They were the Circuit City of bike shops- basically only competing on price. Same things killed both.

Well, a lot of poor speculation here.

The reality is that Performance was in significant debt to Fuji, so ASE, Fuji's parent company, saw purchasing Performance as the best move. I'd venture to say that ASE had planned to restructure Performance from the outset of the acquisition. Pointing to the most obvious business practices may seem like the appropriate level of analysis, but it is lacking in depth. Rather, Performance was owned by a private equity firm prior to ASE and as with typical private equity practices, Performance was stripped bare for the sole purpose of increasing reported profits.... and this was done through a) limiting marketing, b) cutting payroll and running barebones operations in terms of employees on the floor, c) abusing credit lines (see Fuji). This is typical private equity practice. So, ASE's move was less of an issue with Performance as a store and more an issue of the private equity firm's practices prior to ASE acquiring Performance. ASE appears to be a responsible company and has the potential to put Performance on track.

That said, the permanent "SALE!!!" strategy is obnoxious, in my opinion. I say you get what you pay for, and I'm always put off by customers who seek the best deal on every thing, rather than seeking the highest quality product/retailer in terms of service and information that can be provided. But that's just me.

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wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

What about Fuji and Kestrel?

I have no information on them. what were you asking in particular?

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wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

I did not mean you specifically, but since they are all owned by the same brand one wonders. Plus when have you last seen any news about Kestrel, or seen anyone ride one?

I can check on those two brands, my knowledge is really in relation to Performance. I'm not sure if just Performance or all of ASE are filing Chapter 11

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wovebike.com | Wove on instagram

Well, not speculation, they are going to lose all of their stores in Florida by the end of January (either voluntarily or through eviction... they stopped partying rent at a couple of their locations two months ago according to landlords I’ve been in contact with).

Purple Patch pro Cecilia Davis-Hayes recently acquired one. Only new Kestrel I've seen in eons

They are addressed in the story.

"... according to the ASE press statement, sales of Fuji Bikes, Kestrel Bicycles, Breezer Bikes, and Tuesday Cycles are also steady."

I ride a kestrel which has to mean something;)

In all serious it does suck for everyone involved. All 102 stores are now going to run the "store closing" promotion(104 stores total but 2 were already in the process of closing). When my store got the "sale kit" last month we were all very skeptical but went along with it, then roughly 2 weeks ago the announced the 40 stores that were doing the "promotion" would be closing. On Friday they announced the additional 62 stores would now b going to the same "promotion." My staff is not kidding themselves, we all know the store is closing and it would be pretty silly to think the other aren't as well.

Gordon Brothers (liquidators) is contracted to run sales at the initial 40 locations for 12 weeks ending Jan. 27. Sales in the other 62 locations are set to run until Feb. 28. Sales may end sooner at some locations if the stores are sold or the remaining inventory is consolidated with other locations

About 7 years ago when they unfortunately let me go!

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Steven Harad
215.359.6964

Gotta say - stopped by a local store today and bought a Kickr snap at 40% off... and a bunch of their in house brands stuff at an even more pretty obscene discount.

Sad to see them go as they were good about sponsoring a lot of local events, but if you have a store closing down near you... now's the time to back up the truck.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Well then I think you got robbed! It's not really going out of bidness until it's 50%. It was kind of dumb how they were only discounting certain parts of their inventory at 40%. I think I may check out the store down the street this week to see if they're coming along differently than when I picked up the aksium wheelset.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

My store had an up to 40% off discount, with lots of stuff at only 10.

+1, was pretty disappointed with the sale when I stopped by last weekend. I was planning to head back in another week or two to see if things had been discounted more heavily.

40% Entire store...unless marked otherwise...and almost everything was marked as not 40% except their apparel it seemed.

Wheels 30%, GPS 15%, Wahoo 20% in the stores I was in.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Yeah, my local store was the same. Big signs -- "EVERYTHING 40% OFF" ... and then basically nothing was 40% off. It seemed like things were priced just about normal. I'd give it a few weeks before they get serious about discounts.

The problem is that if you wait too long, you might get a bigger discount but the best stuff might be gone. Getting $12 bottles for $6 instead of $7 does not make that much of a difference.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Oh I totally understand, that's why I picked up the Aksium rims when I had the chance...granted you also got an additional "10%" off the whole order last weekend.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Looks like whatever stores survived the last round of closures have very limited time remaining:

https://www.velonews.com/...se-by-march-2_483352

Good to know, guess I'll roll by this weekend to pick up that dumb trainer for my GF...they have a lot of stock at their distribution centers because both stores local to me were receiving shipments 2 to 3x week.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.