As you might expect, given the long cold winter we’ve had, some of the shops that we called this month have found business to be tough.
In contrast, two northern Australian shops we spoke to say business is strong. But interestingly, the southernmost bicycle shop in Australia, which has had snow virtually on their doorstep as recently as mid August, has also been trading strongly.
As always, we asked a follow up question, which this month was, ‘What's the most enjoyable aspect of running a bike shop?’
Tony Sunderland of Cycle de Vie in the far north Queensland city of Townsville said:
The last couple of months haven’t been too bad. We have a dry season, rather than a winter. It’s a little bit chillier, but not what you would see down there (in the southern states).
We definitely see more sales in July/August and again around Christmas, with those middle periods a little bit quieter. July/August is a strong time for us.
We’ve been selling a lot more road bikes the past couple of months. We’ve become very strong in mountain bikes, but road bikes have been a lot stronger. When we started off, we were very strong in road bikes but then it dropped off.
There was a lot more trail building up here and 29ers came in and mountain bikes seemed to be very strong. Maybe everyone’s got their 29er now and there’s going to be a bit of a break. I don’t know.
We started the store in December 2011. Prior to that I was a scientist, a biologist. It’s an interesting change.
(Most enjoyable) That’s a hard one. I’d like to say, ‘Riding bikes!’ but their doesn’t seem to be much time for that. (laughs). It’s an interesting and difficult business, to understand all the facets of it and try to make it work as efficiently and profitably as possible. It’s a good challenge.
Ian Symonds, of Spokes NT, in Palmerston, a suburb of Darwin NT said:
Business is good. To keep up with demand at the moment, we’ve got an extra casual bike builder on staff. Even though he’s casual, he’s pretty much full time, to keep up with demand for bikes.
BMX is going really well. We’re sponsors of the local BMX club and that’s proving to be a great partnership. At the moment the BMX club is also going well so that has a flow on benefit to us. We’re very happy.
The Jingili BMX track here is under cover. That’s not the club that we’re major sponsors of, but our club, Satellite City BMX Club, have also received a government grant which will very likely contribute towards putting a roof over their track as well.
The roofs are massive. You should see the size of them. Like a single span hangar style roof. It’s quite impressive.
Simone and I run the shop. We have two full time mechanics, a casual bike builder and a couple of others who help us out from time to time.
We mainly sell mountain bikes. But we sell a lot of BMX. We’re growing in the road bike market, to the nearby army barracks and local people as well.
(Most enjoyable) I think it’s working in something you’re passionate about. I used to have an office job prior to running a bike shop… the passion about bikes and working in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. I get to work with my family. On the weekends my son comes in here and hangs out at the shop.
We generally have happy customers and a happy environment.
Leigh Kiddle of Treadlies in Kingston, Tasmania, which is Australia’s southernmost bicycle shop said:
It has been a reasonably good winter (business-wise) this year. We probably had a colder winter than we’ve had for quite a few years. A lot of low level snow, but that seems to have fired a few people to get out and enjoy a ride of a different kind that we don’t always get every winter. That’s kept the workshop busy as well.
We’ve had snow down to a couple of hundred metres elevation. There was snow on the outskirts of town yesterday and last Monday we had lots of roads blocked in and out of Kingston and main roads were blocked out of Hobart, especially heading south.
Of course we’ve got the big hill up behind us that we can all see called Mount Wellington. That’s got a lot of really good new MTB trails that have been put up there and groomed over the past couple of years. That’s really attracting a lot of interest.
The snow has put a different slant on some of the trails. People say, ‘Let’s go and ride the North South Track across the face of Mt Wellington because it’s going to be all white.’
That’s the feedback I’m getting.
I think we’re coming out of a little bit of a slump in the retail sector. I’m seeing more positive signs. People might disagree, but Tasmania is insulated to a certain extent from other parts of Australia where they have highs and lows as far as the economy goes.
Building is kicking back in down here, so that’s getting a few of the tradies working a bit more and putting a bit more money into pockets and hence heading into bike shops and other outlets. I just think that things are on the pickup.
(Most enjoyable) Twenty one years of doing this… just getting the right person on the right bike and just seeing them extremely happy with their purchase. We’re a Giant dealer. They’ve got a massive range and you can’t possibly hope to stock every bike in every model and size. So you order a bike in for somebody. The bike arrives and they come in… one of the most enjoyable sides of it is seeing them grab hold of that new machine.
That and the lifestyle, working for yourself I suppose. You’ve got a bit of freedom, not to do your own hours, because retail hours are fairly long. We’re open six days per week. Monday to Friday especially is 8:30 to 6:00 so it’s a fairly long day.
We have a captive audience here in Kingston. It’s a fairly small community. I’ve seen people that I sold bikes to when they were kids coming in now with their kids to get their first bikes. That’s pleasing as well.
Robyn Harrewyn of G & D Cycles in Mt Gambier in the South East district of South Australia said:
Business is very quiet, very slow. It hasn’t been good! I’ve got no idea why. I know it came in cold very early in the piece, so weather would play a big part.
But the other side of the coin, as every shop knows, is the internet.
It hasn’t been that wet down here but it has been so cold! Even today I’m sitting on my heater.
We’ve had a couple of good days and that brought people out, so it’s starting that ‘hit and miss’ now, so that’s a good sign. We’re just hoping for better days.
I try not to listen to the news anymore because it’s too depressing, but I did hear that the government is thinking of increasing the GST and I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s hard enough as it is. That’s a bad idea, especially for small businesses. We struggle enough as it is. There’s no need to make it harder.
We’ve been here 10 years. 5th July this year we had our 10th birthday celebration and even that was quiet! (laughs). I thought, ‘there you go’.
We’re spreading our wings. We have a Facebook page. We don’t have a website. That comes down to money but also comes down to time. I’m the only one here on the shop floor throughout the day. Gavin my husband comes in around 4pm from his job and he does the repairs, so it’s only the two of us.
If you want a good website you need to ‘A’, spend good money on it and ‘B’, have the time to maintain it. I don’t have a lot of that, so I do a lot of Facebook stuff.
Bike Roar has given us a 30 day free trial period so I’m just playing with that at the moment to see how that performs. But that promotes people to come into your local bike shop rather than to buy on the internet.
(Most enjoyable) Where do I start? The biggest is the people you meet. To be able to sit down and have a conversation with them. We’ve made some wonderful friends just through that. Having travellers through too and listening to their stories and experiences.
Five minutes to smile at somebody and say ‘How’s your day going?’ means the world to some people.
Leigh Egan from Leigh Egan Cycles in fruit canning city of Shepparton, Victoria said:
Business has slightly picked up in the past few weeks. It’s been a very tough winter, simply because of the very cold weather that we’ve had down here in Victoria.
We’re in central Victoria. The economy is pretty tough in Shepparton. A lot of unemployment. A lot of drug problems as well. But it’s also a very big sporting town and a very big cycling town, so we’re blessed in that regard.
Shepparton is about as flat as a billiard table for 50 kilometres in any direction, so anything downhill mountain biking is out of the question. We do a lot of mountain bike hard tails and we do a lot of road bikes. And what we’re finding is also that the general purpose commuter and comfort range is very popular here as well. A lot of people are traveling and a lot of bike paths are being put together.
We do Giant, Merida, Jamis and Norco. We’re still independent. We haven’t thrown all our eggs in the one basket but those brands have been fantastic for us over the years.
(Most enjoyable) For me, being a specialty store, is to see someone getting value for money. To see them leave the store knowing that they’ve bought well and that they’re going to utilise the product that they’ve bought off me.
Because we compete with the mass merchants and online, we have to provide that service that’s going to bring people into our store. That’s the difference between us and everybody else. We provide that follow up. They’re talking to a face. We’re accountable for everything that leaves our store.
It’s more so in the country than in the city. In the country, small communities, everyone’s accountable for their actions. It doesn’t matter if you’re the plumber, the TV repair man or the bike shop owner.
John Michell from the inner western Sydney shop, Ashfield Cycles said:
It’s a lot better. It has picked up. May and June were very quiet, but July and August have been a big improvement. It’s not fantastic, but it’s a lot better than it was 12 months ago, I feel anyway.
I had a really bad August last year, which was really cold and wet. Seriously, the last 12 months haven’t been fantastic, but I feel more confident over the past few months.
I just got back from the Specialized launch in Morgan Hill (California USA). We stood in their wind tunnel and got our hats blown off!
We saw how it all runs and where they make their water bottles. I didn’t realise it was such a big part of their business.
(most enjoyable) I still enjoy bikes. I think sometimes, being a small shop, just the friendships you have with your customers. You make a lot of friends. You get the odd customer who is a pain in the arse. You’re never going to be a millionaire but you make a living and pay your bills.
But it’s the satisfaction, like kids getting a bike. That first excitement when they get their bike. Even adults who come in… they haven’t ridden a bike for 30 years and they want to get into cycling.
It’s not, ‘I’ve ripped that one off. I’ve sold another bike.’ It’s the satisfaction of making a good sale and having a good relationship with the customer. And the repeat business. I’ve got people coming back who I sold bikes to when they were say 14 years old and 30 years later they’re coming back in and getting bikes for their kids.
I’ve had my shop for 37 years now. I’m trying to do business a bit smarter. If you sell thing’s a bit smarter you can still make a profit and get people coming back. The online thing has definitely affected it and there’s a lot more shops opening in the area too and little repair places that have popped up.
