BikeBiz February 2012
"
Bike shops target growth while other retail
sectors struggle to continue trading in 2012
by jonathon Harker
IN A MONTH that saw numerous retail
businesses go to the wire, cycling's High
Street chains have revealed plans to expand
in the face of the toughest prolonged
economic period in years.
Already this year Past Times, La Senza and
Peacocks have fallen into administration,
following Hawkin's Bazaar, Barratts and D2
Jeans in December 2011.
Despite being just one month into 2012,
Cycle Surgery has revealed it will be opening
at least three new shops in the UK this year,
while Evans Cycles is also due to open at
least one more shop in the near future.
"At Cycle Surgery we continue to set
ourselves new challenges, goals and
objectives," commented Cycle Surgery
marketing manager Jonathan Sharpe. "During
these challenging economic times, we
continue to experience strong growth, and
are pleased to be able to open new stores in
key locations."
Evans Cycles' director of marketing and
ecommerce Ben Hart commented: "We've got
a confirmed store opening for 2012 in
Edinburgh set for this spring. There are no
other confirmed store openings at present
but we are assessing opportunities -
economic and trading outlook permitting -
but the plan is to keep expanding our retail
footprint in a sustainable way."
The growth of Cycle Surgery has seen it
reach 27 stores (see inset) from just six
London outlets in 2007. In 2010 the brand
combined with Runners Need and
Snow+Rock following a Management Buy
Out, backed by LGC Capital.
In January, Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative
revealed it was planning to double in size in
five years, increase turnover to £20 million by
2017 and increase staffing to nearly 300.
MD Jeremy Miles told The Scotsman:
"There are a lot of changes going on at the
moment, there are a lot of private equity
firms coming into the cycling industry. The
real opportunity is in places like London,
Birmingham and Bristol."
Despite their continued positive exploits
on the High Street, both Cycle Surgery and
Evans Cycles noted the continued importance
of other retail channels.
Sharpe said: "Cycle Surgery's growth
developing and improving our e-commerce
and multi channel media platforms, ensures
our online customers receive the best retail
experience possible."
Evans' Hart commented: "The other area
of focus for us in 2012 is our multichannel
offering - more products and more services
online. We launched a mobile site in
December and plan to integrate this closely
with our online offering in-store for the
coming year.
"We are also focusing on service and
customer satisfaction across the business,
whichever channel a customer comes into
contact with us," Hart added.
"
posts
