RETAILERS
‘WHEN A CUSTOMER WALKS IN, DON’T JUDGE THEM’
face of the bike industry is leaving less and less space for small retailers, and how important it is for bike shops to welcome all types of people through the doors.
Supporting small businesses “Sometimes it feels like we’re a little bit excluded from the market to be honest with you. It’s almost a different industry,” Carr told BikeBiz.
“With some of the trade press, and some of the trade shows we go to, the distributors as well, and the reps that wander in, it just doesn’t seem relevant to what we do.” Carr, along with his business partner Jeff Smith, see their customers in a different way to many bike shops, viewing them as ‘bike users,’ rather than cyclists. This, Carr believes, may be the main difference between small businesses like Bike Pedlars, and those larger retailers.
“The whole idea is that they’re a bike user, rather than a cyclist,” Carr said.
“That’s what I think is missing in some respects - the smaller business looks at the bicycle user, while the SMEs and mid-range businesses look after cyclists. “I think there’s room for us both, but I don’t believe that we are being supported at the grassroots and on the coalface.”
Carr said multiple brands have closed his account because he wasn’t buying enough stock, and also recounted conversations with a major bike brand about expanding the store. After initial enthusiasm from the brand, with plans for more bikes on display along with the installation of a bike fitting area, the conversation quickly died when it became clear the brand wanted Carr and Smith to purchase £20,000 worth of stock as a buy in - unsurprisingly too high a price for a small operation like Bike Pedlars. “There’s no opportunity for us to grow bigger than what we are, because there’s nobody out there that wants to support us on that journey,” Carr added. While some business-minded readers may suggest that this is all simply down to economics, Carr also highlighted some of the benefits for brands and distributors that come with supporting small businesses like Bike Pedlars. Greater loyalty to fewer brands, local representation (both in store and out on the road thanks to local riders), warranty support, and perhaps most importantly access to a different type of cyclist, ‘or bike user’, are just some of the values provided to brands by micro-businesses. Bike Pedlars is tucked away just off the main shopping street in Retford, set in an old coach house. Currently the team are busy refurbishing the upstairs area, which was previously rented out as offices, but which is now vacant and so will become additional storage space for Bike Pedlars.
State of the market Bike Pedlars currently stocks GT bikes, Scottish bike brand Tiger, and Corratec e-bikes, and also works with Lancashire-based distributor Bob Elliot, which Carr praised for its support of small retailers. Carr has also worked closely with Derby-based Moore Large, which recently went into administration. Bike Pedlars had stocked Moore Large’s own brand Forme, before the closure. The collapse of Moore Large has been felt by many dealers, including Bike Pedlars, which has now been added
18 | May 2023
www.bikebiz.com
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