BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
What types or brands of bicycle are selling well at present?
In the present climate, we are attracting lots of commuters into the store. We have all bases covered, with off-road favourites such as Marin and Santa-Cruz, road bikes from Cinelli, BMXes from Mongoose and the extremely popular Ridgeback and Genesis bikes. We’ve also found that broadening our horizons outside just high-end rides has benefited us.
We employ 16 knowledgeable staff who all have diverse cycling backgrounds. The majority of staff also ride.
And what about component sales?
Drive train components are always the best sellers, cassettes especially. We shift a huge amount of tyres and brakes via mail-order. I’m going to estimate that 20 per cent of business is done online, so our focus is primarily local custom.
The store measures 10,000 square feet, so we’re told it could be the biggest in Ireland. We are definitely the biggest in Belfast, so we can afford to stock a fair variety.
We are the number one Ridgeback dealer, having won the award at IceBike two years running, as well as a Genesis dealer award the previous year.
What portion of profit comes from the workshop?
Our workshop window is at the front of the shop, so passers-by can see our guys tuning and repairing bikes. We employ four Cytech Level Three trained mechanics and I believe that their workshop labouring generates 25 per cent of our revenues.
How well do you do from apparel sales?
According to Zyro, we are the number one Altura dealer in the UK. Other brands that we stock include Nothwave, Fox and Shift. We stock much of the Fox footwear line, as well as holding the claim to be the only bicycle dealer in Ireland to be able to offer Shimano’s thermo-formed shoe molding tool. So this gives us the ability to build custom shoe fits for customers.
What other sales tools do you utilise?
We sell through CycleScheme, as well as offering interest free credit schemes. The turnover via CycleScheme is good with commuting types.
We also offer a range of customised Mission trikes for those with disabilities or special needs, including some folding and electric models.
