BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The second annual UK Local Bike Shop Day (LBSD) 2019 took place on 4th May, with more than 150 local bike shops getting involved, a growth of 72% from the inaugural year.
During the day, the hashtag #supportyourlocalbikeshop had a reach of over 75,000 and over 100,000 total impressions, there were over 1,800 unique visits to the LBSD webpage and several leading suppliers got on board with special LBSD promotions.
“Pennine Cycles Bradford Yorkshire once again was happy to participate in LBSD and we did some promotion through social media and our newsletter,” said Sandra Corcoran, director and owner of Pennine Cycles with her husband Paul Corcoran, who said: “This year it clashed with Tour de Yorkshire and we were still giving out route maps and stickers as it came near us on stage four on Sunday, and offering complimentary espresso and Yorkshire Tea and biscuits as well as promoting our nutrition line and our bespoke TDY Pennine.”
Sandra Corcoran added: “We also had a pop-up shop presence by Voltage Sport, a local business who was showcasing its cycling leisure clothing line and launching its rainbow designs. We were happy that this added a different fun dimension for customers visiting us on Saturday.”
Better Health Bikes had the ‘busiest day ever’ with high turnover and lots of new customers. “For Better Health Bikes, local independent bike shops have little voice within national and local news outlets but LBSD is helping to give IBDs a voice and stay front of mind.” For Anglesey Bike Repairs, LBSD is important because “it represents the opportunity to share awareness with the local community of the diverse range of very flexible cycle maintenance solutions and skills that we offer”.
Mat from John Woods Cycle Repair Centre said: “We had a great time on LBSD, talking with regular and new customers. I think it’s definitely building momentum and spreading awareness. We had some custom cakes made, laid on coffees and were lucky enough to have some recently released demo bikes in from one of our suppliers. We love this initiative and fully support it.”
Ben Othen of Bikeshak said: “Following on from the success of last year and the buzz it created within the store we endeavoured to have a successful second year. For 2019 we arranged for Madison/Sportline to bring its Genesis road and gravel demo fleet. We also had some great music on vinyl to soundtrack the day and some free homemade cake too with honesty donations going to the RMCH (Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital).
“Plenty of regulars came in the store to show their support with many making purchases throughout the day. Myself and mechanic Luke took customers out on guided demo rides with road at 11 am and gravel at 3 pm which were very well received. Dean from Madison also took the time to speak to customers coming in and out of the store showcasing products he brought with him from the Madison catalogue, off the back of that we have potential orders for a Genesis Zero frameset and Saracen Levarg. This is what we really wanted to see this year, a supplier coming on board for the day to help promote the business and our brands but also give our customers an experience that is unique to the day and to showcase their products which we stock.
“Normally for a bank holiday we are quiet with families away on short breaks or days out but the promotion the event creates, if you put the work in, means a spike in normal trade and renewed interest in the business, as well as an excuse to shout about how great you are on the run-up to the day. To echo my comments on the 2018 day, the more suppliers get on board the better the day is for us and for them, if we can continue to push special events for the day or product demonstrations it will all tie in with the recent interest in local small IBDs and businesses offering something different and more personal than the bigger chains.
“Ultimately this day is a gift, a nationally unified event organised with coherent POS and social media presence, I would urge any independent bike shops to make a go of it, remind people why we’re awesome.”
Daniel Jones, owner of Random Adventure, said: “Our feedback was good overall, a few comments regarding having it on a bank holiday weekend, as some towns are very quiet (Altringham) and others don’t need the help on a BH (Settle). The date move, despite the in-climate weather, was an overall success, we can’t fix the weather but May looks like the best month.”
