State of the industry: a running thread

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It's not just bike shops. It's getting harder and harder to afford to run a business from bricks and mortar premises. I live in a prosperous town. Five years ago there were maybe one or two empty shops at any one time. Now it's nearer 20.

I know a few local mechanics who gave up their high street shops and do mobile servicing, offering collection and drop off. They seem much happier and more affluent than when they were tied to shop hours and stock. Running a shop is to some extent a lifestyle choice - there are other, arguably, more enjoyable and profitable ways to offer an excellent service to customers.
 
wynne said:
It's not just bike shops. It's getting harder and harder to afford to run a business from bricks and mortar premises. I live in a prosperous town. Five years ago there were maybe one or two empty shops at any one time. Now it's nearer 20.

I know a few local mechanics who gave up their high street shops and do mobile servicing, offering collection and drop off. They seem much happier and more affluent than when they were tied to shop hours and stock. Running a shop is to some extent a lifestyle choice - there are other, arguably, more enjoyable and profitable ways to offer an excellent service to customers.
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I agree about the servicing and also not maintaining any inventory etc, one shop near me ( actually my nearest) has done just this and upstairs is now a very pleasant cafe with just a small workshop in the basement and no stock of new or second hand bikes nor parts inventory at all. He told me that he was making zero cash on selling bikes, new or old so it just wasn't worth the effort - I am not sure how profitable it can be to do just servicing but probably more lucrative than selling stuff, plus the cafe is positively thriving.
 
Servicing is a slog, and that's putting mildly from the many conversations I've had with LBS owners over the years. I'll refer to a statement earlier on the thread; it's a lifestyle choice!

The margins are minimal, as are, perhaps even more so, food and drink.
 
The key to bricks and mortar retail success is understanding that having a customer walk through your door and giving you an opportunity to sell to them is a privilege.

Too often now the attitude of retailers seems to be that they are doing you a favour by being open and letting you into the store.

The high street names that survive will be the ones who offer something more whether that is exceptional service, high quality, good value or just plain old ‘theatre’.
 
Most of my customers are ok but there are some that are very very entitled, thats about the only way I can put it.

Their attitude is that I should be repairing their crapped out shitbox no matter what

'But I've got a warranty!' is the next one - but not with us you haven't

'why cant you fix it??' - Your Body Control Module has a fault, its surfacemount components and the manufacturer has the modules on backorder (i.e no longer available) - so many BCMs are failing leaving cars with MOT faults such as wipers or fog lights - cars as new as 67 plate, I can get around many issues but some are simply not fixable. Non starters, main beam, dipped beam but the worst are the engine management lights that just will not go away no matter what sensor is replaced

smart alternators that are not, battery monitoring systems that dont, canbus that cantbus

I'm considering a new career next year
 
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legrandefromage said:
Most of my customers are ok but there are some that are very very entitled, thats about the only way I can put it.

Their attitude is that I should be repairing their crapped out shitbox no matter what

'But I've got a warranty!' is the next one - but not with us you haven't

'why cant you fix it??' - Your Body Control Module has a fault, its surfacemount components and the manufacturer has the modules on backorder (i.e no longer available) - so many BCMs are failing leaving cars with MOT faults such as wipers or fog lights - cars as new as 67 plate, I can get around many issues but some are simply not fixable. Non starters, main beam, dipped beam but the worst are the engine management lights that just will not go away no matter what sensor is replaced

smart alternators that are not, battery monitoring systems that dont, canbus that cantbus

I'm considering a new career next year
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Classic car restoration?
 
W7Ford said:
I don't personally buy from my local bike shops despite spending quite a bit of my spare cash on bikes.

This thread made me consider why that is for me personally :-

Convenience - the obvious point of not having to leave my armchair to get what I need, it only requires a tiny bit of forward planning to get the part in a few days time, I dont have to drive to my nearest town, likely sitting in traffic, pay for parking and drive back again.

Stocked items - Being a fan of retro bikes, my local LBS don't have much in that interests me, they seem to be much more sparsely filled with parts/bikes than I remember from the old days.

Cost - It's rare for my local LBS to be able to compete on cost so they'd need to offer something else.

Lack of added value - my LBS doesnt offer me personally any added value, I can build a wheel, i can bleed a brake, I can unseize a seatpost at home, and I get a nice sense of satisfaction from doing it. My bikes dont tend to have anything more complex than that on them, and there's so many videos out there that if I'm unsure over some manufacturer specific detail, I'll watch one.

Social - I dont gain much from the social interaction, in past LBS experiences, I havent encountered anyone for a long time who wasnt either miserable or massively pushy. I'd be happy with a basic 'hello' and 'give me a shout if you need any help', and a bit of general knowledge if asked, I'm not expecting or wanting much more. Some LBS that arent local to me seem to have a bit of community spirit, sell tea/coffee/cakes and organise local rides, mine don't, so I cant comment on that.

The last thing I bought from a bike shop was a rechargeable knog light for my daughter, I was looking for childs gloves and a stubby water bottle that would fit her small framed 20" wheel bike but they had none in stock. I very occasionally will look in a bike shop if I'm passing one, but it's usually a very quick look round and exit.

If my local LBS closed, I'm not sure what the negative effect on me would be, probably none. The effects on the wider industry if all bike shops closed are beyond my brain.

I'm also a self employed person who could be considered to be in a similar boat as a bike shop owner (but a different industry) but feel no sense of obligation to help someone just because they are a little guy. In my own work, I find that other small businesses create the most headaches for me, are slow to pay, and also dont always appreciate the value that they can get from me, I used to spend a lot of time quoting to not get any acknowledgement in return. Ironically many of them went to the 'bigger guys', who I do contract work for at a much better rate than my direct to client, so I tend to stick to the hassle free work, get paid more, and let an account manager act as a go-between and swallow the hassle, at the cost detriment to the small business. I've completed several pieces of work for people who turned down or ignored my quote, and unbeknown to them, I did the work anyway.

Not a reflection on jonnyboy666, I havent been to his shop, or met him, I'm sure he's very helpful with his customers.

I'm probably not the right kind of target customer for these shops anyway, but the bottom line is I DO spend money on cycling regularly, and I don't do it in any physical shop.
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I guess experiences are going to vary. My local bike shops (not that there are many left) are pleasant, friendly, helpful places. Halfords has some staff whose knowledge is too limited but the guy who works there full time and has done for years really knows his stuff. However, it's not a case of brick and mortar or online: they're all bricks and mortar and online. And I appreciate having the choice.

On another note, this article looks at the state of the industry from a completely different but none-too-encouraging angle: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...rs-tell-us-why-and-whats-being-done-to-fix-it.
 
legrandefromage said:
Most of my customers are ok but there are some that are very very entitled, thats about the only way I can put it.

Their attitude is that I should be repairing their crapped out shitbox no matter what

'But I've got a warranty!' is the next one - but not with us you haven't

'why cant you fix it??' - Your Body Control Module has a fault, its surfacemount components and the manufacturer has the modules on backorder (i.e no longer available) - so many BCMs are failing leaving cars with MOT faults such as wipers or fog lights - cars as new as 67 plate, I can get around many issues but some are simply not fixable. Non starters, main beam, dipped beam but the worst are the engine management lights that just will not go away no matter what sensor is replaced

smart alternators that are not, battery monitoring systems that dont, canbus that cantbus

I'm considering a new career next year
Click to expand...
Sadly this is all too familiar, I have witnessed people asking the garage to run a diagnostic test to find a fault and expect this foc and the whine about the cost of the remedial work too. I don't think I would have the patience to deal with such type of people. I also see so many people with poorly maintained vehicles that any job will now be that much more difficult due to corroded and siezed components. Not for me. Mechanics have my utmost respect as a result
So hard to deal with Joe public these days, when everyone is full of self worth and behaves so badly aka entitled.
 
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