LBS vs Online stores

I earn a penny over minimum wage.

but they are not cheap either..

First was the theory which cost about £70 for those in the bike trade, nearly twice that for those not in the trade, very easy to pass, got 95%.

Then secondary was the practice, something like £350-400 for Cytech 1, which I booked a place in May somewhere near Oxford not including lodging (there's only two Cytech course in the UK AFAIK).

No idea what's Cytech 2 and 3 thought.

2 is close to a grand RRP, thankfully the other place in the country that does it is 3 miles from my house.

Not that you need it but it's nice all the same.

Jeez!

so a bike mechanic career after cytech 3 can either work up to store manager (guessing £40K plus bonuses) which might take a further 10-15 years or go independent, borrow money from a bank, risk losing everything :(

Depends if anyone is looking.

you slipping that bollock out again..

It's also how I make tips.

so a bike mechanic career after cytech 3 can either work up to store manager (guessing £40K plus bonuses) which might take a further 10-15 years or go independent, borrow money from a bank, risk losing everything :(

Bicycle shop managers at cyclesurgery/evans earn £18,000-22,000.

Bicycle shop managers at cyclesurgery/evans earn £18,000-22,000.

And they have the cheek to charge for small jobs. How fucking dare they, fucking fat cats, I bet those fuckers aren't on a meal deal from Tesco of a lunch time no sir.

I too blame dammit!!

its basically £13/14,000 a year for sales assitants, Assistant managers are on £15/16,000 and managers are on £18/22,000.

Evans Cycles

Profit growth 103.83% pa
2009 profit £6.1m
2007 profit £1.5m
2009 sales £73.0m
2009 staff 715

From 2012

*** Its latest accounts for the year to last October show turnover rose from £84.1million to £94.3million.
However, pre-tax profits were only £893,000, down from £941,000 due to administrative expenses of £34million including restructuring costs and payments to a departing director.

This is why wanking around taking BB shells and stuck seatposts out is not and should not be a priority for any sane LBS.

Evans Cycles

Profit growth 103.83% pa
2009 profit £6.1m
2007 profit £1.5m
2009 sales £73.0m
2009 staff 715

From 2012

*** Its latest accounts for the year to last October show turnover rose from £84.1million to £94.3million.
However, pre-tax profits were only £893,000, down from £941,000 due to administrative expenses of £34million including restructuring costs and payments to a departing director.

This is why wanking around taking BB shells and stuck seatposts out is not and should not be a priority for any sane LBS.

I had heard they operated on a yearly profit of approx 1% so this kind of proves that.

So if the big boys can only make 1% on the footfall they get, what is an LBS making?

Bear in mind that the "big boys" also have an online service as well (Evans Cycles especially), so not really a fair comparison.

Erm - evans is nothing like an LBS.

But even so....

Evans seems to have 48 shops, so makes £18,600 per store. (Why do they bother?!?!?!?)

Assuming that they could find the (very small amount of) time to remove one BB per day per shop for £10, and that their costs would not rise as a result, they would make an extra £10 x 48 x 350 per year = an extra £168,000 profit or pretty much 20% extra profit.

You really don't get it do you... if they charged £10 instead of the £30 they charge they would not have made as much profit in the first place!

Bear in mind that the "big boys" also have an online service as well (Evans Cycles especially), so not really a fair comparison.

Good point.

Erm - evans is nothing like an LBS.

Maybe, But its a direct competitor of an LBS and what you are looking at it is that even mega bike corp can just about turn a profit on all of the business they do on both bricks and mortar and online.

So we come back to the question of "Why does my LBS charge £15 for a shitty little job"

Answer: Because they have to, because there is no guarantee you will be back to spend the dollars needed to survive and the only work that might be coming through the door is another shitty bottom bracket removal.

They're already doing that. most of them open till 8pm to compensate those who work longer hours that's becoming the norms.

They even work bank holiday too on an ironically normal opening time (9-5).

Most LBS's? Really? Most of mine don't. Push were open over the Bank Holiday, because of this they got £65 worth of my business for new swissstops, some rim tape and one of those fancy new knogs. They're a great example of a good LBS which stocks nice stuff, is open sensible hours, have reasonable prices and good customer service. It is possible!

LBS's are there for -

(1) Idiots who want to buy shit bikes
(2) People who want to buy the basics for said bikes
(3) People who want bikes serviced / repaired and can't do it themselves.

Or people who want to buy decent bike bits? The stuff above I bought was all for my fancy, unshit, carbon bike. I would argue swissstop pads and £34 knogs are not basics...

Are LBSs actually being killed off? None around me have closed and there's a new Cycle Surgery in Shebu so an increase in the number of actual stores on my way home.

LBS seem to be doing well around Hackney.

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/heartbreak_as_second_hackney_cycle_shop_is_torched_by_arsonists_1_1999084

:((

Evans Cycles

Profit growth 103.83% pa
2009 profit £6.1m
2007 profit £1.5m
2009 sales £73.0m
2009 staff 715

From 2012

*** Its latest accounts for the year to last October show turnover rose from £84.1million to £94.3million.
However, pre-tax profits were only £893,000, down from £941,000 due to administrative expenses of £34million including restructuring costs and payments to a departing director.

This is why wanking around taking BB shells and stuck seatposts out is not and should not be a priority for any sane LBS.

Evans can get to fuck, but this is comparing apples and pears. A LBS does not have to make a massive payout to a departing director who was sidelined/would probably have a case for constructive dismissal to avoid a court case, this is a 'feature' of big business. They also don't really tend to spend anything much on restructuring.

I refuse to shop at Evans on principal because they think the Sale of Goods Act doesn't apply to them, but we should all be supporting local, independent business, not Evans/whoever, anyway.

So we come back to the question of "Why does my LBS charge £15 for a shitty little job"

Answer: Because a lot of people 'on here' seem to have fuck all appreciation of the realities of business and the hidden costs (on costs and overheads) that they can't see or understand.

ftfy

I, and many other people I am sure, perceive that £15 to remove a BB is a piss take.

Talking of perception, where are you getting the perception on the "many other people I am sure"?

I think this may be why you are struggling with this, you think everyone thinks as you do whereas in reality nobody seems to.

Use your local bike shop if you want, bearing in mind that they might charge you for their services, if you don't, don't...

Next!

I would argue swissstop pads and £34 knogs are not basics

But they are classic distress purchases.

They also don't really tend to spend anything much on restructuring.

Most of those have little advantage to staff and customer but to the head office.

i.e. worse uniform just because LG have a better deal than Endura, the staff disliked their new LG jacket after getting used to the Endura one.

When I worked in catering/hospitality we converted at around 22%, i.e. that's what we generated after all the other costs had been paid.

So, if one took one of the bars as an example where we knocked out ~30K week in week out you are looking at £1.6M revenue and ~£320,000 profit.

That was based on an average gross profit margin of 70%, and staff costs constrained to 22% of the gross revenue.

However, we didn't include any head office costs in those figures, and as a whole the group (I forget, but I think there were ~32 bars) were operating at a loss.