Is it just my imagination or are the New York City tri/bike shops rattling sabers like Reagan and Gorbachev?
Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad thing or a criticism. It IS an observation that the combat for market share in the highest ground of the retail world, Manhatten and New York City, has reached nuclear status.
R&A, SBR and Jack Rabbit are each marketing and promoting aggresively. That is good for New York City area triathletes. It is interesting to watch the various strategies unfold.
These are all the finest of stores. The players play in very deep water. May the best men win. In the mean time, New York City triathletes can feast on a host of excellent promotions and marketing initiatives.
When you break it down, how much direct competition are they in?
Jackrabbit BK and R&A are in Brooklyn, which might as well be Schenectady as far as most manhattanites can tell. The reverse applies to Jackrabbit Manhattan and SBR for Brooklynites. Fot that matter, SBR (midtown) and Jackrabbit (union sq-chelsea-ish) are not exactly close enough to each other to pilfer each other’s drop in and quick pick up crowds. And most of those that are going into a shop for a bigger ticket item (the ones that have a problem with/aren’t comfortable with the online purchace, even if cheaper) are headed toward the closer one unless there’s a crazy sale. And I’d bet the local shop would price match to keep business. But don’t quote me on that because I’m not stealing from Lee and the rest.
R&A is a bike shop. As I understand, SBR and Jack are getting into service a bit, but they’re primarily retail shops that now offer ‘state of the art’ fittings.
Jackrabbit has the fancy set-up for getting you into shoes, but there are running shops in the city that have more knowledgeable salespeople.
Each have their strengths, but there are a lot of multisport athletes in the city that have been starved for a long time and the 4 shops don’t have enough to kill each other. That and there are less heralded shops around the city (toga) that serve the basic needs just as well and in some cases better than these hitters.
What is the competition like in your area…?? I know here in Toronto we have 3 maybe 4; lets call them high end road/tri shops. One is very tri specific, the other more of a roadie store and the other a mix of both. They seem to all have enough of the market to not bother each other or rattle any sabers from what I can see or hear.
I saw the post from SBR about Normann Stadler coming there. What would something like that cost them …??
NYC is a city of over 8 million people, so a few extra stores isn’t going to cause a blip in the retail radar.
On an unrelated note, I was in SBR a two weeks ago (ogling the P2C) on a weekend afternoon and the place was completely empty. Last weekend I was in Toga and the place was hoping. Toga is always busy, I have never seen SBR (in the 5-6 times I have been there at the old and new location) with more then 4 people in the store at once. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it is location.
You also have to factor in that the largest sports retailer in the city, Paragon Sports, is selling a number of multi-sport apparel lines.
At the end of the day, the entry of Jack Rabbit and SBR has made R&A a much better shop. Frankly, Jack Rabbit brought a very customer centric approach to the table and has raised the bar for everyone. It was a long time coming, and in fact necessary. A large number of people had/still have a love/hate relationship with the shop, but had to deal with it because they were the only one who brought those products to market in the local Manhattan area code. Now the customer has a choice and as a result each of these entities has to act accordingly. That said, I would call it friendly competition as opposed to Cold War detente. The pie is big enough for everyone in my opinion.
Well, I live about 1/2 way between a well established tri-shop who’s owner is known around the world. and a bike shop that was a top 100 retailer in 06 and is moving into the tri market by hiring a former manager of the other store to be their fit master.
I guess in this area you could say the retail market is becoming a new kind of Bike sport and there could be alot of two wheel dancing in the future
I went to the SBR store last week and found it to be a joke. The manager was totally arrogant and the bike selection consisted of a whopping 8 bikes. I don’t see why anyone would take their business there.
As a lot of other posters said, it’s really not much competition due to location and specialities. Jackrabbit has a big tri selection, SBR has less stuff/more pricey and R+A is bikes. Paragon Sports sucks for pretty much anything other than clothes. It’s great that there are finally tri stores in Manhattan, I once spent a long 2 hour lunch running around manhattan trying to find a bike shop that carried 700x23 tires, only to end up calling my mom on long island to buy them for me at a shop there. Paragon was one of the first places I went to. It’s still not that easy to find great bike/tri/swim items for the competitve athlete.
It is great to have some competition come about, the sport is growing pretty fast and it is great that people are trying to make a living in a sport that has treated us so well for 30 years. I would point out one thing however, we have been marketing and promoting our shop pretty strong in various media outlets for close to 30 years now. We are just doing what we do best and that is nothing new to us. The new competition just makes us step up our game a little bit. it is not too tough to jump out of the gates and look and act great, but time will tell who is still around when the dust settles, my guess will be it will be the shops who already have a foothold in the industry and have the accounts and products stocked deep to supply to the public with the service required to keep people happy. The industry insiders out there know the truth about account lines, inventory, net terms, as you know Tom, they know the deal but that isnt always as obvious to the end user, the customer. Many times, they get caught up in marketing glitz, hype and jargon. Time tells all.
There are a few new people coming into the NYC area that we see as healthy competition- that is good for us, we welcome that, and some that we do not even think of. Some that drive us to step up and work even harder and pay attention to our game more, and some that are not even a fly on the radar. A big thanks goes out to those who help us step up our game and a good luck to the others. The industry can be tough.
Stayed tuned for more interesting events and services at R&A.
It’d be easy to use a thread like this for gratuitous self-promotion. I’ll try to avoid that and stick to the business issues that Tom raised.
There are now quite a few shops vying for various parts of the endurance sports market in NYC. The number of companies that I list as competitors is well over a dozen. Some are much larger than JackRabbit, some are smaller than us. Some are buoyed by a significant mail-order business. Many are better capitalized than we are (at least as far as I know…)
My sense is that there are more shops than the market can support. That means either one of two things will happen. Either the market will expand – more people will take up endurance sports or at least buy the gear – or some of those shops will go out of business. My hope is that both will happen, and the result will be a larger group of people will be served by a better group of shops.
The increased competition is also raising standards, so customers have already become more selective about where they shop. Some of that is about price and incentives, some of that is about quality and selection of products, some of that is about service. I’ve made my investments based on what I believe New Yorkers want from a specialty run/cycle/swim/tri shop. Other owners & managers have adopted different strategies. Some of my bets will be right, others will be wrong. Many of us will be successful, some of us will not, and that’s what makes New York such an amazing place to run a business.
I personally have tried to deal other folks listed in the thread and have chosen to drive the 2.5 hours from philly to central valley NY to see paul levine and buy bikes.
Now that Paul is in NYC and he has picked up a few more lines I am amped, with money i save on gas maybe I can get a guru maestro or seven damas? HMMMM Paul?
If the pics of bike porn thread showing over stocked and cramped shops are what i am in for with the other dealers in NYC you can have it. 10lbs of sh#t in a 2 lbs box
I would much rather go to signature cycles NYC sit in comfort and order a new bike or pick up my new ride, take a spin on the CT’s and then perhaps watch a stage race on the plasma.
That’s funny. I’ve been to local shops here in AZ where they say they are “Authorized Dealers” for Orbea, Kuota, LiteSpeed, Cervelo, etc…So I think “Cool, they probably have a good selection.” Not at all…they might have 2-3 bikes which I think is lame. So I bought my new ride at Mission Bay Multisport in Chi-Town.
So, is it a credit issue where all the suppliers will trust them with is a couple of bikes, are bike shops looking for consignment inventory, maybe the MFG’rs are not capable of producing more?
One thought is that the few ‘specialty brand’ bikes are the showpiece’s among the vast selection of Treks, Cannondales and Specialized bikes. They are there to tempt. Bikes shops will make much more money ordering a specific size frame for an individual and spec’d out with their own build kits than they would carrying a factory spec’d bike. Upgrades will generate big profits. They’ll also be more likely to sell race wheels, fitting and other upgrades.
***If the pics of bike porn thread showing over stocked and cramped shops are what i am in for with the other dealers in NYC you can have it. 10lbs of sh#t in a 2 lbs box ***
I would much rather go to signature cycles NYC sit in comfort and order a new bike or pick up my new ride, take a spin on the CT’s and then perhaps watch a stage race on the plasma.
i’d much rather have a full service dealer who can swap out a defective part on the first visit or let me check out something new by touch…if there is one thing real bike folks want is to see things side by side, even if they don’t buy them…go check out ra, gotham, toga, etc. for parts when you need them and to compare new things side-by-side…use “just some guy” for the tv (even if you have to drive 2 hours?) and the fit, but don’t expect shopping or equip service from stores that don’t stock a lot
I am glad that you know that I am not a “real bike guy” **…if there is one thing real bike folks want is to see things side by side, even if they don’t buy them… **I would argue with you about going into a shop to see things and not buying them.----- I personally do my research on the web and then make my purchases at a shop not vice versa.
As for my experience with signature I have alsways gotten what I wanted when I wanted it. Signature cycles stocks and can get anything my heart desires. I purchased bikes,wheels,gear,shoes you name it from Paul all done quickly and accurately.
If you want to compete with a mom buying a trike then go to “real bike shop”---- but when you are there look across the street 2nd floor at signature.
The folks we are discussing have very divergent business models one is based on volume and the other on quality.
I do not need to see 140 dura ace cassettes to know that I want a 12-25 d/a cassette. I only need to see 1 ----the 1 I am walking down the street with.
on the web, how do you try on 10 different bike shoes to see which one fits best?
on the web, how do you check out 4 different cycling shorts/bibs/shirts pants to see how the fabric feels and if they are sized true?
how on the web do you swing by friday afternoon for that extra packs of GU or such before the race or long ride on sat am?
obviously just because stores have committed to the extra work of inventory and selection on hand for customer convenience doesn’t mean they are low quality…
