BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
“The skateboard range that Ison stocks came as an off-shoot of the BMX business we do. Historically, having been involved with freestyle, it’s natural for some shops without a local dedicated skate store to add a board or two to their stock.
“Christmas in particular is a popular time of year for non-bike related orders such as the boards. As for the rest of the year, these sell at a trickle. It’s all useful business to have, but it will never be a significant unit shifter.”
LLOYD TOWNSEND, ISON DISTRIBUTION, CAMBRIDGE
“We’ve found that kids have been bringing micro scooters in recently looking for grip replacement and other minor services. As for full sales of them, it’s definitely not something we’d commit to.”
ROB GODFREY, MARSHALLS CYCLES, HERTFORD
“I’ve thought about the whole scooter thing a lot and did even stock some for a while. The problem I found was that the quality of what was available varied wildly, which sadly meant the prices did too. As I refuse to stock anything ‘cheap and cheerful’ the ones I had in stock looked quite pricey.
“I’m currently starting to take stock of trainers and equipment in order to cater for runners. Too Tyred is also very much trying to expand fully into the triathlon market.
“I definitely think that it is a good idea to have a few non-bike items in stock to bring non-cyclists in. You never know, they could be converted.”
MARK WINGATE, TOO TYRED, DORSET
“We’ve done skate stuff alongside BMX ever since day one. Skateboarding is much closer related culturally to BMX than BMX is to other forms of cycling. We ride with skaters and there wasn’t a good skate shop in our area, so it made sense to do both.
“We also sell the same shoe brands to BMXers and skaters, so the crossover works nicely.
“We’ll never sell rollerblades, micro scooters, Heeleys or any other bits that seem popular at the time – they’re all banned from our on-site skatepark too!”
RICH MOORE, SOURCE BMX, HASTINGS
“When a trend comes along we do make a conscious decision as to whether or not it’s worth getting involved. With things like the aluminium micro scooters, we were aware that the local market sells them for little over a tenner.
“Meanwhile, our staff had noted an increase in BMX riders out and about, so naturally we’ve upped our stock of 20-inchers.
“As a Cyclelife store, we’re constantly dipping in and out of the Raleigh catalogue and have found the three wheel scooters to be a real sales winner. We’ve had several batches sell out quickly. They cost about £25 and seem to be more of an impulse buy while in store.
“We also stock skateboards ranging up to £50. These aren’t constant sellers, but once in a while a few will sell. We also stock replacement bearings for these.”
BRETT SANDERS, HANCOCKS CYCLELIFE, CHESHUNT
