Nov
9
I’ve mentioned this on Twitter a few times over the last couple of weeks, but haven’t had the opportunity to get on the blog with it yet. We’re going through budget and marketing plan time here at the office for all of our 2009 shows, so time has been tight. But I’m happy to have been invited by the team at Bicycle Retailer & Industry News to take part in their Southern California Bike Shop Tour this week and get out of the office. We’ll be riding by bike from shop to shop here in Orange County to visit dealers and spend some time getting to know them better and see what’s been going on in the market place recently.
I think that it’s safe to say that the economy has suffered a bit since we last all got together in Vegas in September at the show. I guess even then things weren’t exactly rosy for the global economy, but the feeling at the show was that the bike industry could buck the trends and resist and and (even thrive in) the downturn given some of the factors in the economy and the solutions to those that we offer society.
Well, some 50 days have past since we came back from the show and things have taken a turn for the worse in economy with no short term end in sight and the gas prices that were fueling a move to bikes as a form of transportation are continuing to fall along with prices for most commodities. How is the bike industry looking now given the new challenges that all businesses in the industry and their consumers must be facing? This will be a big focus of the tour: getting a read on what our industry’s retailers are seeing in the marketplace.
The tour will not only be all gloom and doom. Another focus that I have, in particular, as a representative of Interbike, is to celebrate the independent bike dealer. There are few things I enjoy as much as visiting and browsing a good bike shop. From the smell of tire rubber and citrus degreaser to the sight of the unique mechanics’s workshop setups to the rows of shiny new bikes to the chatter about the most recent race war stories, all the senses are served. I’ve been to many of the shops we’ll be stopping at, but there are some that I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting and I’m looking forward to them. I want to learn about their histories and what makes them unique. What role do they take in their community? Do they sponsor clubs or teams or weekly rides? Do they speak Campagnolo? I’ll be posting updates along the way and hoping to record some video, too.
Giant Bicycles is sponsoring the tour and is setting us up with bikes to ride this week. I don’t think I’ve really ridden a Giant much over the years (at least one with the Giant name on it) so I’m really looking forward to spending some time on one. I’ve been told that Tony Lo, CEO of Giant, will be joining us for part of the ride and to say that I am excited to finally meet him is an understatement. Pedro’s Bike Care will be supporting the ride and their CEO, Chris Zigmont, will also be on the ride. They are a big proponent of environmentally friendly behavior on a corporate and individual level and are enthusiastic supporters of the bicycle as an agent of positive change. And it’s always a pleasure to be able to chat with Chris.
A few years back, I figured that in all my years in the industry making sales calls at shops around the country and just visiting them as a fan and customer, I’ve probably been in about 400 US bike shops. I’m glad that I will be able to add to that total this week.
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