On 8/14/2017 5:48 AM, wrote:

snip

Frank - most major cities in the US have the population and the density. A really good local bike shop is giving it up after five years of trying because they just can't sell enough bikes or outsell the Internet on components.

I receive the publication "Bicycle Reseller." Any shop that tries to
compete with "the Internet" solely on price is doomed. The number of
good bicycles sold online is still very low. The real competition is
getting people that are shopping at Toys R Us, Target, and Walmart to
come to the bicycle shop. Tried to convince my neighbor that he should
buy good kids bikes, even used, rather than bikes from Toys R Us, to no
avail, he came back with two pieces of crap yesterday. I think that some
shops could really do well if they'd accept some lower margins in kids
bikes or offer a guaranteed trade-in value on the next size up, and sell
the used kids bikes.

Wish we had a shop like Yellow Jersey, but just as the lease rates in
Madison were too high, the lease rates in the Bay Area would never allow
such a shop.

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