Cowsham wrote: ↑25 Oct 2023, 12:22pm
The most horrible thing to hear is a customer saying ( even now 24 years later when I hear someone say it about another retailer ) " Look at how cheap I bought that thing at -- just shows that they must be making a fortune off the usual price."
Little did they know the full price had a 5% margin and now making a 50% loss on the wholesale price they paid cos another wholesaler needs paid.
Yes, I've heard that many times. There seems to be a reluctance from customers to accept that the shop/manufacturer does actually need to make a profit.
"In the days when I was in business ownership of goods only transferred once payment had been made."
Indeed true. The small print with one of my suppliers* says/said that once the goods had been delivered, the ownership of the goods remained with the supplier, and they should be stored separately from goods that had been paid for.
Of course, no one does this, they just get delivered and put out on sale. The supplier then being paid at the end of the (usually) 1 month accounting period.
*I think this was the late Moore Large supplier.....
Islabikes is a totally different kettle of fish to an internet giant. Lots of people seem to be suffering.
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Supporter of the A10 corridor cycling campaign serving Royston to Cambridge http://a10corridorcycle.com. Never knew gardening secateurs were an essential part of the on bike tool kit until I took up campaigning.....
Another thread has been started in Family Cycling about Islabikes' closure - viewtopic.php?t=158568.
Islabikes is a rather special niche bike manufacturer, and I think it might be useful for it to have that separate thread for questions and information relevant specifically to Islabikes and owners of their bikes, and to keep this thread for more general discussion of the state of the cycle industry and also of the woes of Wiggle/CRC, since Wiggle/CRC is so big and whatever happens to it might have significant knock on effects for the rest of the UK cycle trade.
Is this our 'golden age ' of cycling coming to an end? Never thought cycle retail should ever have been this big in the first place but enjoyed it while it lasted. Now where am I going to get those nice cheap but really good lifeline mudguards at ?
I've recently bought products (headtorch and sleeping mat) from Wildbounds and Summits Outdoor. I hadn't previously heard of Wildbounds but they're based in Bristot and their owner/founder is a man called Tom Oswald. Summits is a family firm (shop and on-line) based in Paisley. I like to know who I am buying from and, as I said to the lady from Summits, I'm a loyal customer despite their shop being about 500 miles from where I live. Good retailers are still out there and we can make a choice. AFAIAC, Spa Cycles is still my LBS (300 miles away). The post is a wonderful thing and after all, the internet/on-line is still only mail order by another name.
PS As someone mentioned above about the cost of high street premises, I am always even more delighted when my LB"S" doesn't have a shop but just a shed somewhere.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Makes you think what would have happened if Wiggle and CRC hadn't merged. It would be a problematic market for all, but both wouldn't have been cut down by one profitability decision from a global owner.
I know the title of this thread is specifically "Cycle Retail" and there's a lot of theorizing why that would be, but is there any evidence that the cycle industry is doing worse than any other retail?
I've been into town this morning looking to buy a kitchen gift for a house warming. I might previously have started at the recently closed Wilkos, maybe just for some ideas, then the local department store which closed a couple of years ago after a long history. Lakeland closed the local branch in a restructuring, there used to be a Debenhams with a good household department, then there was the rather pricey independent which started in the (Now closed) market before moving into the shopping center from where it's also gone,
I ran out of ideas and came home empty handed, there's a few cheap stores that I know won't have the sort of thing I'm looking for, or an out of town Dunelm which I might try on another day.
Derby has lost four of it's six bike shops over the last decade, though we also have two newer ones opened in the same, or similar, period. That's a better record than the saucepan shops.
I think we suffer from a wide disparity of income in an increasingly unequal society and this is reflected in the up-market / down-market providers of goods and services.
I'm looking for a new bicycle, and last week visited two retailers in Lancaster:
Leisure Lakes, a small chain with about a dozen locations. Pleasant shop full of expensive, technical, complicated splendid looking 'proper' bikes. The mountain bikes are astonishing. The accessories hanging on the wall all look well made, usable. The man behind the counter says hello as I walk in, has endless time to discuss the intricacies of chainwheels, clutches .....
Halfords. Huge space filled with dozens of bikes. If I write what I really think I'd probably have to moderate myself, but just how good do you think a junior full suspension mountain bike for £225 is going to be, and how long will it last, and how soon will the birthday joy turn in to a rusty clunk-pile ? Lots of parts on display: mostly cheap, fragile looking. Man behind counter not remotely interested, when asked about a particular Boardman bike "That's one of our internet only bikes" - not a hint of any interest or anything helpful.
With a bit of luck Leisure Lakes will survive: I'm not the only person who would prefer to deal with a real, interested, knowledgeable human who might even 'phone me back.
ncutler wrote: ↑28 Oct 2023, 4:16pm
...
With a bit of luck Leisure Lakes will survive: I'm not the only person who would prefer to deal with a real, interested, knowledgeable human who might even 'phone me back.
I wonder the extent that the internet is interfering. Online I've always found Leisure Lakes expensive and whilst I appreciate earlier comments about margins, pricing and the need to be profitable to stay in business, when facing a choice of paying £100 or £80 for the same item which do you chose?
My LBS practice is that they cannot compete with internet pricing. Buy the component from them and they'll fit it free. Buy it on the internet and they'll fit it but charge you their standard hourly rate (with a min.). Which seems fair enough. Next visit I'll ask how many but components elsewhere and pay for fitting. Plus I have no idea if they are stable and profitable or struggling. Certainly their workshop is always fully booker for a few weeks ahead (but they still squeeze in urgent smaller repairs to "keep you on the road"). nb Only time I've purchased online and paid their hourly labour was for components they said they would have to be on a 3 month lead time (from the UK distributor) yet some online sellers still had stock.
ncutler wrote: ↑28 Oct 2023, 4:16pm
I think we suffer from a wide disparity of income in an increasingly unequal society and this is reflected in the up-market / down-market providers of goods and services.
I'm looking for a new bicycle, and last week visited two retailers in Lancaster:
Leisure Lakes, a small chain with about a dozen locations. Pleasant shop full of expensive, technical, complicated splendid looking 'proper' bikes. The mountain bikes are astonishing. The accessories hanging on the wall all look well made, usable. The man behind the counter says hello as I walk in, has endless time to discuss the intricacies of chainwheels, clutches .....
Halfords. Huge space filled with dozens of bikes. If I write what I really think I'd probably have to moderate myself, but just how good do you think a junior full suspension mountain bike for £225 is going to be, and how long will it last, and how soon will the birthday joy turn in to a rusty clunk-pile ? Lots of parts on display: mostly cheap, fragile looking. Man behind counter not remotely interested, when asked about a particular Boardman bike "That's one of our internet only bikes" - not a hint of any interest or anything helpful.
With a bit of luck Leisure Lakes will survive: I'm not the only person who would prefer to deal with a real, interested, knowledgeable human who might even 'phone me back.
