LBS Clothing ?

[BroDeal]

On V Salon there is a thread where someone mentioned that clothing sales at a bike shop typically account for only 7% of total sales. This surprised me. Why is the percentage so low?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

cus the majority of people on bikes don't wear cycling specific clothing, they're riding hybrids and not venturing much past their neighborhoods, and that's fine. When it comes to technical gear or high end, there's not many of us out there. Suppose as gas prices go through the roof this summer, we may see more clothing go.

 

[DirtyWorks]

On V Salon there is a thread where someone mentioned that clothing sales at a bike shop typically account for only 7% of total sales. This surprised me. Why is the percentage so low?

The bulk of most shop's business is the casual rider who will likely have some multisport 'good enough' clothing already. There are exceptions, but at least in the U.S. this is a good rule of thumb.

 

[BroDeal]

And,

for those of us that do wear technical gear we often don't buy it at the LBS.

I get most of mine from Ron Hayman, and I phone him directly. Or I get Icebreaker stuff, or JonesWear, or .....

None of it goes through the LBS.

It surpised me because soft goods usually have good margins, and clothing is something that benefits from being able to try it on and see how it looks. It seems like shops would have an advantage over the Internet.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

cus the majority of people on bikes don't wear cycling specific clothing, they're riding hybrids and not venturing much past their neighborhoods, and that's fine. When it comes to technical gear or high end, there's not many of us out there. Suppose as gas prices go through the roof this summer, we may see more clothing go.

The only clothes I sell are my own branded stuff. Nothing 'team' and nothing generic. These, t shirts, wool jerseys, lycra LS and SS jerseys, bibs, hats, vests, do really well for me.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

The only clothes I sell are my own branded stuff. Nothing 'team' and nothing generic. These, t shirts, wool jerseys, lycra LS and SS jerseys, bibs, hats, vests, do really well for me.

You've been in the game long enough to know that most shops are pretty unbalanced when it comes to bike selection and clothing. I can say for certain that out of the 20 or so shops I've been to in Denver and Boulder only 2 or 3 had a decent clothing selection, yours was one of them. I wear your shops team kit with pride. Thanks again!

 

[Polish]

7% of total revenue is not too shabby.

Figure a bike shop sells 40% complete bikes and framesets...
And 20% labor and repairs...

That leaves 40% for everthing else. 7% of total is like 18% of the everthing else.

Clothes
Shoes/Pedals/Cleats/etc
Components/Grouppos
Wheels/Rims/Spokes/etc
Tires/Tubes/etc
Bars/Stems/HBTape/etc
Saddles/SeatPosts/etc
Eyewear/Computers/Food/Cages/Bottles/Tools/Forks/etc

BTW, I am thinking of stocking some new "Retro Jerseys"
What do you guys think? Yea or Nay. $69 msrp...

 

[Bustedknuckle]

You've been in the game long enough to know that most shops are pretty unbalanced when it comes to bike selection and clothing. I can say for certain that out of the 20 or so shops I've been to in Denver and Boulder only 2 or 3 had a decent clothing selection, yours was one of them. I wear your shops team kit with pride. Thanks again!

Thanks for the nice note..we have wool now!!