Rusevelt Posted October 30, 2018 Report Share Posted October 30, 2018 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46037259 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davetrials Posted October 30, 2018 Report Share Posted October 30, 2018 Such a shame they have to close so many stores, if Evans cant make it work i've no idea how the IBD's are going to manage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross McArthur Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 I know a couple of lads in the Glasgow Evans stores and they always go on about their store doing reeeallly well.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 They've got some prime locations for their stores (I used to work in the Evans opposite Waterloo Station in London - it doesn't really get much better than that for targeting the commuter crowd), but then others are pretty random. Their Cardiff store has a huge footprint but it's almost completely hidden from view as the entrance is down an access ramp, and it's situated underneath an NCP carpark. I've been in a couple of times to buy bits and bobs I've needed ASAP but it's never looked particularly busy in there, yet it's got a huge amount of stock. Was a similar deal with the one I went to in Bristol with Ben, except the guys working that shift in Bristol were generally f**kwits... The in-store experience has never seemed that good to me, and the online side is eclipsed by CRC/Wiggle, so it's not overly surprising that things aren't great for them. Seems like that's true across a lot of The Industry though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross McArthur Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 55 minutes ago, Mark W said: The in-store experience has never seemed that good to me, and the online side is eclipsed by CRC/Wiggle, so it's not overly surprising that things aren't great for them. Seems like that's true across a lot of The Industry though. I recently listened to the HKT Podcast for shop talk and all these guys seemed to be super happy with the way the industry is at the moment? A large portion of the chat was about how social media (Instagram) helps their business. I guess Evans just weren't on the HASHTAGGING bandwagon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncy H Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 I feel like these type of bike shops (brick and mortar chain bike shops) are doomed to fail. I work in a similar style place at the moment and can see the shortcomings. I believe the key is to either run an efficient online store or to run an independently owned brick and mortar shop where you choose to cover one area and do that area well. With Evans style they’re stuck in limbo of not being locally owned by passionate people who know what their local audience want or they have people sat in offices miles and miles away deciding for them what they should or shouldn’t sell based on some squewed maths from data they have. These stores generally aren’t competitive on prices nor have stock on hand to be immediately effective. The model of the stores also means the genuinely worthwhile productive staff don’t hang around and end up employing young kids that are cheap but aren’t too knowledgable and taint their image. I think these stores try to do too much also, for example walk into an Evans store and they’ll have every style of road bike, every mountain bike, every hybrid, every commuter, kids bike, bmx bike etc trying to cram into one shop but it means in those particular areas there isn’t much of a quality range to chose from. I do believe there is a place brick and mortar bike shops but this particular style is doomed to fail. I could go on all day about this but I need to head out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 100% agree Duncan! I can see Mike Ashley turning Evans into the Sports Direct of the cycle world, shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Ross McArthur said: I recently listened to the HKT Podcast for shop talk and all these guys seemed to be super happy with the way the industry is at the moment? A large portion of the chat was about how social media (Instagram) helps their business. I guess Evans just weren't on the HASHTAGGING bandwagon... People who work at shops that I've spoken to, and distros I've seen chatting about it, have generally said things are pretty slow. That said, when you look at how companies like Sick Bicycles are able to get Indiegogo funding in less than a day for an incredibly niche frame, it's not all bad. Shops that are more on it with social media (who are also the sort of people likely to go on a podcast to chat about stuff) will do better than those that aren't, just because that's the nature of the beast these days. Customers are lazier than they've ever been in terms of actually going to websites to learn about stuff, so if you've got a more reactive social media presence you'll be able to at least try and convert those stragglers into sales. Evans are in that weird no-mans-land (it's 2018, no-persons-land...) where they aren't big enough to be a Wiggle/CRC, but they're too big to really be as nimble as independents - especially with the way they have to deal with a head office/stocking manager types. Sucks to be them, and also sucks to work for them now that Sports Direct own them. They're not historically the best company to work for... It's also interesting that Nike have said they're ending their BMX team completely now as of tomorrow. Not long ago there were several big shoe companies with pro BMX teams, as well as 3-4 rider-owned shoe companies that were pretty big too. All those rider-owned companies folded after operating for a good few years, and all the 'big' brands are out now too apart from Nike. Seems a few of the bigger known rider-owned BMX brands have had to strip back their distro networks and just go direct now to make ends meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 Even though I'm obviously well into my bikes (got a roadie, a BMX, two trials, a FS MTB and now a dirt jump bike plus the kids who have a BMX, two MTBs and a trials bike, oh and the missus has a HT MTB too) I never bother with bricks and mortar shops, even well stocked 'proper' shops. The little local shops tend to know next to nothing, have generic stock at RRP and I wouldn't trust them to true a wheel and the bigger 'specialist' type places I've ever been to have limited stock of stuff at RRP and just don't appeal to me. I can find out what I need online and the price is almost guaranteed to be better online. On the Nike front they had a great team and put out some awesome videos but I've never been tempted to buy a pair of their shoes because it just doesn't feel right to me and my association with Nike is simply too far removed from anything skate or BMX oriented. I assume they're continuing the 6.0 'brand' just killing the BMX team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 Nike 6.0 ended years ago - the BMX team migrated to the 'SB' team a while back. Their 6.0 shoes looking like neon moon boots and most of their riders opting for the SB line probably didn't help sales... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross McArthur Posted October 31, 2018 Report Share Posted October 31, 2018 Ahh, so that explains Kriss Kyles move to....Kappa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davetrials Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 On 31/10/2018 at 1:27 PM, Ross McArthur said: Ahh, so that explains Kriss Kyles move to....Kappa? we can look forward to even more fantastically dressed selfies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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