My support for my LBS(s) has waned over the past couple of years, due primarily to over-priced and under-stocked inventory. As of Saturday, it’s officially over. I spent 2 hours and went to six different shops looking for a pair of shoes for my wife. Not a single shop had ANY shoe in her size (a common women’s size).
Is there some challenge unique to managing bike shop inventory of which I’m unaware? Is it really that difficult to maintain an inventory? I ended our 2-hour search completely baffled by the whole LBS enterprise, wondering if, as a retailer, they’ve found some way to pay the bills that doesn’t actually require selling anything. Upon getting home, I had my wife’s shoes located and purchased online in about 10 minutes.
I’ve tried to keep my money in the community, but the LBSs around here make it impossible (this is a common occurence, just a different item). Screw 'em. The Internet is now my official LBS. No apologies. No regrets.
Sad but true. I’ve come to the conclusion that the LBS’s in my area really aren’t interested in catering to the equipment needs of die hard cyclists, triathletes, and mountain bikers. Instead they seem to be more interesting in selling overpriced entry level equipment.
“Instead they seem to be more interesting in selling overpriced entry level equipment.”
You mean the stuff that sells the most volume and sustains their ability to keep the doors open so that they can make a living? Why in the world would they want to do that?
Oddly in Calgary 2-3 of the LBS’a have grown up into large retailers. One (Bow Cycle) has built a new 20-30,000 sqft shop. I think it is still independant. So if L means “little” then yes, the LBS is dead. I feel bad for the smaller shops. I don’t have time to seach the city for the right part when I know one of the Large BS’s has it.
I think that WalMart-ization is the only way LBSs will be able to compete with the internet. Every shop around here (and there are probably 20+ within 15 miles of my house) is a small, independent business with limited inventory and (seemingly) unlimited markup.
I think it’s strange that you couldn’t find a pair of shoes locally. If I were a lbs looking to cut back on my instore inventory, shoes wouldn’t be the area I’d cut back on, since shoes are one of those things that people like to actually try on before they buy. As opposed to things like bottle cages, components, etc.
They put so much effort in tuning, servicing, advicing. Their attention to details is amazing. Their technical knowldge, their guidance - I can’t get that on the internet. And I get a huge discount, and they fit it for me as well. So a few times when I did order from the web for a great price I felt guilty. And I had to go elsewhere for it to be installed as I felt uncofortable. These other guys charge the hell out of me. It ended up very expensive. I think that building a good relationship with an LBS who knows your riding style and understand your needs is priceless. And if they don’t stock some obscure shoes, I’ll live with that.
That’s the rub. We weren’t looking for a pair of obscure shoes. Simply something (anything) in a women’s size 39.
The LBS that is one of my bike team’s sponsors is actually the worst when it comes to pricing. No discounts for the team and they’re the most expensive shop in town. Granted, they are very good at what they do, but it’s rare that I need the LBS to do anything on my bike, save the odd wheel rebuild. The value proposition is simply not there for me.
Sadly we have had 2 lbs go under here this year. Including the shop where I got my first schwinn Bantam and a child and later my first of several Varsitys. Every kid in my neighborhood had a bike from Breens Cyclery, sadly all the kids now have bikes from walmart. Even sadder they are still Schwinns.
No joke. My LBS doesn’t carry bib shorts. Their answer: We find most riders are comfortable in shorts and don’t want the hassle. ooohhkayy…
Ditto for decent tires. I had a bad puncture last week and wanted a michelin pro race clincher. A pretty common tire I thought. Turns out they don’t carry “race” tires for basically the same reason as above. Seriously, very few tires even in 23c width. The only michelin they had in stock was a years old axial pro that they wanting freaking $55 for. I want to support my LBS, but damn…
But of course they can “order” it for you. They always say that. Thanks, but I can “order” it for myself, get it faster, not pay sales tax or your outrageous price, and not have to pick it up. Would you believe in this marvelous world they can deliver products directly to your home?!?
Luck for me my lbs is also an internet retailer (Glorycycles.com). They typically have far more inventory than I need to see. Too much temptation for me to visit on a regular basis.
And none would order them for you at a comparable price to online? Seems to me that if you knew what you wanted you could just say “order me this. Can you meet this price?”
My LBS is small and certainly can’t match Internet stock and it wodul be silly to try and do so. But every time I needed something they could get, usually at a comparable price.
I’ll back you 100% on this one. I’ve been extremely disappointed in the quality and quantity of merchandise at the various LBS here in SLC. I guess maybe I just had it really good in Portland.
And what does a customer pay for? It’s a two-way street, my friend. It’s really kind of odd, if you think about it. LBS pays money to advertise on riders’ jerseys. LBS doesn’t have inventory such that they can sell something when one is actually persuaded to enter LBS as a result of their advertising. Seems like poor business to me.