RETAILERS
to the list of debtors (albeit a small one), having stocked up on product from Moore Large when the distributor massively reduced prices late last year. Carr said he opted to stock up on discounted Moore Large products in the lead up to Christmas, and rented a small container to store the additional products - a number of which still have not sold. As a result of the closure, Moore Large’s remaining
stock has been auctioned off to the public at discounted prices, with 35,000 bikes, and more than £30 million worth of stock hitting the market, which could impact stockists of Moore Large brands. The issue for smaller cycling businesses is their buying power - a small business requires less product, and so distributors may argue its not financially viable to help stock them.
But during our conversation, Carr wondered if there might be space in the industry for smaller businesses to band together, to approach distributors as one organisation, to increase their buying power, and benefitting everyone.
Carr referenced energy switching company Look After
My Bills, which appeared on TV show Dragon’s Den in 2018: “People join, and then [the company] goes out and gets the best price, and they become a force to be reckoned with because they have buying power. “It doesn’t matter if we buy just one bicycle, because of the fact that it’s through the group, and the group buys 1,000 bicycles, because we’ve got 500 shops.”
A broad church
With his philosophy of supporting bike users, rather than cyclists, Carr also had a very important message to share with other retailers, on how to reach the widest possible customer base. I asked Carr what tips he had for other bike shops, to help them welcome all bike users. “When a customer walks in, don’t judge them,” he said. “Don’t judge them by what you do on a weekend, don’t judge what they’re after by what you do, or what you have in your garage.
“If you get dressed up in lycra on a Sunday morning with your cycling club, don’t judge those people that are looking for a little shredder that they can go around the local country park on. “If you ride with your mates on a weekend with your dropper post, tubeless tyres, and baggy shorts on, don’t judge people that are wandering in looking for something
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for their caravan, or for their grandchildren, or to get to work on.
“There’s a whole market out there that cannot afford
bicycles over £500.” Carr referenced Bike Pedlar customers who are still riding £50 bikes that are 20 years old, but which the customer rides every day and just wants to keep on the road, even when the repairs cost more than the value of the bike.
Many customers may feel intimidated by larger retailers, Carr said, and that feeling was what inspired him to set up Bike Pedlars with Smith. Carr is a foster carer, and when he went into bike shops with kids, he found he was being spoken down to. “I decided there had to be a better way,” he added. At the end of most interviews, I generally ask the
interviewee what they have planned for the future, but for many businesses at the sharp end, the plans simply involve trying to keep the lights on. “It’s all about survival,” said Carr, “just ticking along as best we can.”
May 2023 | 19
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