's all rather fabulous but I feel on many levels we are much poorer for it.

The multi outlet click and collect business model can work to an extent, although it has to be said it's these chains that often get into financial difficulty, but for me it's works far more on a business level than it does for what I would personally look for. I'm not just talking about the cycle trade, I'd much rather buy something from someone that offers a superior service than I would give my business to someone just because they can supply the item I want. In the case of a quality LBS they may offer a 'sizing' and then 'collection fit', the former not only helping with size choice but often what is the most suitable model as well; far more danger of ordering the wrong size or model when it's 'click and buy/collect'.

Odd times for us all, I sincerely hope all involved get something soon.

[thirdcrank]

In what now seems long ago - 1998(?) - somebody at GB Cycles (perhaps it was Paul) very patiently explained to me on the phone why Look cleats wouldn't work with my SPD pedals and helpfully sorted me out with what I needed. Not only very patiently but without any hint of scorn or undisguised derision. Not a typical bike shop, then.

Sad news, both for cycling in general and those involved with the business in particular. Let's hope this isn't the sign of things to come.

[Bonzo Banana]

Halfords will make a killing, it seems their logistics model is still working well in this pandemic. I saw they were offering the Carrera Subway with mechanical disc brakes and high quality freehub drivetrain for only £270 recently with their 10% off day, that's pre-pandemic pricing really. Halfords are importing many bikes directly from the far east including Cambodia and Indonesia.

In contrast it seems many local independent bike shops despite demand are really struggling for stock plus the Brexit agreement where we can't sell products imported into the UK from the rest of the world directly into the EU without tariffs also mean's the fake German products that are really fully made in Asia can't be sold in the UK without tariffs either which previously were tariff free based on the 'last significant process' rule I think it was called. The big retailers are using their clout I guess to demand stock before the independent shops too.

I don't know what they can do, maybe start selling s/hand bikes and refurbishing them.

I have to say I don't really use independent shops myself, I love visiting them to see the bikes but always buy elsewhere due to prices plus do my own maintenance.

I used to work next to a cycle shop many years ago and loved to check out the bikes. I seem to remember they said they only sold about 1 bike a day on average so I guess about 200 bikes a year. I realise they make more money from repairs and accessories, spares etc but didn't seem a lot. Even back then it felt they were close to the point that makes the difference between profit and loss. I worked in a street where basically each shop was basically a house front and the cycle shop had 2 such units. Probably about the same retail area as a Tesco Express. Not sure how Halfords would compare but they sold about 1.3 million bikes last year and have about 450 shops and of course an online shop although many online sales are dealt with by the local Halfords shops. So that is about 3000 bikes per Halfords store not allowing for any exclusive online sales. So about 15 bikes a day.

[foxychick]

Great post Paul Smith very worrying times for everyone i am afraid.

[RickH]

... I don't know what they can do, maybe start selling s/hand bikes and refurbishing them...

The problem there may still be availability of parts. Last time I was chatting to the folk in my LBS they had some repair jobs that had been waiting for months due to unavailability of parts. Unless you have enough donor bikes to scavenge the bits from then refurbishing could be problematic. Secondhand bikes could run into problems too if they need parts too.

[Cowsham]

Halfords will make a killing, it seems their logistics model is still working well in this pandemic. I saw they were offering the Carrera Subway with mechanical disc brakes and high quality freehub drivetrain for only £270 recently with their 10% off day, that's pre-pandemic pricing really. Halfords are importing many bikes directly from the far east including Cambodia and Indonesia.

In contrast it seems many local independent bike shops despite demand are really struggling for stock plus the Brexit agreement where we can't sell products imported into the UK from the rest of the world directly into the EU without tariffs also mean's the fake German products that are really fully made in Asia can't be sold in the UK without tariffs either which previously were tariff free based on the 'last significant process' rule I think it was called. The big retailers are using their clout I guess to demand stock before the independent shops too.

I don't know what they can do, maybe start selling s/hand bikes and refurbishing them.

I have to say I don't really use independent shops myself, I love visiting them to see the bikes but always buy elsewhere due to prices plus do my own maintenance.

I used to work next to a cycle shop many years ago and loved to check out the bikes. I seem to remember they said they only sold about 1 bike a day on average so I guess about 200 bikes a year. I realise they make more money from repairs and accessories, spares etc but didn't seem a lot. Even back then it felt they were close to the point that makes the difference between profit and loss. I worked in a street where basically each shop was basically a house front and the cycle shop had 2 such units. Probably about the same retail area as a Tesco Express. Not sure how Halfords would compare but they sold about 1.3 million bikes last year and have about 450 shops and of course an online shop although many online sales are dealt with by the local Halfords shops. So that is about 3000 bikes per Halfords store not allowing for any exclusive online sales. So about 15 bikes a day.

Our local Halfords seems to be reducing it's bike department. There's been fewer and fewer bikes there even before covid started. Very low bike stock store now.

[thirdcrank]

This Halfords' media release has has been widely published

Britons are on their way to owning as many bicycles as the Dutch, according to bike sellers at Halfords, who said the UK could overtake the Netherlands in five years.

https://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/na ... -halfords/

(Nothing about how many are being ridden)

[iandusud]

I read the following article with surprise.
https://road.cc/content/news/london-bik ... own-280731
It seems very strange at a time when bike shops have been reporting record sales figures and waiting lists for repairs that a well established business like Geoffrey Butlers should announce without any notice that they are closing. Does anyone know why?

[PH]

See also
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=143875

[iandusud]

...Fair play to the decision makers and those who fund these large outlets, they took an educated gamble and it worked perfectly, but for me it's similar to Supermarkets versus local Green Grocers, Butchers and Bakers, it's all rather fabulous but I feel on many levels we are much poorer for it.

The multi outlet click and collect business model can work to an extent, although it has to be said it's these chains that often get into financial difficulty, but for me it's works far more on a business level than it does for what I would personally look for. I'm not just talking about the cycle trade, I'd much rather buy something from someone that offers a superior service than I would give my business to someone just because they can supply the item I want. In the case of a quality LBS they may offer a 'sizing' and then 'collection fit', the former not only helping with size choice but often what is the most suitable model as well; far more danger of ordering the wrong size or model when it's 'click and buy/collect'.

Odd times for us all, I sincerely hope all involved get something soon.

Paul, thank you for your insight into the closure of GB Cycles and the current plight of cycle retailers, but also for a very intelligent commentary on retail in general. I couldn't agree more with you.

Ian

[iandusud]

See also
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=143875

Thank you, Ian