*serious face*
Looking to open a new cycle shop in Hertfordshire in the spring of this year. We're planning on having some slightly more niche products alongside mainstream brands, but we're really interested to see what you would want from an enthusiast's point of view.
Alongside a good range of bikes, P&A, a full-time workshop and knowledgable and helpful staff, we're also looking to get involved with local clubs, charities and community projects.
What would you like to see?
Decent range of clothing stock (although I know that's difficult), especially shoes though. I reckon it's worth you running some evenings with basic tuition (fixing punctures, replacing cables etc. the kind of stuff you probably won't rely on the revenue from in your workshop). Coffee machine would be good to :p Good call on getting involved with local clubs - I only use LBS's/online retailers that put something back into cycling.
Decent mechanics, and promised phone calls to actually happen.
superb mechanics.
Clothing, parts, bikes etc is irrelevent to me personally... I'll buy them all on-line.
However there are certain skills as a spannerman i don't have so would like a CLEAN, lovely workshop.
Good stock of consumables and other things that you need last minute otherwise you can't ride or stuff you don't want to have to wait to be delivered from CRC. Top of that list is tyres.
Stock a decent selection of good tyres at really competitive prices (I'm thinking tyres are the loss leader that gets people into the shop maybe?).
Then pick two or three brands of bike that you can't buy easily elsewhere and commit to promoting them.
Local shop here, which has just been in Dirt, is Pedal & Spoke. This place is tiny and only carries Santa Cruz but they've sold so many bikes and frames because they're 100% committed to the brand.
They are the only retailer of SC for quite some distance, are located right in the heart of the local scene and indeed, are very much the heart of the local scene. Howard has really helped to pull the riding community together and along with plenty of demo bikes is doing really well by all accounts.
Read the article in Dirt, there's a lot you can learn from it.
phone......people.....back. Unbelievable how many shops have no idea what this means 
Does the premise have Somewhere suitable to park? I often think about going to local shop, but it's a right royal PITA to get within a reasonable distance, so I don't bother and generally buy on line.
Have a online shop as well.
A clear-cut turnaround time. I don't mind waiting, I just like to know how long! Decent mechanics are a must too. I don't mind paying a few extra quid for what I know is a top job where personalised care has been shown for my bike (Revolution in Bangor, North Wales are good on this).
Working with local cycling groups is a good move too, if only to gather up more custom. This might range from spearheading local policy initiatives to weekly rides.
sounds good, where abouts in Herts are you thinking of opening one?
Thanks for the feedback guys. I've been working in the trade for over 10 years but as this is my own money invested for the first time I want to make sure I get it right. The workshop is going to be huge (we've got over 1500sq ft of space to play with). Car parking is very convenient - it's town centre location with a large carpark (not shopping centre multi-storey) less than a minute's walk away, and I would also agree that clothing is something we'll have to get right.
As far as clubs etc go, this is something I've always been really keen on, there are a number of charity rides over the summer months at which we've volunteered to attend in a mechanical capacity and will assist with discounts and sponsorships for local clubs and events where we can.
a good range of bikes, P&A, a full-time workshop and knowledgable and helpful staff,
This.
Threads like this pop up on here from time to time, normally from people opening bike shops or cafes. They always seem to be concerned about the 'bells and whistles' services that people would want them to offer when they should be concentrating on absolutely nailing the basics. Get those right first, just because they're the dull basics doesn't mean they're easy...
to smile 
..and not returning phonecalls gets on my t1ts too!
No piped music or radio. Sales staff who know what they are talking about. And Stock some Genesis bikes! Also the sort of attitude that yes, your bike may be old, but we'll do our best to find spares for it and keep it running rather than try to sell you a new one!
Only three things matter; cash, cash and cash.
If you don't make money you won't stay in business, no matter how good you are. Make sure you've a good walk-in trade and will fix on demand.
Shop rides are good, night ones - otherwise you'll never get a day off.
Pick your brands (cheap, middling and top-end in most categories), but ensure you carry consumables for the other popular stuff - Hope comes to mind.
Find out all the local routes (even cheeky ones), so you can advise new-bee's plus places to go - for you I guess, the Chilterns, Woburn, Aston Hill and Chicksands.
If you've space, have a coffee area where people can just 'chill' - and if poss. somewhere where they can park their bikes in safety.
Opening times that don't pretty much exclude people that work 9-5 etc.
so - stay open late on Mondays and Fridays
I've always been conscious to avoid organisations that don't seem to appreciate their customers, so I want to make sure that this doesn't happen to me - bad service winds me up something chronic so if I think that I can make me happy I'll be on the right track.
We're looking to make it an enjoyable experience, different to other retail sectors, and to encourage people to pop in even if it's just for a chat. We're building a coffee bar area complete with TV for the tour and the olympics (yes, we will have a commercial TV license) and I've already bought the coffee machine!
In terms of location, it's North Herts, I have to be a tad cagey until the lease on the premises is signed (it's with the solicitors at the moment) but we will make sure everyone knows about us once we're going, and anyone who would want to help with our fit-out, amongst other things, will be very well looked after!
sounds interesting, North Herts will be great as that's just where i live 
A coffee bar rings my warning bell...
A decent stock of the parts you that are normally a complete PITA to find like dropouts, chainring bolts and spacers, 1" ahead spacers, caliper mounts, bearings etc.
The kind of things that annoyingly you don't have in your own bits box but are vital for finishing off a bike build, fitting new rotors, going from 2x9 to 1x9 etc.
I've lost count of the number of times I've gone to all the LBSs for a few bits and bobs and ended up having to go home to order on CRC.
You maybe won't make masses of profit from these items but you will become my 'go to' shop and I've got a tendency to be very loyal to my 'go to' shop. Unfortunately CRC is more and more often my go to shop so I might as well by my bikes there rather than my LBS.
+1 for clothing. I'll happily buy a rear mech online but it's harder to tell if a pair of shorts or top will fit and not look stoopid on me
I'd just like it chilled. You go in, sit down and have a natter, a little browse. Chatting to people that ride bikes about bikes. I don't want to talk to people are desperate to show how knowledgeable they are, just listening is good.
I'd rather get advice from people who do that particular discipline, if im looking at a road bike, i want to talk to a roadie, if i want a freeride bike, i want to talk to a freerider. I don't want recommendations from people who don't ride.
I sort of expect there to always be stock on pads, tyres, tubes, cable, cleaners, lubes, but that's a given. I don't feel like the shop need loads of other stock, just enough to demonstrate your brands. I absolutely hate going into evan/edinburgh co-op/jejames because they're big shops, appear to have lots of stock, you get your hopes up that they'll have it there and then, you soon realise all their stock is just little bits here and there spread thinly.
I really don't mind waiting for ordering stuff, if i have good service, i am more than willing to wait.
Things I use LBS for are bikes because I like to know that they are the right size. Clothes and shoes again because they need to be tried on. Cheap consumables - I won't pay RRP for an XT casette but I will often pick up pads, cables etc when needed and will pay RRP in a hurry.
Good mechanic. The main reason I visit. "Difficult" jobs that require specialist tools particularly (headset installing, bearing changes, facing, reeming, taping) and also proper shock and fork service and wheel building.
I prefer shops that support the local biking community. In the NE I would much rather use the shops that sponsor/organis races and events than those that dont.
Local CX/road league, clubs, race teams, demo days etc.
Oh and be polite, offer advice, make sure the bikes in the window are set up properly (tyres the right way round, forks the right way round, cables and hoses the correct length, tyres pumped up. If the display bikes are shonky looking then it puts me off. I want a mechanic with an obsession with detail rather than a slapdash approach. I can do slapdash myself.
Given the number of decent on-line options an LBS has to offer excellent customer service IMO.
You need to make it a nice place to go - somewhere to talk bikes, hang out, stop off at etc. A friendly place with a decent workshop.
If people pop in for small workshop jobs they may stay for a coffee, look round, buy something else.
If we had an LBS that did local rides from the shop, decent coffee, a good range of clothing, TV with biking vids playing, magazines around etc I'd be there a lot more than when I want to buy something I need now and can't get online.
My LBS was excellent at getting me a test ride on a Yeti - which I then bought, but communication was very poor. They are very good now though at phoning back on workshop jobs and the main mechanic knows his stuff. They don't however make a note of the details of what I want doing/checking so things get missed.
IMO you need to try and develop a community - something an online retailer can't do.
As you say you've got masses of space in the workshop then maybe you could consider letting people come and and use your workstands/tools/bit of advice for a small fee (or membership type thing). Could be combined with selling lessons in bike maintenance. I've seen a couple of places in London that seem to offer this and it seems like a nice idea to me, but maybe it's more appropriate in London as people don't usually have space for their own 'man-cave'.
This is the kind of thing I'm thinking of: http://www.micycle.org.uk/content/open-access-workshop
Don't be snobbish. Doesn't affect me so much, but don't turn your noses up at people who bring BSOs in to have a puncture fixed. Business is business, and if they're happy they'll come back and eventually upgrade to a "proper" bike that they look at while waiting.
What would you like to see?
A good LBS in the Kingston upon Thames area, thats for sure.
Phoning back again for me. 69 cycles in Chester are really good as they always phone/text/email when they say they will. I have used lots of LBS who seem to just wait for you to contact them.
As said above I don't buy much clothing, helmets or shoes online. I prefer to see that they fit properly than have to return them.
and indeed, are very much the heart of the local scene.
They've been there about 2 years! Don't get me wrong, I think Howard's a great chap, and they're doing fantastically, but you can't really call it "the heart of the local scene"!
A good LBS in the Kingston upon Thames area, thats for sure.
Sigma?
Points I'd say:
- Open on Sundays. Cycling is a leisure activity, not being open when people are indulging in such activities is daft.
- Shiny high end bling may get people in the door to coo, but it'll be cheaper online, they won't buy it, or they'll rape you for a deal. Depressing as it is you'll make your money on inner tubes, lube and £300 bikes, don't kid yourself otherwise.
- Be friendly and accommodating. Yes, someone may have bought in a £50 BSO for a puncture and a gear cable, but they may be considering a £1000 bike a few months away if they get into it.
- Have a good ordering system, so you can keep track of where customers orders are, nowt more infuriating than phoning up to be told "err, not sure what's happened to that".
Forget all the coffee, magazines, place to chill stuff; its a business, to make money not a place for time wasters to hang about in.
Good selection of clothes, shoes, helmets and good mechanic are the basics.
njee20 - MemberOpen on Sundays.
Bingo! Even with skeleton staff this would be a winner.
Don't know the area at all, is there somewhere very local to test ride bikes? If not - you've loads of space - build a small test track.
Lots of what's been said up there + organisation/ display and customer service. Sometimes I'm kinda incredulous when I go in independent bikes shops and there's just crap everywhere, nothing is displayed properly and you can't see anything. Maybe they are going for the 'homely messy' look but actually if I can't see what you are selling or have to climb over boxes, rummage below stuff or peer into a smeary cabinet etc then I'm not going to buy from you. Also, the more difficult but vitally important customer interface stuff. Lost count of the amount of bike shops where you go in and some bloke is stuffed head down behind a desk in a corner, face in front of the computer, barely looks up when you come in, gives you the once over to decide if you are a 'serious' customer or not and then usually ignores you until you leave.
Forget all the coffee, magazines, place to chill stuff; its a business, to make money not a place for time wasters to hang about in.
+1 that
If 'friends' come in they can have a cuppa in the workshop, it's a waste of floorspace to actually dedicate an area to that for punters.
A decent stock of the parts you that are normally a complete PITA to find like dropouts, chainring bolts and spacers, 1" ahead spacers, caliper mounts, bearings etc.The kind of things that annoyingly you don't have in your own bits box but are vital for finishing off a bike build, fitting new rotors, going from 2x9 to 1x9 etc.
I've lost count of the number of times I've gone to all the LBSs for a few bits and bobs and ended up having to go home to order on CRC.
Because stocking parts like that are a complete nightmare. You end up with hundreds of different bolts, mech hangers, widgets, bits etc taking up space on the off-chance that someone is going to wander in and want that exact one. This is THE major problem with the bike industry, the continued rush forwards with latest greatest "innovations" creating obsolete parts almost daily and requiring ever greater investment in stock which most small shops simply can't afford. Once you just ordered a front wheel, now there's a choice of:
26 or 29
QR, 15mm thru, 20mm thru, lefty.
I'm happy to wait for such things (eg mech hangers), I'd understand if a shop didn't have an exact item immediately in stock. I just want them to do their best in getting it for me and let me know when it's there.
This is the kind of thing I'm thinking of: http://www.micycle.org.uk/content/open-access-workshop
I really wish I lived near there...an open workshop (and bike storage would be nice too) would solve a lot of problems for me.
If you've got loads of workshop/storage space and your in the middle of town, how about secure daytime storage for commuters and charge a small fee.
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