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Similar to cycleworlduks post above, also get a good friendly relationship with local shops if possible. Ian at my LBS (Devereux cycles) is always ringing up Phil at Eddie McGrath cycles asking for advice or the odd part that he doesn't have in stock. No idea how they divvy up money for such things but its nice to know that the shops are working together to keep themselves afloat and give you the best service possible.
Also I'm not massively worried about having a huge range of stock available here and now but an ability to get stock in asap every time is important. Next day for simple stuff or within the week otherwise.
My old LBS was a really intimadating place to go into, it was very cliquey. Roady whuppets hanging out smirking at people asking what they percieved to be daft questions. When you got accepted as a good customer they couldnt do enough for you but it put a lot of people off.
Not sure what the magic ingredient is to atmosphere but some shops just have a cool vibe.
Be prepared to work very very hard for not a lot of thanks or returns.
Good luck with it though.
try and aviod hanging shitty posters of guys riding in places that your average customer can only dream of. instead go out with a keen photography buddy and get some good shots of yourself or locals riding local spots.
i'd say open all weekend, but have one (maybe two) days off a week. closed monday, half day tuesday and thursday?
don't have a 'closed' sign hanging up. rather a 'gone biking' or 'we're out testing'. i'd rather think that you were doing what you enjoy than shopping at tescos.
This shop is gonna be great!
Where is it going to be?
WHat brands are you going to stock?
When are you opening?
Or is this just a ploy from an existing shop wondering where they are going wrong?
Lots of people have said it already, but don't mess people around. If you say you're going to phone me back, then do it. I'd rather hear my bike will be ready in 3 days at 3pm and actually have it ready then than be told it'll be tomorrow and it's not. Obviously things crop up, but call and let me know before I make a trip in.
Don't tell lies for convenience's sake or the sake of a sale (e.g. that lid that you only have in black is only available in black).
If a job turns out to be more complicated/costly than first thought, phone and discuss it.
If someone's buying a bike and wants to try a different frame size, at least make an effort to get one and if you can't/won't then explain why rather than just insist the one you have is fine.
These have been my main gripes with LBSs over the last few years. I think on the whole people will understand that you're not CRC and you need to make a living, but it's the details people remember, especially if they're negatives.
As Hilldodger said earlier, have everything for free really cos its a hobby not a business.
1)Kettle
2)stock madison stuff
3)SRAM stuff
4)have a hose out back for bikes.
5) shop rides which YOU go on!
alpin - Member
try and aviod hanging shitty posters of guys riding in places that your average customer can only dream of. instead go out with a keen photography buddy and get some good shots of yourself or locals riding local spots.
Or, as an outdoor shop in Salisbury does, get customers to take a pic of them out and about (Ideally with one of your shop carrier bags) and use them as decoration instead. Great for building up a sort of community feel to it.
I know it's not easy to do this, but try not to overbook your workshop. My LBS is about 200 yards away but I ride the two miles (or drive depending on what is bust) to the next nearest because even to loosen a shock bushing has the guy there telling me he can have it back to me in a week (for a 30-second job).
Make sure your staff are as friendly if I'm buying a tube as if I'm dropping 1k on a bike (because sooner or later I will be).
1. Components you can touch, smell, weigh - ya know - not behind a glass cabinet.
2. A set of digital scales so you can weigh components/bikes.
3. Price match with Chainreaction.
4. More bling.
5. Sofas
6. Coffee machine.
7. Sexy staff girls who know their stuff.
8. Santa Claus
😀
Decent range of parts, couple of test bikes. Also think it's a good idea to be open all weekend. Haven't been able to get parts on a sunday a number of times and it's a bit frustrating. Would definitely make business sense to be open all weekend because this is when most people ride, therefore there would be more broken parts to replace. Most importantly, friendly, genuine staff though.
...I see that we're going to be quite busy surpassing such a list of expectations...but, we'll certainly give it a try!!
Thanks again for the suggestions and do keep them coming...!!
We're hoping to be open for mid-Feb......depending on how long it takes to sort the shop layout....we have a vision of what we want interior wise, but not the £££ to do with it what we want...so, if there are any shop fitters/joiners out there drop us a line!!...
Brands/lines we'll be back with once we've had location buy-in from the distributors....
Opening hours - we're thinking closed Tuesdays......Mon - Wed (10 - 7), Thrs/Fri (11 -8)...Sat (9 - 5), Sun (9 - 12)....
Sexy staff girls?........know where we can find any??
those hours are just confusing. KISS. 🙂
Agreed....but, it's not that easy to keep it simple!!....maybe this way, people will just be conditioned to think that the shop is open, when it should be open!!...might take a bit of time mind!! Need to keep the staff happy and motivated as a priority....opening until 8 every night and all day Sunday is not the way forward in that respect..
I think location is one of the biggest things with bike shops, I'm always buying bit and bobs on the internet and not because its cheaper, its because my closest bike shop is a 30 min drive each way so its not really an option to shop there
BTW I'm in Hamilton in Lanarkshire if anyone whats to PM me the details of a decent lanarkshire shop i dont know about
we have a vision of what we want interior wise, but not the £££ to do with it what we want...so
Simple and bright 8)
Do not let your eyes rule your purse strings, unlikely to be much money around till Easter
You've missed Christmas - so open in Feb and only 10 months to the next one...
That's not the best planning I've seen.
:wink:i wouldnt worry too much about xmas because unless your a shed selling cheap crap bikes you wont be that busy.....every shop i know in scotland has been down year on year at xmas for the last 3-4 years..
summer is the time! feb is a great time to open
I use facebook and flickr to allow people to see shop news and photos of new stock - little things that help drive traffic to the mainshop website.
any update on your new shop? any closer to getting it open?
And where is it going to be?
Where is your shop going to be?
Shops are more expensive, which is fine with me, as long as I get good service. I have recently gone back to mail order because I ordered some parts in August before I went on holiday and I still haven't got them, and because they damaged part of my bike and when I complained they said "Oh well, it's only cosmetic".
If I order a part, remember my order, tell me when I will get it, ring me when it arrives. Do not tell me something will be there "at the weekend" because if I have to drive a 30 mile round trip for nothing I will be very annoyed.
I would love weekly rides out, probably one in the week/night ride and one or two at the weekends, depending on numbers/speed/on or off road.
Coffee - essential!
A female member of staff. Who actually rides bikes.
Good luck
Our girl is ex WC Bmx, pulls a mean manual!
Run away, recently found out how much it costs to stock a shop!!!
Aye stock does cost a wee bit likes.
[i]Need to keep the staff happy and motivated as a priority....opening until 8 every night and all day Sunday is not the way forward in that respect.. [/i]
Nope, your priority is making money by selling things to customers. Assuming you want to stay open, of course.
[i]
Opening until 8 every night and all day Sunday [b]can often[/b] be the way forward in that respect[/i]
It sounds like you'd be a great manager to work for as you're thinking about your staff. They'll realise and appreciate this. But they'll like you less if you cut their shifts/sack them/shut down due to low takings. Customers, not staff, come first.
Customers, not staff, come first? Sounds like you're from the school of 'everybody is replaceable'?
You don't develop relationships, a welcoming shop atmosphere and customer retention in the lifestyle sector by having a set of unhappy campers at the face of your shop.....you can maybe get away with it with FMCG, but not with higher involvement purchases!
That aside, it looks like we'll be open late Feb......all the suppliers we wanted are on onboard, we're just struggling with locations now as finding a unit on the road we want is proving difficult...to say the least!....
Keep the ideas coming though!
I really don't think the Sunday hours will work that well; I appreciate the point about keeping your staff happy, but closing on a Sunday afternoon just means you lose all the potential custom from people who broke something on a ride and either want to replace it straight away or will mail order during the week. Can't you play with staff rotas so that you don't necessarily have the same staff on every Sunday but they can swap if they want a particular weekend free?
my lbs are shut on sunday and i think thats fine. sundays are riding days. for staff and customers.
Customers, not staff, come first.
You won't get customers in a LBS without decent staff - you only get away with that if you're Tesco / Asda etc
pay your staff more than the industry standard of £5 an hour, this way you will attract mature staff who are cool and know what they are talking about.
Make up some free stickers of your shop logo for the Dirt Jumping kids to stick on their bikes/helmets - easy publicity.
I always think some large posters hung from the wall look impressive, dunno why.
how you getting on? any closer in getting open? 😆
Eye we're not doing too bad thanks!
Location sorted, lease signed, suppliers onboard....stress levels peaked!!....just where we wanted to be by now!!
Now for the hard work......painting and decorating!!
Genuinely though, really excited about where we're going to be......parking and opposite a trail network for demos/skills clinics/shop rides etc.....couldn't have asked for more really....
Watch this space!