Category Archives: read

Link

Leisure Trends: IBD sales rebound in March after a slow start to 2014

Lifestyle/leisure bike sales grew 33 percent to hit $7 million, and transit/fitness bikes sales were up 21 percent at 27 million over March 2013. And kids’ bikes grew an impressive 24 percent to reach $8 million for the month.

All bicycle sales were up in March — 13 percent in units and 5 percent in dollars, but road bikes continued their downslide, losing 8 percent over the same period last year. The 26-inch mountain bike category also slid 18 percent to $11 million, and 29ers fell again for the second straight month, with an 8 percent loss to land at $22 million.

Avoid the Entitlement Trap and ENGAGE

Leave a reply

Fred Clements's avatarThe Independent Bike Blog

entitlement Entitlement can be a disastrous thing for retailers facing increasing competition and struggling to compete. The future belongs to those who are willing to change, who are tired of playing defense, and who are willing and able to aggressively engage with customers and transform their lives.

That was the message from Mike Cosentino, owner of Big Peach Running Co., a seven-store running retailer based in Atlanta at the IBD Summit in Monterey in April.

He was speaking to an audience of bicycle retailers interested in hearing from a successful and growing retailer in a somewhat similar industry that is being challenged by on-line competition such as amazon.com and zappos.com.

Cosentino didn’t hesitate to share his views that the first step for retailers is to dump old attitudes and take a fresh look at what it means to be a retailer today.

“The local market is not yours,” Cosentino told the…

View original post 556 more words

Link

New study: ‘Digital is fundamental’ to all retail

Consumers largely prefer to navigate the aisles and the checkout without a store associate’s help. 80 percent of respondents in Deloitte Digital’s study said they prefer to obtain product information on their own device or from an in-store device like a kiosk, rather than ask a sales associate.

Feminine Ride

Leave a reply

Is There Such a Thing as a ‘Feminine’ Way to Ride a Bike?

I love that I can look like any gender on a bike and feel no less powerful.

I’m one of only a handful of women that work at my shop, and I’m the only female mechanic. … I’ve heard that my presence at the shop makes our female customers feel more comfortable and welcome, and female and male genders alike have shown enthusiasm for a female mechanic. I just can’t wait for the day that I’m not an anomaly, and I’m looking for ways to push more women and femininity in bike culture, especially the technical side of things.

As a one time supervisor of three female mechanics — yes.

Very much worth reading.