Service Pricing

Consider evaluating your ala carte fees to maximize your on the spot repair business. This evaluation could help alleviate long wait times, which could be alienating first-time customers, who may get a poor perception of your store based on those lead times. Also, by doing on the spot repairs assuming you can come close to replicating your pre-pandemic labor dollars for the same timeframe, you may substantially decrease the stress on your service staff.

Adding New Partners

 This a critical time for our industry and many loyalties are going to be under review. Things are happening right now that have the future potential to disrupt things about your business should they continue when this all passes. First, a lack of inventory from your primary preferred vendor(s) may be the opening and impetus you needed to make a strategic change by adding a vendor(s) that can help you meet your needs. The “all the eggs in one basket” approach may be under enormous scrutiny for many retailers at this point, mainly if that basket is empty. Also, as the picture becomes more evident over time, these potential new vendors may be more willing to work with you on gaining more appealing margins. Competition is a good thing, and current times may result in retailers gaining some leverage in margin discussions.

Evaluating Staffing Needs And Customer Perceptions

Many retailers could use more staff, and that sales are outstanding right now. Many are also noticing that they can post huge sales days under challenging circumstances with the same amount or even reduced staff. Who would have thought you could sell and service as many or more customers while not allowing any or very few into your business?! Are there aspects of how sales are currently occurring that could change perceptions of what customers expect? In the future, will customers be more amicable to a slightly longer wait for an employee? These may be questions to ask as things return over time to slightly more “normal” operations. In a nutshell, what can we learn from how we are operating, and consider if there are ways you could reduce staffing needs by becoming more efficient? The thinking here is to consider scenarios. Lots of truths about your business are being challenged. At least allow these challenges to be viewed as experiments and examples of what is possible.

Inventory Requirements

Many retailers have noticed something extraordinary. If a customer wants a bike, they will buy one! As selection has become smaller, they will buy what you have. In our own retail business, we tried very hard to battle the proliferation of SKUs over the years. Too many subcategories, models, and colors began to overwhelm us, and we discovered that we were selling what we had as we simplified our selection. Our customers were not as impressed by the enormous range many brands have available as they were simply in having a bike we could sell them. Too much inventory can be a significant hurdle for many shops to overcome, and perhaps our current situation may build confidence that you can do more with a little less!

I believe that retailers are currently in a position to make changes that, in regular times, would very likely create issues with either employee, customer, or vendor buy-in. There is too much happening at this moment in time to allow for overthinking decisions. Everyone is handling issues in addition to the fact that it is springtime. Think hard about what you are seeing happen in your business. Contemplate if any changes you had to make are challenging your perceptions or those of your customers. In doing so, you will learn what is required to provide bikes and service.

Words by David DeKeyser animation_offset=””]

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Adjusting in the Midst of Chaos appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

These resources are available thanks to industry donors who are committed to helping bike shops thrive, as well as NBDA member shops who are the heart of the organization and the bike industry.

Resource page: The NBDA COVID-19 Resources for Retailers page is an invaluable hub for dealers to learn about financial support packages for shops and employees. Visitors will also find an extensive directory of articles and resources by industry experts, including links to related content in the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’.

Podcasts and webinars: The NBDA’s podcast, Bicycle Retail Radio, produced a series of episodes in which experienced retailers shared tips and best operational practices. They also brought together experts for webinars, including Communication Strategies During the COVID-19 Crisis and Live to Ride Another Day (coming April 28), a webinar that addresses head-on the reality of facing a business closure.

Consulting services: NBDA members have exclusive access to consulting services with David DeKeyser, a former bike shop owner who now dedicates his career to helping bike shops succeed.

NBDA Facebook group: It’s never been more important to bring retailers together. The NBDA Facebook group has become a vital connection point for owners to share tips and offer support.

FREE access to Beeline: Bike shop service departments have never been busier, but NBDA members can now save time with free service scheduling through Beeline Connect.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post NBDA Rallies COVID 19 Resources to Support Bike Shops appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Retail Operations During COVID-19: Changing Hands Bookstore – Phoenix, Arizona:Â Now is an uncertain time for retail. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing retailers to make difficult decisions like whether to close their store or not, whether or not to lay off employees, whether to ask for rent deferral or not, etc. We think that now it is more important than ever to come together and share ideas and practices between retailers all over the nation.

For the fourth episode in this series, Fred Clements interviews Gayle Shanks, owner of Changing Hands Bookstore with locations in Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona, and former president of the American Booksellers Association. Gayle has cultivated a passionate community around her bookstore and while talking to Fred, finds the similarities between the struggles that both bike and booksellers have faced for the last 20 years.

Enjoy listening to Retail Operations During COVID-19: Changing Hands Bookstore – Phoenix, Arizona

Support the show (https://nbda.com/articles/donation-form-pg511.htm#!form/Donate)

Changing Hands Business Vision:

There’s more to a bookstore than the books on the shelves.

When you buy a book from Changing Hands, part of the price you pay goes to:

• Supporting our friendly, hardworking, knowledgeable staff
• Supporting programs on local public radio stations KJZZ and KBAQ
• Supporting local schools and teachers
• Supporting over 200 local, national and international charities and service organizations

No part of the price you pay goes to:

• Remote corporate headquarters where decisions are based solely on maximizing profits
• Absentee owners who don’t work in the store or live in the community

At Changing Hands, we are dedicated to doing business as a responsible member of our community in a manner that results in making a modest profit without exploiting our employees, our vendors, or our customers. When you shop at Changing Hands, you join with us in building community.

Changing Hands Bookstore — an independent community bookstore

Fred & Gayle

Tue, 8/18 10:45AM • 55:45

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

books, store, bike, booksellers, people, bike shops, community, customers, buy, employees, business, author, bicycle, retail, sell, events, years, amazon, changing, bookstores

SPEAKERS

Fred Clements, Rod Judd, Chad Pickard, Gayle Shanks

Rod Judd  00:10

You are listening to bicycle retail radio brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Fred Clements  00:16

Thanks for tuning in to the NBDA Bicycle Retail Radio Podcast. I’m Fred Clements. I’ll be hosting today and talking to Gail Shanks owner of Changing Hands Bookstore with two locations one in Phoenix and one in Tempe, Arizona. They’ve been in the retail book business for 46 years now, and you might think it’s highly unusual and maybe it is to talk to someone in an industry totally unrelated to bicycles, and to do a podcast that is aimed at bike shops talking to a bookseller but I’ve had some background with booksellers. I think there are a lot of parallels, not just as small businesses, but the community engagement and part of which Gail is really good at so I thought we’d talk about About what she just give the listener a chance to see what the lay of the land is in the book business and her business changing hands book shop, and then move into some of the specifics of what they’re doing in community engagement and the like. And then because we’re in the middle, hopefully, it’s only the middle of the Coronavirus issue then we’ll move into that what a lot of bike shops are taking different strategies, some open some clothes, some partially open and the same challenges facing booksellers, with the Coronavirus in that we get into that sort of toward the end, but I thought it’d be nice to sort of set the stage to see a little more about Gail’s business. Another thing that I found interesting is booksellers I think, were among the first independent retail industries to be challenged to buy a little company years ago now but a little company called Amazon that seemed to target for whatever reason the book business before others, and then, of course, moving into other things and I think it’s been referred to I saw this Gail may have said this fighting a pandemic of online the heaviness for a lot of years but I think it hit the booksellers first and harder and along with corporate chains and then technology can racing in with Kindle and the like. So booksellers have really had a fight on their hands and the number of stores declined quite a bit, but before the Coronavirus is really making a comeback, in terms of the number of stores, and they’ve really cleaned up their act. Gail is a former president of the American Booksellers Association and has been working in dealing with a lot of association-related issues as well, you know, on behalf of her industry. So I think there are parallels to bikes and I wanted to welcome Gail and, Gail, thank you for being willing to do this and share some of your insights.

Gayle Shanks  02:52

Well, thanks so much for having me, Fred. You know, I’m just thrilled and I think I agree that both bikes and books have been facing a lot of similar challenges over the last 2025 years, and especially from the online buying community. And I agree, Amazon started as a bookseller and I was just listening recently to an interview that Terry Gross did with the producer and director of a frontline look at Amazon and the impact it’s had on retail in the entire universe. And it was really interesting to hear him talk about Jeff Bezos talking about why he started selling books initially. And he said he did that because books were uniform, pretty much in shape and easy to mail didn’t get damaged in the mail in general, and not Not only were they an item that could easily be sent in the mail, but they were also something that he could grab on to in terms of understanding who the consumer was by what they were reading. So he had this in my mind and ulterior motive of collecting marketing data. Early on, I’ve always thought that Amazon was really not about the products that they were selling, but more about how they could market the customers of Amazon to other people to get more sales for those other companies. And the value was really in selling the information about me, as opposed to selling me a book or what have, you know, your customers a bicycle. And you know, if they knew that your customer was only interested in bikes that cost $3,000 or more, they could sell the information about you, too. Somebody like Bose, you know, that sold headsets for thousands of dollars or, you know, home stereo systems, you know, that you could install in your house and they wanted a certain customer. So you know, they would find that customer from Amazon selling that marketing information. So it was a very insidious and unsavory way of really ignoring people’s privacy and by, you know, gathering information on their purchases, moving that to a different platform and that of marketing, that personal information. So, now that was bothersome from the very beginning, in addition to the fact that in the very beginning, Amazon was discounting books dramatically, often way below the price that we weren’t even able to buy the book from. wholesale from the publishers And they started very quickly bullying publishers into giving them prices, which we could never really get, which were not disclosed to us by our publisher partners either. Because they were terrified of sharing that information and somehow maybe Amazon would stop buying from them. And that was scary for them. So a long answer to

Fred Clements  06:27

that rings a bell a little different in the bike industry, we have overseas retailers who avoid customs you know, bicycles have a tariff placed on them and bicycle parts up to a limit and, and some of the bike shops can buy retail overseas for less than wholesale here, similar to what you just described in the book business. So it’s been a real challenge. So I met by Miss I looking at your website. I’m certainly no expert on any of this. But I noticed it seems like your strategy and correct me if I’m wrong, but your strategy has been to move towards community engagement. community building, trying to be more than just a place to pick up a book, you know, the people that look like you have author events 300 or more per year prior to the virus, and bike shops. Similarly, we’ll have classes or presentations. How did the author’s events work? How did that come about?

Gayle Shanks  07:20

Well, we have always had author events from, you know, the time we were in tiny little 1000 square foot bookstore. We had authors, local authors, or some national authors that were coming through Arizona, and they would stop in and we would have a book signing for them. Generally, what we meant by a book signing was not just that, you would stand in front of a table and the author would sign their book, but they would give a little talk, answer questions, read from the book that they had written, and then sign the book. And what we found early on was that was starting to build a literary community in Tempe, where we started, people would want to come and meet the author, but they also wanted to meet the other people who would come to the event. And there would be conversations prior to an after the author had finished reading. And those conversations started developing this network of customer relationships and bookseller and customer relationships that we found to be the sustaining piece of what we were doing. And also our reason to exist. When we first opened our store. We always want it to be that community-centered bookstore where people would come in, talk about politics, talk about the environment, talk about great literature, and the idea that we could provide that space was part and parcel of why we opened the store. So, you know, in the early 70s, there were already chain stores. There were B Dalton’s in those days, the crown bookstores. And it was before Barnes and Noble had started and borders Barnes and Noble and Borders. But they came soon after both starting as small, independent bookstores themselves and then turning into small and then larger chains. But our author events are what have kept us alive. Not only do we do events with authors present, but we do a lot of events where we have a poetry teacher teaching poetry to a group of 20 people. So we have writers, poets, fiction, nonfiction narrative writers who come and We charge the people who come Generally, the teacher gets half of what we charge, and the store gets the other half. And our community is just thrilled. And oftentimes with popular teachers, those workshops are often full within an hour or two of us posting on the website.

Fred Clements  10:26

And it looks like you have a community of volunteers to help out unpaid people to help at those events. That’s another expression of community as soon as

Gayle Shanks  10:35

we do we love our volunteers. They are customers first. And they early on asked us if they could help in any way and we decided that having them come to our events was the perfect way to involve them in the store. They get front row seating because they’re really they’re the ones that are getting the books ready for the authors to sign. They’re the ones that are going up and down the lines, making sure you know if there’s someone using a walker that he or she would get to the front of the line or a baby screaming, you know, they make sure that they’re sort of our feet on the ground during those events so that our staff can really be running the events themselves. And they just love it. We give them trade credit in the store for their work. So they’re thrilled because they would be buying books anyway. And this way, they can get a little bit of trade credit, and they get to meet the author very often. And they’re really competitive about which authors in which events they volunteer for. And we have a volunteer coordinator on staff who works with them, and, you know, brings them in depending on how many people we need for a particular event. And that has been just terrific. Not only do we get essentially free help, but it also builds tremendous loyalty among those volunteers who just absolutely love the store and would do anything for us. And as we’re, you know when we get into talking about, you know, what do stores do when there’s a pandemic like we’re experiencing right now? It really is those loyal customers who we, you know, have built up over the years, including those volunteers who have produced this groundswell of support for the store and never want to see us close their doors and never open them again. And, you know, those volunteers provide some of the best of that group.

Fred Clements  12:52

In fact, I saw one of the things that I’ve asked about later but what you’re doing now is, you know, you know, your doors are Closed gift cards are and I noticed you, you noted that gift cards if you really want to support the store, buy a gift card, give us money. Now it’s like a short term loan because we’re in business, you can fulfill the gift card and not that that was a pretty creative way of putting that.

Gayle Shanks  13:16

Right. And we got $25,000 worth of gift card sales in two days. Wow. I wrote my newsletter. And, you know, I just might mention, you know, to you bike store, folks that one of the things that I’ve done for probably 25 or 30 or 46 years, is I have a monthly newsletter that I write and it gets sent out to our email subscribers and is often linked to on our social media. And it is a newsletter that starts out saying dear bookstore friends, and I will talk about weeding in my backyard or the wolf flowers that are blooming. I talked about upcoming events, I talked about what’s going on in politics. I talk about what I’m reading, you know, basically, it’s just me, sharing with them some stories from inside the bookstore. And sometimes it’s, you know, one of our customers telling us something about one of their children, you know, coming back from college and the first stop they want to make, is it changing hands or it’s the young kid who’s standing at the door of the wildflower and they are dying to get in and run to the train table in the kid’s section, or, you know, I just sort of collect these stories. And I share them with our customers on a monthly basis. And I get dozens and dozens of responses. And I think what it does is it really has melded our community to our store. And it’s not a newsletter just about me. It is a newsletter about what’s going on in our world. And when this Coronavirus hit it was, you know, something that I didn’t know how to deal with it or what to think about it. And I just poured my heart out into that letter. And I think that has really changed in so many ways that dynamic of, you know, our inner actions with our community.

Fred Clements  15:30

Great. Yeah. So I see here, you have two locations, one of which has the first draft book bar, which is beer, I noticed because I like beer and sublight food like pretzels and things. So that’s in your second location is that’s in Phoenix and your original store was in Tempe? Right? What’s behind your first draft book bar?

Gayle Shanks  15:53

Well, you know, for the same reason that I was talking about before when you’re competing online. You’re trying to do is provide an experience for your customers in the real world, not in the online world. And when we decided to open a second location five years ago, we were looking at a more urban location than our Tempe story is. It’s more in the suburbs. And we were asking ourselves, what could make our store unique, among other retailers, as well as other bookstores. And one of the ideas that we came up with was, how cool it would be to have a bar inside our store. And so we worked with the owners of this 50s modern building, to repurpose it to include not only our bookstore and the first draft book bar, but also a common area that we could share with the other renters in the building. And so the bar sits halfway between our bookstore and this open space and it serves coffee and breakfast items in the morning moving into beer and wine as the afternoon goes on, and it has enhanced that aspect of community gathering place by a hundredfold it started out really slowly. It’s very expensive to put in a bar and all of the things that you need to have in bar refrigerators and dishwashers and water filters and all kinds of refrigerators and espresso machines but after five years, it is in the black and it is very busy and it has really enabled Our customers to have an experience that they can have in very few other places, especially in bookstores. And it’s being used as a model. There are probably 10 book bars now around the country, and more to come, or there were more to come before we were sort of stopped in our tracks. But that said, you know, there’s nothing more fun than carrying a glass of wine or a craft beer in your hands while you’re browsing the shelves. And, you know, there’s dozens and dozens and dozens of pictures of people in our store with a glass of beer in their hand that they have posted on social media. And we just, of course, love that. We have mugs and pint glasses that have changed hands and the first draft brand is all over them. And it’s just been quite an exciting thing to see that it’s, you know, totally taken off and if we didn’t have a bar on the other side of us Tempe, we would have opened a bar in our Tempe store as well. But we don’t like to step on our neighbor’s toes. And we now send people next door to get their beer.

Fred Clements  19:15

So you have somewhere around 60 employees between the two stores and the bar? I think so the people that serve the food and beverages are one skill set. And but for the other skill set, I was really interested in hearing from you. In the bike business, you know, it’s hard to find good employees who will work for what bike shops can pay. Yeah, find a lot of enthusiasts who love bicycles, and then they have to kind of be taught the business in many cases. What are your criteria? I mean, does everyone have to be a have a master’s in English or something? How do you hire for a bookstore?

Gayle Shanks  19:50

You know, it’s changed over the years to be quite honest. I mean, in the beginning, we wanted to have people that, you know, were lit majors or really loved books and have been either worked around books or, you know, had been avid readers since they were children. And those are still criteria that we use. But we have definitely expanded over the years, we have the same issues. You know, there’s not a lot of money in bookselling. And so our employees don’t get paid a lot of money. And we explain that to them upfront, I do an orientation with all of our new employees, each and every time we get new ones in the store. And I say, you are going to be worth so much more than we are going to be able to pay you. And, you know, this is the reality here. And if you need to move on, at some point, we are going to be so sad to have you go but we love the idea that you’re passionate about books that you want to be around other colleagues who are reading and talking and thinking books and a community that comes in with the expectation that you are going to be their resource, and you’re going to help them find the very best books that are out there. And it has been remarkable that we have, you know, hundreds and hundreds of little hands running around in the world now that have come through our store, some of whom have stayed a year, some of whom have been there for 40 years. And really, it’s quite a job to window through them and find really good ones. We have a test that we give them with titles and authors and genres. And, you know, if they want the test in a big way, we probably don’t even interview them, but if, you know they do well, and they get most of the answers, right, and they recognize authors and titles, you know, it’s a big step, but we use other criteria, too. If they’ve worked as a waiter, you know, those are usually really great. Employees because they understand how important public service and really good customer service is. So, you know, we’ve really figured out the smile, you know, you need to have a smile, you need to be a happy person. In order to work in a bookstore, we explained to them that they need to leave their personal problems at the back door when they come in and that retail is theater, which I’m sure all of your bike people know the same thing. You know, if you’re going to sell an expensive bike or even just a starter bike for someone, you got to have someone who writes bikes, loves bikes know about bikes or can pretend that they do, for some reason, you know, they’ve never been able to afford an expensive bike. Those are really important qualities.

Fred Clements  22:48

It sounds very similar to the philosophy of Do you hire for expertise? Or do you hire for personality? Well, the answer is both. Yeah, I can’t work retail. Unless you Like people and lighting, like what you’re selling, and so you have to have some knowledge. But it’s so we often say, you know, we hire for personality, we can train you on the rest, as long as you’re enthusiastic, maybe it’s less so with bookselling, because it’s so deep and complex, the world of books is pretty, pretty complex. I imagine. So, yeah, so you mentioned earlier margins on books not being great. That’s very similar to bicycles. You have a used books program, and many bike shops do similarly. Because often in the bike business anyway, that if you can buy right and then sell a used bike, the margins can be much better than on a new bike. You know, on a new bike, we’re looking at a 36% margin on average. So could you describe a little bit of how the US book program came about and how that works?

Gayle Shanks  23:48

Well, our name changing hands came about because, in the beginning, we were a used bookstore. We only have one case of new books and the entire rest of the store was so useful. Because we love the idea even in the 70s of recycling and reusing. So our initial store opened with the majority of the books inside being used books, and our hearts are still in a huge way in those use books. And the margins, as you say, with our books are so much greater than with new books. What are the issues that booksellers have in the country is the books come pre-priced. So if you turn a book over, and it’s a paperback, it’s gonna say 1699 on the back. If you open a hardcover on the inside flap, it’s gonna stay 2599. And we have a very hard time you can’t really sell books, in my experience at more than the cost that’s printed on them. And for years, our industry has been debating taking the prices off of books. Asking publishers to please take them off so that we can determine our own prices. And just sell us the books at a net price. And then we will decide how much to sell it for. But unfortunately, again, Amazon has had a lot to say about that. They want their prices, you know, a percentage off of the retail price, and they want a standard retail price on books. And so they fought very hard to keep that price on those books. And again, publishers are terrified of Amazon, pulling, you know, their buy buttons off of Amazon’s website. And so they pretty much listen to whatever they have to say. But we’re finding more and more that we have to have a mix of products in our store. And changing hands was one of the first bookstores to really go into the gift business in addition to the use books that we sell And the new books that we sell, we also sell an enormous amount of gift items. And the gift items are mixed in with the books. And we find that if someone’s buying a cookbook, and they see a beautiful, you know, handcrafted ceramic salad bowl with salad tongs right next to the cookbook, they will in addition to buying the cookbook for Mother’s Day, buy the salad bowl and the salad tongs along with it. And so instead of getting a $30 sale at our registers, we might get an $80 sale at the registers and on the gift items, we can mark them at whatever we feel is a fair price. So we have what we call a mix of products in our store and that has truly allowed us to be more profitable.

Fred Clements  26:54

Yeah, that’s great. I saw on your site shirts, mugs, toys, puzzles, shirts, with the freezer. READ WRITE, resist. And in one READ WRITE resistant vote

Gayle Shanks  27:08

exactly. We had one that said to me right resist for the last year. So this year, we decided we needed to put a vote on there.

Chad Pickard  27:16

Well, yeah. What does being a member of the NBDA mean? Go to NBDA.com to learn about member benefits programs, and preferred partner discounts.

Fred Clements  27:34

So related to that, I think and I was going to get into this in the sort of Coronavirus discussion but you have booked care packages that I know you’re continuing to offer through this crisis but and I assume you were doing that before book care packages where you people can order as gifts or you’ll come up with maybe you should describe it not me. What’s the book care package?

Gayle Shanks  27:57

Well, they were initially For children, we have these baby baskets, we call them. And we’ve had them for years. If you have a new baby in your family or you’re going to a baby shower, and you want to start that child’s library, we have a couple of different programs, you could get kids, all the classics that they might not, you know, have the good night moon and Where the Sidewalk Ends, or, you know, whatever we put together and think of his classic children’s books, or you could buy them new books that have just come out that might one day be classics themselves. And we’ve been doing that program for a long time when the coronavirus hit and we have to close the doors to the public. One of our employees came up with this idea that we should do these care packages because so many people were staying at home, were not able to get out and those of us who have loved ones who are You know, stuck in their houses, often with young children trying to teach them to homeschool them at the same time that they’re still working from home, or in a panic as to what were they going to do with their kids all day. And so our employee me came to us and said, I think we should put together these care packages and they should have books and they should have puzzles. And they should have, you know, markers and they should have colored pencils and coloring books and things that the kids can do at home. And we launched them just as quickly as we could. And we were blown away by the response from the community. We have sold over 2000 care packages now in less than 20 days. So we have been able to keep our staff working safely inside the store. You know, obviously we don’t have many of them at the same time because we want them to be safe when they’re there. They wear gloves and they wear masks now and they put together these packages, there was a little survey that was sent out to our customers saying, what kinds of books do you like to read? Or what do you think your friend likes to read? Or do you just want to be surprised and delighted? The majority of them say, Oh my gosh, I haven’t had time to read in such a long time. Just surprised me. So the staff is ecstatic because they get to go around and pull their favorite books and put them into these packages. And we’re sending some gift items along with it. Just some fun, you know, magnets for your refrigerator, little post-it notes, we enclose a postcard with a stamp on it that says, send some love to someone, you know, and tell them that you’re thinking about them. And the response has just been incredible. So, you know, it’s they often these things come from the grassroots, it can come from this really smart woman who not only came to us with the idea, but she came to us with, you know, four legal pages of how she would implement it and how we would promote it. And, you know, I’m just so enamored with my employees and just amazed at what they have been willing to do to keep the store afloat and keep their jobs. And it’s mostly about keeping changing hands alive. And secondarily that they can continue to have jobs there. I just, you know, I’m just I’m in tears. I’ve been in tears for 20 days now.

Fred Clements  31:39

That’s an inspiring boy. In fact, I noticed your focus on employees on your website. Again, you have profiles on every pretty much every staff member, you have their name, you have a photo, you have a description of what their background is and what they do. And then there are reviews book reviews their recommendation, so you’ve really Given the employees face on the web, and really, I guess that’s another community really is your employee base. But I’ve often thought bike dealers could do the same thing. You know, play up the employees talk about your favorite rides and your favorite equipment, it seems like, has that been hard to manage? What how does that all come together?

Gayle Shanks  32:19

No, it hasn’t been hard to manage. And I want to say that five stores should be doing this because what we found is that customers want a connection. They want a personal connection. And, you know, when I go into my local bike store, I want someone there that I’ve seen before I want them to know Yeah, I realized this little folding bike that can fit in my car because I like to take it to the greenbelt. And if I’m having a problem because my tire pump won’t, you know, fit on the little tire, whatever you call that thing that you pump it up with. You guys know that thing, but I Don’t Want to go in there? And I want them the next time I go into say, How did that work for you? You know, we changed out that stuff. And, you know, I know we didn’t have a pump that could get in there, but did it work? And it’s like, it was so great. You know, you’ve just changed my whole world. And I would then continue to seek out that person for other issues that I might have. But beyond that, when you go in, and you know, my grandson is 11 now and we bought three bikes for him lightning, starting when he was tiny, and, you know, I want to go in and say, what kind of bike Do you buy for three-year-old? Do you buy it with training wheels? Or do you buy it? You know, do you buy a tricycle? You know, what do you recommend? And I think when someone has personal experience, and they say to you, you know, my kid is five now and when he was three, I was kind of going through the same thing and I couldn’t decide tricycle by foot’s trainer wheels, this way. I decided, and you know, all of a sudden you have an expert in a field that you don’t really have that much experience with. And that’s what I was looking for. And I went back to that store, when, you know, Hayden was six. And again, now he’s 11. And, you know, we just got them another bike. And it’s the same, you know, it’s that kind of thing. And I want either that person to be there who helped me the last time or someone else who has their own set of stories because that’s the connector. I mean, if I have to go into Costco and buy a bike or go to, you know, where else would you buy bikes? I don’t know, I don’t buy them at chain places, but maybe Walmart or something, you know, you’re not going to have someone there that’s going to have the experience or the capacity to stop and talk to you about what would be the right bike at the right time in your life. And, you know, it’s huge and so You know, my employees have great followers in our community. I mean, if they read two books that one of them recommends, they’re waiting for the next five books that they read and loved. And they come in and they asked for them by name. And we say, Oh my gosh, you know, she works at the Phoenix store. But if you, you know, want us to give you some recommendations, we’ll look her up online and tell you what she’s reading right now. And they want to do that.

Fred Clements  35:28

Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s great. I noticed you know, so your marketing, what I could pick up is marketing through social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, I noticed something that may not be a big thing. But if you had an affiliate program where if customers or who own businesses or the like, tell me if I’m describing this wrong, but if they put a link to your changing hand’s comm site on their site, to drive traffic to your store, you pay them a commission for the sales that are generated through that weak, that’s pretty creative. How does that work? Well,

Gayle Shanks  36:04

that of all of the things we’ve done is the least successful really. I mean, it’s, it works better, really when we do in-store book sales. That might be something also that the bike stores could do where, you know, we’ll get an organization. Usually, it’s a school or a synagogue. What else if we have some nonprofits who have a night at the store and as their participants come and wring out their sales at the cash register, we give them a percentage of what their participants bought in the store that night. And often we’ll run those through a weekend so you know if a school is doing a fundraiser they’ll say anything you buy at changing hands in their books for Schools Program Friday, Saturday Sunday will be, you know, we’ll get either trade credit or cash from the store at the end of those three days. And that has actually worked much, much better for us. So we reach out to those organizations, a lot of times they want us to do book fairs at their school are at their synagogue, and we used to just, you know, schlep boxes and boxes of books to someplace, you know, to a school cafeteria and set it all up. And it was just an enormous amount of staff time, energy, we’d have to rent you know, u hauls or something and it just didn’t work out as well for us. We ended up losing money and so years ago, we said if you want to do a book fair, we do it inside the store and the PTA comes and they’ll bring cookies and, you know, cocoa if it’s in the winter, you know, Kool-Aid or something, if it’s in the spring and we just have a great time we’ll put on music and you know, they do activities and It’s worked out great, but the affiliates, we did it because people were asking us to do it. But honestly, if we’ve given away $300 over the years, I would be really surprised. Okay.

Fred Clements  38:15

So I guess next on my sort of informal list here is the topic of the month of the year I guess it’s the Coronavirus in. So it looks like you made the decision to close your stores and the bar to the public as of March 31. And through at least April 30. On the magic we’re all going to be closed for a little longer than that but to keep the staff on and keep them paid, you’re still conducting business in a limited way. You’re assuming your doors are locked to the public but it looks like one thing I noticed your website you know for online orders you have looked like a current catalog of what you have in stock there on your website. So if people can buy either for curbside pickup or you will ship to them books that they want. On, certainly gift cards we referenced earlier, audiobooks. And then, of course, the book care packages. That sounds to me like a home run that you put together there. Any other I mean, what else about the changes you’ve made with Coronavirus? This challenge?

Gayle Shanks  39:16

Well, we actually closed the store on the 17th of March. So we’ve been close, you know, about 25 days, maybe 20 days. And we just obviously just didn’t think it was safe the first couple of days. In March, we were letting customers come in. And our staff was just feeling nervous about, you know, being at the cash register and having people come up. And so we were, again, trying to figure out a way that we could keep them safe, keep the public safe, but we could keep our business going. It’s the hardest thing that I think I’ve ever faced in 46 years of owning the store. It’s We adore our staff. As you know, I’ve been talking about them, we’ve done everything we can to keep them on the payroll. We told them early in March that we thought we could afford to keep them on the payroll till the end of the month, the end of March, and that we would continue to pay the art portion of their health care expenses. Even if they weren’t working, because some of them had young children at home. Some of them were caring for older parents, and they really couldn’t be bringing potential germs home. At the end of March, we had to make some really hard decisions about how we were going to move forward. And we realized that we really couldn’t keep the bar staff on. There were a few of them that we were able to train to be booksellers and start helping us fill these care packages, which take a lot of time and a lot of energy. And some of them were willing to do that they were making more working at the bar because they get tips, in addition, you know, to their wages. And for some of them, it made more sense to go on unemployment. were applying for the SBA loan, and, you know, changes every minute. We’ve spent the past week trying to figure out how we’re going to get that money so that we can, in fact, keep the staff on and pay our rent, and those other things that will help us with. But I think that you know, for us, the bigger issue was really how to keep our customers involved with our store, and they want it to be I mean, I cannot tell you how many hundreds and hundreds of emails and social media, things we were getting, from people saying what can we do, we want changing hands to be there. We want you to open up again, we can’t believe we’re coming to the door and your clothes. And, you know, what can we do? What can we do? What can we do and we said, buy books, buy books, buy books. And, you know, we have hundreds and hundreds of orders coming through, I want to tell you, in spite of all of the buisiness, and all the care packages, and all of the, you know, credit cards, we are still down 60% from, you know, our normal month of March and the end of February and at the beginning of April, from last year. So, you know, it’s not enough to sustain the business. But I think it might be enough if this changes, and we could open the doors again in a few months. But no one in retail knows what that’s going to look like. And so for bike stores, for bookstores, for boutiques for restaurants, you know, we are all going to have to start at ground zero again, when those doors can actually be opened and you know, There’s, for every hundred customers that are staying loyal and buying from us, there’s probably 100 who have said, Well, I’m just going to try buying online or I’m going to buy more online, I was already buying online. And we are going to have to pull those customers back into our stores again. And we’re gonna have to get those authors back. Coming to do events, again, they’re now going to do virtual events. Will they ever do physical events? Again, we don’t know. You know, it’s possible the publishers could say, well, it worked fine. You know, during the virus, the month of the virus was keeping stores closed. Maybe we should keep doing them virtually. And the stores are going to scream, you know, at the top of our lungs saying, No, we need you to send those authors so that they can be in the presence of their readers. And please don’t think that this was anything but a stock gap. But I do think, you know, again, bike stores, I mean, there’s the bike store. Mini has these bike rides in the morning, and, you know, on the weekends. And it’s not just about selling the bike, it’s about those people coming together. Somebody’s putting together the ride, telling them where they’re going to go. They stop and get breakfast, they get back on their bikes, and they ride back to the bike store. And it’s about that community. And I think, you know, for all of us in retail, the more we connect with that community, the more likely we are to be able to open our doors and have that community back supporting us again. But it all plays back to that. What are we doing for them? How are we going to keep them in? How are we going to be in their minds, even while our doors are closed, and that’s why we are just coming up with one idea after the next Easter is three days from now and We decided we had a lot of bunnies, you know, plus plush bunnies and a lot of Easter books. And we said, well maybe we could put together Easter baskets because people can’t go out and you know we had Easter candy, we have Easter toys, and we put a picture of an Easter Bunny with some candy and grass and a basket. And we sold 190 baskets in two days. We didn’t even have enough bunnies, we were selling them beyond the point where we had bunnies. So, fortunately, our supplier our plush company is overnighting us funnies and you know we have to turn the button off. But that kind of thing you know is the way that is going to enable us to continue to be connected with our customers and our customers connected with us. So you know we probably could have sold 200 more Easter baskets But we just couldn’t do anymore in the space between now and Sunday. So, and you know, and there’s graduation on Mother’s Day. And so, you know, for bike stores, maybe it’s graduation, I put a huge push, you know, toward helping people understand that if you buy a bike for someone, that’s a graduation present, that’s going to keep your local bike store in business and buy it now, even though graduation. I mean, no one knows when they’re going to graduate because, you know, the schools are closed down. But what if you had graduation in April, you know, because the kids are no longer in school and, you know, you buy him some great bike or some bike accessory or, you know, whatever, and say that not only is this a great present for someone, but it’s also keeping your local business, in business for a little bit longer until we can get through this together and I Just finding more and more that community really wants to pull together right now they want to bring cookies in, you know, they want to make our banana bread, they, you know, all of these things, but you don’t even know like, someone brought us three loaves of banana bread that they made and the employees were like, should we eat best? And if they put gloves on, you know, who knows? So?

Fred Clements  47:25

Yeah, yeah, it was, as you mentioned, it’s sort of an open question. Once the crisis is over, there’s bound to be sort of a mixed time where it’s not 100% over but we’re still using social distancing up to a point and, you know, what’s the, how does the new world look? Is it different in a significant way? Is it the same? I like to think and I guess time will tell that people who are stuck at home are going to be so ready to get out and go to a brick and mortar store for their passions, that we may be in a pretty good position as well. retailers, you know, I hope so anyway, so 

Gayle Shanks  48:02

I hope so too. Yeah.

Fred Clements  48:05

So anything sort of in closing that you have I sort of just cost you anything that I haven’t asked that you think is key then or that might be important.

Gayle Shanks  48:15

Well, you know, one thing that I think has kept my colleagues in the country alive is their involvement with their local first organizations. I think that education is so important in terms of reminding the public continually how important small business is to their community, to their state, to the way they think about their community, the way they stay connected in their community, that if we are all staying in our houses, you know, clicking our garage open, clicking our garage close, sitting down in front of our computers. buying things having, you know, these endless trucks in our neighborhoods delivering. It’s so environmentally unsound, to begin with. But secondly, there’s no sense that you live in a community any longer. You are basically living in your own little box in your own little house. And I think one thing that this Coronavirus has really taught us is how important our neighbors are, how important our relatives are, how important business people are, how important those restaurants word that you used to go into but now you can only get you know endless plastic bags filled with stuff that you have to come home and heat in the microwave which is better than not having them but you know that sense that you get when you go into a restaurant and you know the owner and they know you or you know the bartender or they know you or you know that sense of connection is so important. And I think it behooves all small businesses right now, to figure out away. I mean, social media has never been easier in many ways than it is right now. And I just think all of the energy we bricks and mortar store, spend on connecting with our customers, you know, sharing information about other businesses that are in our community. Hey, did you know that you know Nelson’s meat shop is now you can pick up produce boxes there? Did you know that not only do they have produce boxes, but they’re giving to the food pantry, they’re, you know, they’re doing all these incredible things? You know, we’re constantly connecting in with other small businesses that we know and pushing out their exciting ideas as well. And I think the more that we can do that, the more that we are teaching the consumer How important we are to their lives. And what a loss it will be if we are not here and not able to open our doors again, when this is over, you know, to think about death strip malls and dead shopping centers, you know, that are just, you know, plastic bags blowing around in the dust and no cars in the parking lot. I mean, that just breaks my heart to think about that. And I think it’s our job to really get that message to those people who are at a loss now what to do and remind them that where they spend their money is voting with their pocketbook, that if they choose to keep stores like changing hands in the business, they are giving us that opportunity to continue to give not only back to them, but to All of the organizations, the nonprofit’s that we support the literacy organizations that we support the, you know, the food banks, all of these places that small businesses participate in. And they allow us to continue to do that by voting with those dollars that they have to spend in our stores. Not out of our state, not with a giant, you know, monopoly that’s trying to form you know, called Amazon. They get to choose where they spend their money. And I think by choosing their small local community, businesses, they are going to, in effect have an enormous impact on what their own lives are going to be in the future. And I think that’s what we need to do during this weird time in all of our history, is just hammer that message And I think it’s going to come into very responsive and receptive brains right now, I think we have a moment in time when people are understanding that isolation is not the experience that they want. And that community is going to keep them whole as humans. And I think that’s really important.

Fred Clements  53:25

Well, thank you for that very well said. I appreciate that. Check. I would encourage all of our listeners to check out the changing hand’s comm website to see some of what you’re up to. You have an extensive list of community engagement and involvement of companies and, and charities you’ve given to over the years. And, you know, to your point, I think it was one of the when I work years ago with some booksellers, the notion that you know, every dollar spent at a local retailer has a much greater impact on your community to just trace the dollars and what goes on and the rent. You’ve paid. In all and the salaries, you pay that, whereas the UPS driver, you know, you got to bless them for doing hard work, but the only part that goes back in the community may be a portion of their salary. That is that one delivery to one store. I mean, it’s nothing the sales tax doesn’t even go locally in many cases. So yeah, good point. And I agree. Yeah. So Gail, thank you very much for doing the podcast with us today. And I mean, I’ll take a risk here and give your email address if some of our bike shops want to reach out to you. It’s Gail, GAYL. E at changing hands calm is your email address. And I really appreciate the time we’ve spent and I believe I pulled you away from working in your garden. So I’ll go right back to that and it’s good for the soul to be outside a little bit. So

Gayle Shanks  54:49

thank you so much, and I really wish all of you bike stores that might be listening to this, you know, survival and thriving, you know, as we move together, because I definitely need my local bike store. And I want them to be there. And so, you know, I think together we’re going to figure this out and we are figuring it out and happy to help in any way I can. And please do email me.

Fred Clements  55:18

Thank you again. I appreciate it very much. Thanks, Fred.

Rod Judd  55:20

This has been bicycle retail radio by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership and member benefits, join us @NBDA.com

After spending 12 years as a writer and editor, Fred Clements worked as executive director and vice president for the National Bicycle Dealers Association for 28 years. He then moved to Interbike in a retail relations role, later transitioning into consulting. He enjoys helping the NBDA with podcasts from time to time and rides about 3,500 miles each year on his road bike.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Retail Operations During COVID-19: Changing Hands Bookstore appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Ray & Lester

Tue, 8/18 10:44AM • 32:32

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

bike, bike shop, people, bicycle, business, industry, boulder, shop, essential, Lester, big, closed, pandemic, employees, customers, store, crisis, years, retailers, sales

SPEAKERS

Lester Binegar, Rod Judd, Chad Pickard, Ray Keener

Rod Judd  00:10

You are listening to Bicycle Retail Radio brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Ray Keener  00:16

Hi out there in social distance land. This is Bicycle Retail Radio brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. Hi, I’m Ray keener.

Lester Binegar  00:26

And I’m Lester Binegar. 

Ray Keener  00:27

So Lester, let’s introduce ourselves to the audience a little bit, tell what you do and how you got there and I’ll do the same.

Lester Binegar  00:35

excellent. I am the general manager operator slash bookkeeper for university bicycles in Boulder, Colorado, and it’s been a long route to get there. But I’ve been with university bikes as the leader since 2006. And before that, I was lucky enough to be a rep in the industry for Fisher,  Lemond, and Trek Bicycles. And that’s how I was introduced to the business of university bicycles before that I was a mechanic for five years. And before that, I got a degree in business and anthropology. And I have an intense desire to understand those two subjects, human behavior, and business. And I’ve combined that with what I see as a very environmentally good business in the bike business. And that’s my whole that was my whole goal in getting into the bike industry. And I had a very interesting year last year, I took the year off for being the general manager and became just the bookkeeper for the business. And that was great because I got a new perspective on things from the number side. I’m an emotional relationship type person, not a numbers person. And so having that combination really hit home for this year has helped me kind of take the business in a different path as far as my leadership goes.

Ray Keener  01:51

Well, and you’ve also got a combination that I’ve always said, is the key to success in bicycle retail which is to work in a shop and then go inside of a big company, especially being a sales rep like you were where you’re out visiting scores of dealers all the time, and then go back into retail that seems to work really well. Let me tell the audience just a little bit about myself, and that is that I got into the bike industry. When Richard Nixon declared war on cancer in 1974. I was a research scientist and we were doing absolutely nothing to kill cancer cells. The lab that I worked at closed up, and I went down to the bike shop I was hanging out at in Madison, Wisconsin, and they gave me a job and six weeks later, they sent me down to normal Illinois, to open up a shop for them. And so here we are, 45 years later, and I’m now membership and development person for people for bikes. I’m the retail editor for bicycle retailer magazine, and I run the education programs at community cycles here in Boulder. Those are my paid gigs and I have a bunch of other volunteers. stuff that I do. I was the executive director of the bicycle product suppliers Association BPSA, from 2013 until June 30, 2019, when we merged with people for bikes. So Lester, go ahead,

Lester Binegar  03:13

take a moment, I think we should warn everyone that we know each other well besides doing this podcast, and it’s been a great relationship to know you. You’ve been around a long time, and you have so much passion for the industry. So you’ve always really helped me, no matter what I told you. And this is a great opportunity to talk to you in this way. So thanks.

Ray Keener  03:33

Well, thank you, Lester, and back at you because I live in a world of politics, where people don’t often say what they’re really thinking, and I can always count on you to say what you’re really thinking. So enough mutual praise and adoration. So it’s COVID-19 that’s occupying everyone’s thoughts and actions this week. What is your bike’s doing and how is that shifted over the past long couple of weeks?

Lester Binegar  03:59

Wow. We made one big shift since the initial shift, I should say. And it’s been an amazing learning process to see what’s happened with my staff and what’s happened with the community. And both are to be commended. But for us, it’s all about survival. And I certainly would tell anyone listening to this, you have to survive through this. So think long and hard about what that’s going to take. For us. We knew we wanted to stay open because we consider ourselves essential to the community. And I know we’re going to get into that a little bit later. But we’re essential because our employees need us. Our communities need us there’s health and transportation involved. These are all ways to combat this virus. So we’ve done a number of steps to do business in a very safe manner, one customer at a time in the store for repairs. We’ve also gone to curbside and delivery for delivering sales products or products that we sold rather and one of the biggest things is we started selling online. So we now a Web Store for Business. This is something we’re thinking about doing this fall, something we’ve always avoided doing something we’ve never needed to do. But the folks that smart detailing, I’m going to give them a big, big, big plug here. Tremendous, awesome they took four days and got our entire store online to sell. And it’s really transforming our company during this probably six to eight week crisis period that we know we’re going to be in and enabled us to build success in the month of March, April’s coming. We can talk about what I think is going to come there. But for now, we’re controlling the flow of customers into our business. We’re selling bikes or doing repairs but at a much more of a controlled pace. So everything we’re doing is to keep as many people employed as we can and keep the store in survival mode,

Ray Keener  05:48

talking to shops around the country doing working on stories for bicycle retailers, the clamp has tightened over the last couple of weeks. I know you guys, for example, you were letting six people at a time. In the store and then you’re now you’re letting one person at a time the store I stopped by the other day to give your guys and gals their a big thumbs up for risking their health to do their jobs and keep cyclists rolling and the front door was locked. You know, you kind of have to knock on the front door. I don’t think there’s a password, but it’s definitely tightened down. So more restriction and also more shops closing as of last week, the brain survey on the website. 23% of the shops were closed at that point. And the number has gone up steadily since then.

Lester Binegar  06:33

Yeah, I think I think closing your shop is a survival strategy that can work. I think for us in the number of employees we are we have and who we are in the community. We feel like we need to stay open, but it has to be safe or relatively safe. There are risks involved, of course, but we’re really paying attention to the safety aspect and not creating this virus.

Ray Keener  06:54

Good for you. Well, you and Russ Chandler and other boulder retailers got together collected all of the shopping Owners’ emails from the shops around Boulder, which I don’t think has ever been done before. Lester, you’re communicating daily. I just saw some emails yesterday about how people are standing in line to try and get financial aid through this. It’s great to see that kind of collaboration among competitors. How did this emerge? And what are you learning from it?

Lester Binegar  07:19

Well, at university bikes, we have a philosophy of being friendly towards all the fellow bike shops in town. And I’ll tell you what, through this crisis, you can see the importance of it. I have tried hard to tell everyone what we’re doing in terms of communicating with our vendors, how we’re staying safe, the way we’re changing our business because I want all of my competitors to make it through this too. I truly believe in the bike. And I truly believe there’s not a problem with too many bike shops. There’s not just not enough customers, so competition breeds better business, and we all need each other. If two or three of the shops in Boulder go down. We can’t handle that volume is going to be too much. We need everyone To make it through this, and what you’ll find in that approach, and what we have found is we all help each other. Somebody comes into another shop that wants a brand that we carry that shop will send us that business and vice versa. We send business all over town. So I’m a big fan of being friendly with your competition. And Tammy in the community has a really strong bike shop infrastructure to help that community grow his cycling participation. And that’s, that’s what works in Boulder. So that’s kind of our philosophy there. I just, I want everyone to make it. I have a lot of friends out there too. So we’re really trying hard there. I think

Ray Keener  08:36

we’ve seen in the past just as an example, Jay graves who owned the bike gallery for many years up in Portland, Oregon. He’s a former president of the NVDA board. He started the Portland area bicycle Dealers Association back in my memory fails me maybe the early 2000s. And as long as the big guy and the strongest dealer in the market are willing to marshal that kind of force, it works. And then when Jay had to back away because of his other commitments, the whole thing fell apart. I mean, I think you’re, you’re maybe underestimating the fact that you guys are the power in Boulder in terms of sales volume and any other measure of success that you want to want to use. And the fact that you’re there to lead and to participate is no small thing.

Lester Binegar  09:23

Thank you. I’ll accept that. I’ll tell you what, when when it was time to decide to become essential. And have the government recognize that having this group of dealers that were already together and talking about things we marshaled support quickly in town, and even throughout the state, and even nationally, we are essential. And that was one of the benefits of having us all be friendly competitors.

Ray Keener  09:47

We’ll get to that. In a couple of questions here. I got a call from Alan fine yesterday who owns Turin, by schools in Denver, and he really succinctly laid out the current dilemma for retailers. Do you close So you’re eligible for funds as a closed business does closing when you’re considered an essential service, jeopardize your ability to get loans or funding? It seems like a really tough dilemma right now for shops.

Lester Binegar  10:13

I was on the phone with an attorney yesterday regarding this subject, and our whole path has been to sale. But it was never a consideration and closed unless we were made to. I think for some, it’s a really smart strategy and a great way to survive. And that’s what you got to do. You got to survive all of the impact of the bills coming through Congress and so forth. The banks, everyone doesn’t really know how to parse this out yet. So there’s going to be answered if you close as far as the ability to get funding and loans. It’s going to be there. But there’s a lot that we don’t know yet. So for us, at least we’re glad we’re open but I could see for somehow it’d be a good path to close in order to survive. And that’s the thing you got to look at the most you got to survive and get past this.

Ray Keener  10:56

Well, and we’re still looking at this damned if you do Do damned if you don’t I guess I’ll call it a topic. In fact, as soon as I got off with Alan fine, and this is the level of interconnection in the industry right now that I don’t think people really get to see from the outside that I immediately called Eric Rodel at peopleforbikes. They included this as a topic in their next meeting a couple of hours later with Jenn Dice and Morgan LOmmele and Alex Logaman and, and some of the higher-level people there. And they went to their people in Washington, DC and they’re doing research on this very topic to include in their next webinar, for which they have by far the largest number of people registered that they’ve ever had for a webinar. So I think it’s really hard heartening to see this cooperation and collaboration happening both at the local level and all the way up to the national level. So what do you think Lester, about this whole movement to have bike shops declared essential services? I know we had some fits and starts here in Colorado. Can you talk about how that rolled out? And how you and others got the governor to include bike shops when that wasn’t in the initial essential services order.

Lester Binegar  12:06

Well, let me go back to people for bikes in the effort to make bike shop essential. I’ve never seen anything moves so fast in your right. The credit is not good enough for people for bikes. And for the art community in general in the bike industry. I think a lot of people rallied around this and it happened so fast because of it. So it was just impressive to me. So as far as the movement to be considered essential, boy, could the bike industry make it as every shop close in the whole country? Sure. I think we would all survive and move past this in some way. But can we stay up and safely and help customers stay healthy and have transportation? I believe that that’s absolutely possible. But man the risk, the risk that goes through my brain of having this virus happen to go through our business, in effect customers or employees that we know and loves so much it an overwhelming thing to put on somebody’s shoulders. And so I’ve gone back and forth. I’ve got out of 50 employees about four that probably think we should be closed. Well, they definitely think we should be closed. I have many others who aren’t worried about a damn thing. They just want to get their paycheck and come to work. And so you have to parse all this out. At the end of the day, I think we’re essential. Are we critical, like medicine and food? No, but I think we’re in that next year. And so if we can stay open and be reasonably safe, I think that we should,

Ray Keener  13:32

I’ve seen some pushback from I guess I would call them consumers, saying, Hey, why are bike shops so essential, or I run I just saw today that Hobby Lobby is saying that they should be essential and they’re actually defying state orders across the country and staying open because they consider people having craft materials and then being able to masks and essential thing What is it about bike shops, that makes is essential and what do you say to customers? Who is like, wow, you know, I don’t think you guys should be open, I don’t think you’re essential enough.

Lester Binegar  14:06

I haven’t had to answer that directly with a customer yet I can tell you that you can escape it that some people are going to feel that way. So you, you’ve got to lay your bet. You’ve got to do the thing, do things the right way. And at the end of the day, that’s all you can do. So for me, I’m going to be really polite when someone questions directly to us. I’ve got employees with families, we have people that ride their bikes to work, we’re doing our best to kind of hang in there and help get through this, though, just sometimes there’s not an easy or correct answer, and you just do your best.

Ray Keener  14:42

You know, one other thing I wanted to point out, Lester, before we shift gears here a little bit about the industry’s efforts that sometimes go unseen, the lead story on bicycle retailer now and we’re talking here on March 31. The lead story headline is the world bicycle Industry Association. calls on all governments to declare bike repair essential. I wonder how many people in the industry know that Larry Pizzi, who runs the Alta cycling group is the chair of the people for bikes e-bikes subcommittee, Larry does as much work outside of his company job in this industry is any individual human that I can think of. Larry’s been on the board of the world bicycle Industry Association for three or four years. He represents North America on the world bicycle Industry Association, and he’s flying to fly into Brussels, Belgium, and go into these meetings and stuff. And here’s a world organization that people in our industry really aren’t even aware of. And because of the crisis that’s come up here on the brain website that they’re pushing for a global effort to get by Chuck’s declared essential,

Lester Binegar  15:49

I love it. I love it because when this is all over, or as we come down and away from this crisis, I see all of this working into our industry saver. To bring our incredible recreation and transportation back to life. So the work that’s being done there is, is all so crucial right now. And I think a lot of this just comes down to the US use bikes as toys for so many people when in reality, it’s just so much more than that. So big, big kudos to Larry.

Chad Pickard  16:23

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Ray Keener  16:37

Lester, you’ve spent a fair amount of energy here locally organizing your fellow shop people. You were involved in the 20 collective which seems to me to have spawned the people for bikes ride spot program over a period of maybe three years. I also know because we’re holding the meetings at your shop, that you’re helping project bike tech get to Boulder high school started with bike mechanic classes in the Fall. And yet, having tried to sell stuff to you and Doug Emerson, the store owner over the decades, U bikes kind of does its own thing, which has been super successful. I would say that you’re not joiners, though we’ll talk to you more about that.

Lester Binegar  17:16

I will have, I have to be pretty forthright and just honest about what I’m going to say. And I don’t want it to come across wrong. But when I took over the store, it was already a thing where we have to figure out how to handle our volume. It’s not about how to get that volume. And so when that’s where your time and resources have to go, you become a little more aware of like, why am I taking the time to do this or join that or, or buy this, there’s no room to mess around when it’s a volume-based thing. So that’s a big thing that we just recognize in our business. And that’s what we work to handle and deal with. And the more that we handle and deal with it, the busier. We seem to get But that’s the honest answer to that. We do join some things. We’re part of two organizations. One is BMA, which is a boulder mountain bike Alliance. That’s the local trail advocacy mountain bike group. And the other is project bike tech that you mentioned. Both of these companies solve direct problems that affect and help our business and that’s why we’ve taken the time to join them and get involved and make sure they’re successful as much as we can. So boy you look at a project by tech were renamed mechanics, every bike shop needs mechanics, this is so crucial and such a direct way to help your own bicycle shop all throughout the country. And I would just encourage every shop that anywhere close to a school or that’s interested to get involved with this then that’s Yes, that’s a plug. Amazing. Yeah, and we do we have to shop to high schools in Boulder now that are going to be having this class. So I’m not gonna Go off too much on a tangent here, but we’re gonna have bike mechanics flowing into our store and have to turn away by mechanics. Imagine that. So yeah, that’s something we joined some other things we do, we limit repairs, we don’t have the ability again, with our volume of repairs to really handle all the repairs, this goes back to your competition, we send repairs to our competition because we want that customer to get their bike fixed in and again, in order to handle our volume, we have to do certain things like this. So we’re not joiners, but we really, really hope that we are overall really good for the bicycle community, not only locally but internationally because of all the people that visit Boulder. So yeah, that’s kind of a little bit of our philosophy and how we go about things.

Ray Keener  19:48

Well, two things I would say about that, first of all, and I think I’ve written about this in the brain, one thing that your mechanics do that’s amazing to me that every bike shop in America should do and I know everybody says that about their pet project, but someone brings a huffy in the store, the mechanic looks at it and he knows that there’s no way you’re going to work on this bike. But the mechanic, he or she will put the bike up in the stand, they’ll air up the tires, they’ll put some oil on the chain, they’ll explain to the customer, why you’re not going to work on their bicycle while you’re helping them get it rolling again and then handing it back to them and telling them maybe they could take it to another shop. I mean, to me that’s the only way to handle that kind of situation. The other thing I would say is that although you’ve turned out a lot of my pitches over the years when I’ve tried to sell you things, you’ve always waited until after I bought you lunch and told me no and very polite turns after that. So I appreciate

Lester Binegar  20:43

glad to be friendly. The Art of a bike mechanic telling a person no by using the words Yes, that’s a big key for us. We train that specifically. So it’s not no we can’t work on your bike. But here let me check your bike out. Let me make it safe for you. Oh, Here’s a shop that specializes in this type of repair, you should go there, they’ll help you out. So it’s an art. And it allows us to run a profitable service center and not get bogged down in it again if you if see our space and how many mechanics we have, yeah, we have to stay focused on the main business. And, again, there’s no time to mess around with big bills in Boulder, we actually have a goal of paying more pay per employee than any other shop, we want to be the highest-paid bike shop. So we have to really focus on certain things to make that happen. Agreed.

Ray Keener  21:34

Well, just a little bit of a shift back to January and February. I know it seems like we’ve always been under the pall of this pandemic. But my observation from talking to shop owners, sales in many markets were up substantially in the first two months of 2020. I know I was talking to shop owners in California and Arizona and Oregon, in Illinois who were up 30% just right on down the line. They kept saying 30% 30 percent and I called you didn’t we weren’t even talking about that. And you kind of echoed that same sentiment. So what do you think contributed to that? And it must be extra disappointing to see the air come out of the balloon. It’s such an abrupt way.

Lester Binegar  22:13

Because January and February Yeah, 30 to 40% growth. But it’s always hard to make much out of that because those are our two of our smaller months for the year. So March hit, and we’re gangbusters. And actually, I’ve got the numbers in front of me for March, just for this I, we’re going to end up 15% I’m sorry, 8%. up over last March, even with this last two weeks of hysteria going on in the retail world. So it’s all bike sale is e-bikes. Is mountain bikes are gravel bikes, it’s kids bikes. I mean, that’s, that’s what we’re selling to get there. So why that’s happening. I don’t know if it was a combination of a great economy and just people more focused on their health, but I think that’s where we’re going to end up after this pandemic. But the month of April, I’m worried There’s just no way Yeah, there’s no way. So we’re gonna find out what really happens this month.

Ray Keener  23:05

Lister, I saw one of those group emails among the retailers where you said that you were getting great communication and support from your vendors. Could you share some examples of that you, you get the sense that other shops are getting this or do an $8 million a year single store get more that attention?

Lester Binegar  23:24

I think any bike shop that has a great track record for paying their bills that communicates well with their vendors that has good relations with their sales reps, I think that any of our suppliers are going to work with you. It all goes back to just having good business principles to start with. Because there’s a time when you have to lean on those and this is the time and so I reached out to all of my especially our big creditors and just this was two weeks ago and you could see it all you can see this all coming and I’m like, we’re going to do our best. I’d like it to make sure you’re with us and you’re going to give us a chance to pay late if we need to. I told them all of our inventory. And I told them what we owed them and made sure they knew where we were there. So it’s just that communication and having a good track record. That’s this is super important when things like this happen, especially. Yeah, I want to ask you something right. Go ahead, based on your long experience, were you. Have you ever seen anything like this before? Were you here for the graph gas prices in the 70s? in the industry, for example, what do you recall any, anything that you can talk about? Similar?

Ray Keener  24:30

Well, actually, I got into the industry in 1975, which is the biggest drop off in bike sales in the history of the bike industry from 74, which was our high watermark to 75, which just returned back to a normal year so no, I kind of missed the boom. Although, again, interviewing Alan fine, I’m doing a story for brain about the Turin group, which was one of the first group efforts ever in bike retail in this country. And he told me that too. In the gas crisis, they were selling 150 bikes a day on the weekends, can you? Can you even imagine how that would look? But to me, you know, the biggest difference is, I think we’re going to see a gush once the pandemic blows through our society, and once people start returning their lives back to normal, I mean, these are like, April, May, June, July, these are the biggest months for most retailers in America and their sales curve. And as we’ve experienced before, when the weather’s really bad, and April or whatever, you get some of that back, you sure don’t get all of it back. And I’m afraid that the shops are going to be completely overwhelmed when they’re able to open back up fully and people are coming out of the woodwork getting their bikes fixed or buying new bikes. I think a lot of that depends on people’s state of their personal economy, that they’re maybe not going to be able to buy a new bike. But let’s talk a little bit about how you see the bike industry emerging from the pandemic here. You In a tough combination of trying to stay in business through your most profitable time of year, and trying to keep you and your employees safe and your customers rolling, how do you see the next few months playing out and what happens after

Lester Binegar  26:12

let’s talk about after, let me bring, bring us back to this month, we took really quick actions on laying offer staff. But we did it in the right way. They all want to come back, they’re going to come back, we’re going to reward them for coming back. So that was the key because unlike you, I think when this as this crisis dissipates, and I think it’s going to be a gradual thing. But once June or so hit, we’re counting on getting run over. And I think this whole this whole crisis plays into the bike industry’s hands, it’s a just a rare combination of people being a little bit tighter with their money, understanding the importance of being healthy and just a rip, maybe even a real realization they can work from home and get their work. Done. And I just think this plays into the bike industry’s hands. And I think that’s a good thing. I think the more we can fill our world full of bikes, the better. So we’re expecting, we’re expecting to get hit hard. We’re ready. Our employees are ready to come back. They’re going to make it through this. We’ve helped them understand how. And so we’re, we’re pretty positive for what’s going to happen.

Ray Keener  27:24

So in broader terms, let’s talk about the state of the industry overall, the median age of Americans is 38.2 years. And I would guess that the median age of bike shop owners is 15 to 20 years older than that, and industry leaders that people who run the companies and the nonprofit’s it’s similar, what is the next generation of industry leaders look like and where are they going to come from?

Lester Binegar  27:48

There’s room for new people and come on in. That’s my take. We’ve got a few younger leaders in our store that are learning quickly through a big crisis right now, but Everyone has always learned from previous leadership. And everyone’s also brought new ways of thinking. And that’s always going to happen that’s going to happen here. More than anything, I hope the US culture finds its way to the bike because of bike stalls. Almost every problem you can come up with, right? It’s your gym membership that your psychologists it’s, it’s the way to transport yourself. You can go down the list, it’s a way to fight pollution. So again, the future’s bright, so new people come on in. But at the end of the day business, there are no shortcuts in the bike industry.

Ray Keener  28:33

If you need to know your market, you need to work hard in every aspect of your business. There are no shortcuts. So it’s still going to take dynamic people that can think through all kinds of problems and deal with it and they’re going to learn the new people coming in. I can think of one in particular who I’m just blown away with. His name is Ian Christie from out west owns a big chain of bike shops out there and you watch that guy you watch his energy and he says Soak up knowledge. So it’s a combination of Yap, there’s room for new people, they’re gonna have to come in. But it’s, it’s the same old thing. It’s solid business principles that are going to get you through. So I’m loving, loving teaching, the younger part of our staff how to be leaders and how to understand our business. I need them to take over and so to those dogs, so I’m kind of anxious for the future and it’s fun to help kind of bring it into so I’m pretty bullish on that. So you’re talking about Ian Christie from summit bicycles. They have five stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Ian was up 30% in January in February. Well, I want to talk a little bit about what’s happened on more of the industry side because one thing that I don’t think people are super aware of coming out of the merger of BPSA and peopleforbikes peopleforbikes didn’t really have broad-based participation. They have a large staff of super smart and dedicated people and most of their work was done internally and they would get feedback from their board and direction from their board. But as BPSA, we had all of these different committees that were focusing on different parts of the BPSA activities. And since peopleforbikes took over there are four subcommittees now that have about 20 members each, and peopleforbikes has brought in 80 new people on these four subcommittees, mostly younger people and many more women, I would say the average age of the people serving on those committees has dropped those same 15 to 20 years that the average industry leader or a bike shop owner is older than the average. So there’s a lot of good stuff happening there. I think it’s hard for younger people to find their way into the leadership side. I know when I was in my early 30s. Did I think when are those old guys? Can we get out of the way and let some of us younger people lead and now I’m one of those old guys. So it’s kind of the opposite. dilemma. But there’s a lot of good things happening there. So let’s start. I think we’re kind of using up our time here. We’ve been on for just about 40 minutes. Any last thoughts before we wrap this up so I can go for a ride?

Lester Binegar  31:12

Absolutely. I just want everyone to know this. This is a relationship business. And I’m going to take every one to one simple way to succeed from Doug Emerson, who owns University bikes, learn people’s names and call people by their name. When you start there, you start that relationship, once you start a relationship, you’re in it. To become a relationship person, know people’s names, and just focus on the basics of business. And I just, I just want everyone to succeed. I just want everyone to succeed. I want a world full of bikes. So I really appreciate this opportunity. Ray, thanks for bringing me on board on this. Thanks.

Ray Keener  31:51

Well, likewise, Lester, and thanks to brandy and Rochelle in the NVDA for inviting us and thanks to you for the time and energy that we spent Preparing for this one. I know you’ve got a store to run.

Lester Binegar  32:03

No problem. Always good talking to you, right?

Rod Judd  32:05

Okay. Goodbye, everybody. Thanks for listening. This has been bicycle retail radio by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership and member benefits, join us @NBDA.com

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

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The post Bike Shop Operations During COVID-19: University Bicycles appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Bike Shop Operations During COVID-19: Landry’s Bicycles – Boston, Massachusetts:  Now is an uncertain time for retail. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing retailers to make difficult decisions like whether to close their store or not, whether or not to lay off employees, whether to ask for rent deferral or not, etc. We think that now it is more important than ever to come together and share ideas and practices between retailers all over the nation. For the second episode in this series, Fred Clements interviews Peter Henry, owner of Landry’s Bicycles in Boston, Massachusetts, and NBDA Board Member about what he is experiencing in Massachusetts at this time and what procedures he has put in place for his business. Peter shares his concerns with being so close to the “hot spot” in New York as well as how he communicates procedures to keep all 7 Landry’s stores informed and safe.

Please enjoy listening to Bike Shop Operations During COVID-19: Landry’s Bicycles – Boston, Massachusetts.

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About Landry’s

Founded in 1922, Landry’s Bicycles is now rated as one of “America’s Best Bike Shops” with a growing family of bicycle stores located in Boston, Braintree, Natick, Newton, Norwood, Westboro, and Worcester, Massachusetts. Landry’s Bicycles has also been nationally recognized as National Bicycle Dealer of the Year for supporting bicycle advocacy.

Landry’s Bicycles is collectively owned by our dedicated employees.  Starting in 2010, Landry’s ownership transitioned to an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan), and all core staff now own shares in the company as part of their long-term retirement benefits. As co-owners, Landry’s staff have a vested interest in collaborative teamwork, exceptional customer service, and our visionary goal for Landry’s to become “the best bike shop for the world.”

Fred & Peter Henry

Tue, 8/18 10:43AM • 40:47

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, bike shops, bike, customers, store, bicycle, stay, put, business, Landry, point, essential, service, landlords, home, step, sounds, employees, website, update

SPEAKERS

Fred Clements, Rod Judd, Peter Henry, Chad Pickard

Rod Judd  00:10

You are listening to the Bicycle Retail Radio brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Fred Clements  00:16

Welcome to the NBDA’s Bicycle Retail Radio Podcast. I’m Fred Clements and I’ll be hosting today and we’re here with Peter Henry, who is one of the owners of Landry’s bike shops in the Boston area. Hi, Peter. 

Peter Henry  00:31

Hi, Fred. 

Fred Clements  00:32

Yeah, so a little bit about Landry’s for those that don’t know, seven locations and in the greater Boston area, probably to be employee-owned, but now not quite there, I guess. And being in business according to the website since 1922, even though that sounds like a long time. And I guess it is. Yeah, so the topic today is one that is troubling to us all. Of course, it’s the Coronavirus. I want to make sure that we clear clarify that Today is March 25 2020, things seem to be really fluid moving very quickly. And we’d hate to put out bad information. So, you know, listen to this, if you will, with the understanding that it’s a specific point in time. We have, it’s impacting us all at this point, including businesses that are being forced to close. Some are allowed to stay open. Consumers in some states locked down in some states allowed to go out on a limited basis, and some without controls at all, I think. And so businesses, of course, are being affected and people’s employment is affected. Our focus today is a narrow one on bike shops, some of which are closed, some of which are open, and of those open, and some are taking a whole different approach than the norm or running the business and protecting staff and consumers. Some bike shops in some states are allowed as essential businesses Given the service and repair needs of the transportation community out there using bicycles, some not. And so the whole point here is to talk to Peter about what a fairly large independent bike shop group has done to, at this point anyway, remain open under certain conditions for the public and serving that public. And so I wanted to ask first, Peter, what is the current situation in Massachusetts in the Boston area? What are your parameters of what you’re dealing with in terms of regulations and like,

Peter Henry  02:35

well, the governor ordered a lockdown as of noon yesterday, and we had decided that we’re going to be closed yesterday anyway, just because our staff has been working so hard with the added stress of worrying about their own safety and in dealing with the public despite very careful processes we put in place the bike shops are not on the list of specifically Essential businesses. But neither did they say that bike shops are not on the list. And transportation needs were vaguely considered essential. And but we know that we have a lot of customers who do depend on their bikes to get to work. And so we declared ourselves to be essential, we applied the state to be considered essential. And we have been reaching out to our local town and city governments to because, in Massachusetts, they’re leaving enforcement to the local governments. And so we’ve been reaching out to our local governments to get them to agree that we are essential. And two of them have officially done so already. And that is great to help our cause. Just as one example, yesterday evening, we happen to have an employee at one of the stores and a customer knocked on the door. And he was on his way to work and had a flat tire so we took care of it for him, and turns out that he actually is an international news reporter getting to his job to report on international news, with is clearly a highly essential thing for the public these days. And he was a very nice letter of appreciation, and that that’s the kind of thing that really persuades Governor’s Oh, yes. We don’t know how they’re going to be essential. But yeah, it’s good. They’re there for people.

Fred Clements  04:16

So, you know, we’re at towards the end of March now and Spring has sprung. And I think the first evidence of this was, is not that long ago, only a couple of weeks. How did this get on Landry’s radar? And what were your first thoughts and first steps in terms of putting your current plan in place?

Peter Henry  04:35

Well, we have a couple of people within our company that is connected to the medical community. And in our city, some of the leading epidemiologists in the country in the world are located here in Boston. So we were seeing things like that whatever number is being reported, it’s probably about 100 times that bad and look at how it’s exploded, how rapidly it’s exploded elsewhere. So we began to implement social distancing in our stores about two and a half weeks ago, but we’ve Had to update our procedures almost daily because the things that seemed good enough or not good enough. So it was, you know, we very quickly started trying to get some supplies and you know wipes and hand sanitizer, and we started saying try to stay three feet away from customers. And before we decided, well, sex teach really where we need to be going. And with customers in the store that wasn’t possible. We started restricting customers to, you know, no more customers in the store, then there was sales staff to work with them. And that quickly got overrun. And we moved on to this caution tape to mark off a 10-foot square space inside the door and one customer at a time could come in there. And we would take care of them standing six feet back from the caution tape, no showing what they’re considering and getting them what they wanted. And yes, so just daily, daily increases. And I will say for any of those any of you shops that are in areas where Oh, it hasn’t hit us that badly, yet. Has this virus is everywhere. And the reason doesn’t look bad yet is because there’s not enough testing going on. And if you wait until people are starting to die, and wait until the hospital, hospital beds start filling up to respond, you’re gonna end up as another New York and you definitely don’t want to be there. So you want to start taking this very seriously right away. And as a minimum, you know, establish all the procedures, including, at least to the point of limiting the people inside the store at a time. You need to be in front of it. And you know, if your estate’s not there yet, be a leader in your community and advocating for social distancing. And your public, you might get some pushback at first, you probably will appreciate it in time.

Fred Clements  06:44

Great. So it some of your procedures and processes here on your website. Maybe with your permission, I’ll just review them briefly and then someone can chime in and sort of fill in the gaps. So the first step you call self-service, shopping How to do it is to go to Landry’s calm or call for help for self-service shopping and you allow them to pick up in-store or shipped to the home. So you are open for business in terms of sales, and then need additional help you say, you know, call to be placed in a one on one queue, I noticed that when you go to the website, a little chat box pops up and a staffer is there available to you in real-time chat with customers. And then the plan reads will call you when your sales slot is available. So that’s the Self Service shopping module. Anything to clarify there?

Peter Henry  07:37

Right. That’s because we have a number of our sales staff are working from home. And so we get emails to them and they’re able, I use that system to you know, so that if we have more than one person doing that they can take two people in turn. He can also do that with a Google Sheet just you know, get people added onto there and then they move to take care of them by having us call the customer If we can have people do it from home with their own cell phone, which is mostly unlimited minutes, and it’d be pretty challenging try to get our phone system extended out to reach, you know, could be on our on the Landry’s phone system from their homes. And we only just added the chat system. And in the last several days, we had just one person covering the chat and he had up to six chat windows going at a time. Wow. We have not that that is seven stores. But today, I believe we’re at two people covering the chat and I have not heard how volume is going. given by the way sales are going up looks like the public, by and large, agrees that we’re an essential business.

Fred Clements  08:42

Yeah, yeah. So that the second module here is for service and repair. So you’ve come up with what looks like a pretty innovative way to do it. Step one is to place your bike at the service parking area at the store entrance. Step two is to fill out a service form at the store. Three is tagged your body With your name in for you will be contacted by the store with an estimate within 24 hours. And then five customers contacted when the bike is ready for pickup. So really no face to face sounds like anyway, no face to a face service writer to the customer in-person contact, anything to add on the service check-in process.

Peter Henry  09:22

That’s right. And you know these types of situations sometimes have you end up learning things. And you know, it could be just that people are bringing in bikes haven’t looked at for a long time and they don’t know what condition they’re in. And so they err on the side of getting too much sort of like people to grab too much toilet paper when they can get our average ticket with people just writing down what they want and leaving it before they talk to us has been bigger than it was with our sales staff. And according to track, our average ticket was already pretty big. So it does sound like we’re learning that we have been under-serving the public and our willingness to provide service for them. Know that that’s an important takeaway into the future. It is working well. And we’re really getting overrun in a way that we’ve never had before with service work. And yet part of it is that people are saying, Oh, I better get my bike going. And they’re bringing in the bike the sat in the garage for eight years. 

Fred Clements  10:17

And Okay. All right. So then once you’ve completed the repair or service, there’s the pickup process, that’s a three-step process. And so you’ll be notified when the bike is ready. The customer is asked to call the store when you arrive and remain in your car. And then second is let us know your name and type of vehicle. And then step three is store personnel will retrieve the order and deliver it to you in your way while you remain in the car. I guess.

Peter Henry  10:48

Yeah, that’s a change for today. So I haven’t heard how that’s going. The customers had been able to come to the door, we’d they step into that marked off zone, we’d roll the bike over to them, then they over to that zone and they go Come over and take the bike and leave. And we were supposed to minimize the contact. And I mean that the goal is to have, you know, zero cases of contagion take place in any of our stores. And you just really have to assume because people are contagious without symptoms, you just have to assume that everybody has the infection, the only safe way to approach it, right, right. But the idea is that if they stay in their cars, and that vides, even less opportunity for the spread of infection, and we’ll, you know, if it’s a vehicle, it can fit in the trunk or put in the trunk or whatever, we may expect that we’ll be selling people, some like strap on by carriers for their, for their cars, and we’ll go out and install that for them and put the bike on that and take home. There are in a whole variety of overrated situations, but the goal is to minimize the need for anybody to ever get within six feet of anybody.

Fred Clements  11:58

That’s great. So it’s Most of what you’ve experienced in terms of uptick or action in service and repair, or are you still doing a significant amount of sales?

Peter Henry  12:10

Oh, no, we’re doing a huge amount of sales. And I don’t know if it’s people thinking that, oh, I better get it now. Well, there’s a chance, but I think that it’s more people who hadn’t thought about riding a bike in the past. Now they’re suddenly realizing that having a bike is going to be a great thing. A lot of competing activities have been shut down. I mean, you can go to the bar and buy a lot of $6 beers, which can be you can spend the price of a bike every month that way, and that’s not going to be happening. So can’t go to the movies. You just can’t go to a concert so many things you spend money on you can’t do now that matter can’t take a vacation. So that of what discretionary income there is a lot more is going to go to bicycles. There are many people who you know would have taken public Transportation sometimes ridden their bike sometimes to get to work well, you don’t feel very safe taking public transportation. So they’re using the bike when they can. So there’s likely to be a whole lot more ridership and a lot more interest in bikes from people that were never interested before. So there’s a huge potential silver lining for us. And so far that seems to be what’s happening.

Fred Clements  13:24

So it isn’t there. 

Peter Henry  13:26

I will say it’s a different model mix. We’re still selling a few road bikes, we’re still selling a few high-end mountain bikes that you know, the huge volume is going on in hybrid bikes, the recreational mountain bikes and kids bikes are just the numbers have been through the roof electric bikes and dropped way off for us. But today I see that we’ve sold for so far. So it’s about 1:30 here in the time, so that’s a pretty strong start today for something that we thought had died. 

Fred Clements  13:57

That’s great. So I’d be I guess it goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway. Way customers arrive at a locked door. Is that correct?

Peter Henry  14:04

They do. We’re trying to get them to have already made a tentative selection before they get there. So that we know what they’re after, we’ll have, you know the accessories that they might need ready to line up to show them. When they arrive, we might have already, they might have already ordered what they needed to be installed on the bike so that we can get them in and out as quickly as possible. It’s not warm enough yet that people are super comfortable waiting outside, although their car should be comfortable for the time that it’s going to take. We’re trying to get it done with a very minimum of customer direction. And customers are very appreciative that we’re making the effort to stay open. And so there’s been no pushback at all about the inconvenience, and might get a little bit in the states where people don’t yet know that they’re going to get slammed with this. But that’s only you know, three days to a week away at this point. So you really need to be getting ahead of it if you’re in one of those areas. And as you start learning how to upgrade your safety protocols, you’ll be well served by that as each day goes by and you realize that you haven’t gone far enough yet.

Fred Clements  15:07

So are there any restrictions yet other than the basic stay at home or dry? No, here in California cycling was specifically allowed and same with hiking until the trails became so crowded, that it was impossible to keep the six-foot distance, maybe a little easier on a bicycle. But then the government started to shut down state parks and regular parks and beaches and piers and because there are just so many people going stir crazy staying at home, that they are looking for anything to get out. And it just when that happens in an area of our population, things get crowded. Have you experienced any of that in the northeast?

Peter Henry  15:45

Not well, we’re, I think about four or five days behind you. I do know there’s a trailhead right near my house and I walked past it the other day. And we were planning to hike that trail. But we just kept on walking on the street and we went to a different trail, which is not as well known, I’d never seen more than about three cars at that fell had before. And there were 20. Wow. Okay, I mean that that access is about eight or 10 miles of trails, so they would not be crowded, there’s just not enough parking capacity if that trail had never, ever get crowded, that probably could becoming. But I think it’s quite likely that because cyclists can disperse over a period of the area many miles, we’re going to have a lot of miles of roadway being lightly used. So I think that by and large should be good for us suspecting that we may need to start reminding our busiest road customers that writing a paceline may not be very safe. Yeah, you should probably leave at least 12 feet behind the writer ahead of you. And maybe more than that, I mean, nobody knows. But you know, a lot of turbulence could keep any suspended particles up in the air for a while. And you don’t want to encounter that.

Fred Clements  16:57

No, and then given some of the groups I’ve written with there’s no shortage of liquid being expelled during certain times of the ride. That’s got to be especially concerning.

Peter Henry  17:07

Right! Yeah, definitely need to put a stop to that, you know until this thing is over, which is, you know, could easily be a year or more. Yeah.

Fred Clements  17:16

And you mentioned that you hadn’t heard any negative feedback. I know hear. There was a bar that stayed open on St. Patrick’s Day and got just hammered on social media, you know, how dare you threaten the lives and all of that you’ve had no negative yet. It sounds like

Peter Henry  17:31

very, very little. And that’s probably because you’ve been trying to stay ahead of it. We’ve had pretty frequent updates on our website. I’ve been arguing not quite enough, and we haven’t been rapid enough to modulate the tone. And right now I’m saying that we don’t want our updated information that we’re putting front and center on the homepage to sound at all like we are trying to sell prints on that. We’re trying to be here for you to meet your essential needs. And we’re trying to serve our community as best we can. Not at all sounding like we’re trying to be promotional of our store. And I’m stressing that we’re, you know, making, putting in procedures, which we realize may be inconvenient, but we feel it’s what’s needed to be done for safety. So I think that we’re kind of staying ahead of it. And I’m not personally involved with our Facebook, I don’t use Facebook myself, but I understand that we’re getting similar content put on there. So that kind of a conversation going with our customers and just keep stressing the message that this is a serious thing, and we’re taking it seriously and we take safety seriously. And I think at this point, you just can’t tell that message too much. And I’m anticipating, you know, looking for example, at Korea, once they got actively clamping down the infection rate and the rate of new infections did drop off quite dramatically. And life does return to a little bit less abnormal, I guess might be the way to put it. And as that happens, then we might want to sound more like we’re promoting ourselves as a place to do business. But for now, it’s all about, we want to serve the public, and we want to stay safe and put in safe practices is the underlying theme for our messaging.

Chad Pickard  19:18

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Fred Clements  19:32

Things are obviously changing quickly and almost daily, anything you have tried as a business failed and you thought, Oh, that’s a bad idea. And the next day you changed it up any things you’ve tried that didn’t work.

Peter Henry  19:44

It’s mainly that letting customers into the stores and trying to maintain separation. We found it to be extremely challenging. You know, we had customers who even as we were asking him to stay six feet apart, which nonetheless, just step towards And sometimes coming within two feet, you know even with no coughing or sneezing going on, and no symptoms you know who feet just not a safe distance? three feet is arguable probably okay if there’s no indication of sneezing or coughing or anything, but even there very briefly, and so yes, so we’ve found that we just had to set up the caution tape to hold customers one at a time in, in their section so that we could then stand six feet back from the caution tape. You know, there are plenty of things we came up with better ideas, and yes, it’s been at least daily that we’re making changes. You know, often we make changes to three times during a day.

Fred Clements  20:42

Well, so that does lead me to a sort of an operational question. I’ve often marveled at multi-store locations, being able to make the service and, and presentation uniform among all the locations given the different styles. Have managers and all? How do you organize all of this to get everyone on the same page with seven stores? I assume you have seven managers and maybe a general manager or something that could you describe how it is you go about bringing all these probably have 50 or so employees. But onto the same page. 

Peter Henry  21:18

We’re having a phone call with about 20 of the leaders in the company. So some store managers and some other key staff from the stores, our marketing people are purchasing team or our internal IT people, the managers, the general manager, finance department, and I’ve probably left out some but put a pretty good chunk of the leadership of the company and we have a phone call every morning. And so we all call in it says to go to him, Go To Meeting, phone call. There’s no other plenty of other ways to do that. And so we all call in the GM typically puts together an agenda but everybody gets to speak up about what issues they’re experiencing. And we talked about how to get today’s changes to work. So that gives a lot of opportunities to keep everybody together that provides content for the people to handle the website to get the website updated with recent information attack grip for all stores. We also, by the way, expect each store manager to make the decisions that are needed within their store, just as the Navy the captain of each ship is responsible for their ship, you know, each store manager is responsible for their store. And if things aren’t going well, and they need to just shut down until they can get things reorganized to be safe. And that’s what we expect them to do. And they say, oh, gee, we should be doing this, this would be an improvement. We want them to just go right ahead and do it. And if it works out, well then they can report on that to the team the next day and we can spread that out everybody, you know, other aspects there. I mean, this is really worrisome stressful for the staff. Yeah. So it’s really important that people can, can voice their concerns. It’s really important that we maintain a good, clear, confident, and positive attitude, and really instilled a sense of purpose. You know, why are we doing this? This is important for our communities. This is no, we’re an important part of helping America and the world deal with this pandemic. And, you know, it is like a war. And you know, we’re not on the front lines, but we’re like the supply people right behind the front lines. I really admire all of our health care workers were very much in harm’s way to help fight this, we’re a little bit less so No, we’re better off. We’re safer than like supermarket workers. I mean, look at the danger there and get there showing up to work and helping people to get their food. And that’s to be admired. And we believe that we’re helping people both with their transportation and we believe that no riding bikes is going to be a very big part of what saves the mental health, of 10s of millions of Americans in the coming months. And that’s important, and people like to be important. And, it helps gives them a reason to put up with it. But you have to be understanding that some people are, you know, really good, animated and energized by being under pressure by having to change daily and hourly and coming up with solutions and sharing those solutions. And there are other people who get really worn down by it. And we have to be understanding of that. So just paying attention to the psychological health of the staff is really important and being supportive is a big part of what goes on during those meetings as well. I’ve been asked for keeping up with what’s in what’s going on medically and economically. And what was the status of it? And I’ve got a bit of an edge because my wife is a doctor who works at Beth Israel hospital, which is one of them, you know, amongst the big Boston hospitals, it’s going to be coming under intense pressure, and it’s already groaning with the lack of supplies, there is an oncologist and just today they were deciding, okay, we’re stopping all chemotherapy, the risk for a cancer patient for chemo patient of getting coronavirus is so great that the benefit of the chemotherapy does not do not outweigh that. Yeah, so so I’m hearing a lot about what’s going on in the medical world, which is really how much the potential collapse of our medical system is really where the devastating consequences of this can come from, especially now that it seems that the Congress and senate are gonna get off their butts and actually do something about it. It’s is a big relief.  The real danger is that if the medical system collapses, then we’re going to start seeing a lot of people dying, and that’s going to be a that’s going to be really damaging. should that happen? Yeah, for sure. For sure. 

Fred Clements  25:52

So I notice, of course, your website is the first place I went anyway to check out all this it looks like an animal as you said, you try to update it daily. as things change, are there any other forms of outreach that you’ve done to your customer base or potential customers?

Peter Henry  26:07

We did some emailing earlier. But at this point, I don’t think that we have that much specific to us that we want to clutter people’s inboxes with, you know, I know that banks need to be keeping their customers informed about know we’re closing the branches drive-thru only, and by appointment, right, they need to be getting in front of letting people know about that. I think with a retail operation, not so much. And everybody has so much information that they need to be absorbing right now that I don’t think we want to be pushing information at people. And so the website or our social media sites who make it easily available, we’re sort of having to abandon keeping the insides of the website updated. So we’re mainly just going with the update on the homepage and You know, we’ll be just referring people back to that single daily update, rather than trying to keep it consistent throughout, which would just be an impossible task with the pace of change right now.

Fred Clements  27:14

Right? Do you have a full-time marketing person handling this? Or how do you go about them?

Peter Henry  27:19

Actually, we don’t have a full time in house person. And keeping up the website is a big part of his responsibilities. And also internal communication. Yeah, so we’re working to keep make sure that you know, he’s just focusing on doing a good job with that one daily update. And don’t be distracted by trying to carry things with consistency throughout. I mean, things like keeping our store hours updated on all places that we’re supposed to be updating our hours. It’s just not happening.

Fred Clements  27:49

So you have different hours per location?

Peter Henry  27:51

They’re mostly the same. Okay, but one of the stories says out nowhere, we’re too tired. We’re gonna have to close two hours early today. Then we Just get that put into that one, one banner on the front page saying, you know, whatever it is, you know, Newton store is going to close it for today. Just make things as simple as we can for ourselves, you know, making sure that we’re striking the right tone in the messaging to mean basically that, you know, the conversation we have going on with our customers, and we need to be really respectful of what their feelings are going to be. And, you know, make really sure that we just can’t afford never sounds like you’ll want to profit here out of this thing. And, you know, at one point, we’re hearing concern about people over profits at a time when I’m saying profit, I’m worried about, can we keep the business alive? Right, he’s still gonna be here in two months. And now things aren’t going as I expected. And when right now it looks like it’s looking more like the problem is going to be I’m getting supply because demand might be up, you know, but two days from now, that’s going to be too so Wednesday. So two days ago.

Fred Clements  28:58

It’s had So that brings us to a really important question. It sounds like your sales are at least holding or doing pretty well, which may or may not last. But just in terms of finances, a lot of stores have closed. A lot of stores reduced hours, I imagined the norm is probably reduced sales. Any advice on managing the financial side of a store? You may not have that problem as I say, but you may. And any thoughts on your cash flow and Bill paying and that?

Peter Henry  29:27

yeah, I assume it’s coming. And so right after recording this, I have another call coming up some very smart people and we’re going to decide on some principles for how we manage moving forward. And you know, number one, we have to take care of our staff or people. So we’re probably going to say that no money goes out, that’s going to jeopardize having probably six weeks of payroll covered. Just sitting in the checking account. We’re going to you know, things like landlords, you know, landlords should be in decent shape and they can necessarily sustain a long period of not having rent coming in, but they should be capable of tolerating some and a landlord to manage their business. Okay? If they call their bank and say, hey, my tenants can’t pay, what can you do for me, they’ll immediately get from the banker, oh, we can do interest-only for three months. That’s not a problem. I’ll fax doc or I’ll email you the document, you can sign an email back, and we’ll have that going for you. And that kind of thing. My understanding is banks can turn around we’ll real quickly vendors, I’m assuming that all of our vendors are scrambling to lineup financing right now, assuming that there’s going to be a massive inability to pay as invoices are coming due. And so I am confident that they’re all preparing to be as supportive as they can be. That being said, we need to be, I mean, there’s going to be plenty of other people leaning on them as well and so on. Consistent with protecting our ability to pay payroll, when money is available beyond that, we should get the money that we safely can, they do need some money coming in. So when we have the opportunity to do that we should do that don’t think it’s just a chance to beat up on them and talk to them be proactive at talking to people that you owe money to, to make sure that they’re kept up to speed on what your situation is. And they’re probably not going to roll out blanket policies, but they are probably prepared to have a number of things they can do to help so you know, landlords, you should be able to get some support from and vendors, I’m sure are trying to provide as much support as they can. And that’s likely to be quite a lot. Yeah. And your bank, your bank can’t afford to lose you as a customer. So if you give them some idea of and especially as you get to the point where you have some idea of what things might actually be looking like are you going to what extent are you going to be negatively impacted? And you say Okay, so here’s what I think I’m going to need you got me through this Chances are that the banking industry is going to be very inclined to be supportive. Especially its I’m sure if it’s a local bank, because they’re really dependent on having a good economy in town, that that’s dependent on having good small businesses in town. And from what I’m hearing about the Federal Reserve, the banks won’t have problems having access to cash. So as long as you’ve been a good business over the years, they’re probably going to try to find a way to say yes, and they will probably succeed at saying yes to your request for extra financial support. And, you know, there’s been no details on it yet. But it sounds like Congress is coming through with a relief bill. I have no idea how that’s going to impact it, but it will be it is likely to be a bit of a lifeline for those of us who are in a who end up being really badly impacted nationally by this.

Fred Clements  32:51

so, your priority is the employees have you had to hours would seem to have to be cut back for some at least you know, if you’re not even running showrooms How are you managing that? Is everyone getting their normal pay or they have some reduced hours? How are you making that decision?

Peter Henry  33:08

Not so far everybody’s been getting the normal pay. No, we spend a lot of extra time cleaning everything up. And even when customers come into that quarantine zone, every time a bike comes in for service, where I’ve sanitizing it when it comes in before we handle it. There’s a lot of extra work going on because of it. We have a lot of people redeployed at home because we have some people who just because they’re concerned we had one person who we had him stay home for two weeks because he’d been traveling. Somebody has any sort of a cold, just stay home for two weeks. We don’t want to risk spreading it to other employees if you do in fact have Coronavirus and those people we’ve had, you know manning the chat function or handling phone calls. So we have a lot of work going on from diverse locations. And so so far we haven’t cut back on employment and we’ve been able to keep Coming. And we hope to be able to do that. Because you know, it’s not like our employees are living high off the hog and can easily stash big chunks of cash aside and carry them through a rainy day. Yeah. And at this point, I’m optimistic that it may not come to that for us. But you know, if it does, it sounds like everywhere is going to have greatly stepped up unemployment compensation. So that even if you do like to lay people off, they can, I mean, in Massachusetts, now you become eligible immediately instead of with a one week waiting period. And I believe that the relief folders that are in the works, is claimed to mandate at least a similar level of stepping up everywhere. 

Fred Clements  34:40

So that’s great. So as this evolves in unknown ways, I guess it’s impossible to predict the future. But some of the future is probably predictable. Any thoughts from you and what you’re looking for or what some of the decision points might be in the future, any, any things you’re watching for?

Peter Henry  34:58

Well, I’m really watching for signs that what we’ve been doing with the social distancing and with the lockdowns or stay at home orders in various states watching for signs that those are being effective, and that we are getting a handle on this. So far, it appears that the thing is still growing exponentially in the US. But part of that could just be reflecting that testing is ramping up. And to the extent that is testing is ramping up. That’s really good news because that’s a huge part of how we’ll get a handle on it and get it to tamp down and get people’s attention as to where we stand and the need to keep this up. But in all likelihood, even if this lockdown succeeds in having no new cases, they’re still going to be enough virus around that we’re going to be dealing with this for many months. And we’re not going to get back to completely normal. You know, what I’m hearing is until there’s a vaccine developed, we’re not going to get back to normal. That’s probably at least a year away. Still, probably more likely 15 months from now before that’s likely to throw me vaccine is available all around. So we’re going to be dealing with this for a long time, it’s quite likely that once we’re able to get back to a sort of semi-normal or a new normal kind of situation where there’s social distancing going on continuously, but where there’s not quite the same degree of fear, and we know that we’ve got a handle on it so that the hospitals aren’t in danger of collapse, then people will be moving about more. But I think that things like, you know, movie theaters, bars, sit down restaurants or anything close to their old capacity. I mean, they might reopen them with half the tables taken out so that you have much more separation between people. I don’t know. But a lot of the things that compete for money with owning maintaining a bike are going to go away. So we will, in all likelihood, be pretty busy coming out of this and so we need to prepare for that we need to pair to become more efficient than ever and we need to work We’re going to need to adjust to make people still feel cared for and loved when they come into our stores. And you know as it is now if you’re having a bad day, what’s the best thing you can do? Go into your bike shop. And you know, even if you go into your bike shop feeling real crappy, chances are they’re gonna cheer you up. If you go in because you had something go wrong with a bike and you’re all you know, customers come in all ticked off that we must be our fault. And, you know, typically it only takes a few minutes. And if I don’t know or relax here, we can take carrier, you know, we turn their bad day in theory taken us into a good day, and they love us forever. How do we keep that going when we can’t get closer than six feet to them? fresh new challenges, but I suspect that we will find ways of dealing with that and come out ahead. So I think that once we get past the crisis aspect of this and it’s just how do we live with this? I think that does present a world of opportunity for the bicycle Calling for bike shops because, you know, it’s often been said that bicycles, one of the greatest inventions of all time, you know, it’s one of the simple devices that can save the world. And that’s what we’re doing no in this crisis that I shall never imagine we are going to be in a situation like this. And get the bicycle is emerging as one of the really important simple things that can help us to get through this situation. So So you notice things that Gee, we could be doing this differently all the time. And that will make our lives better. Let us serve our customers better and be more profitable while we do it.

Fred Clements  38:37

Yeah, so from someone in the far western part of the US to someone in the pretty far northeast of the US so I want to wish you luck, of course, and best wishes from here and who all of us are running out involved in this, you know, let’s hope for the best and prepare for a battle that we’re just at the start of what it sounds like. So thank you very much, Peter, for sharing and opening up, you’re thinking about all of this. And I’ve enjoyed talking to you any last thought or two that you’ve been itching to say that I haven’t asked.

Peter Henry  39:09

You know, as we lead our teams in our stores, we lead our, you know, we have to be leaders in our communities as well. I mean, there are certainly portions of our communities for whom where we’re sort of a center of activity. And so we need to be leaders and everything that we know is wrong. The world is just changed very dramatically. So we just need to really focus on adapting and learning from what’s going on listening. And, you know, if we made a misstep, just say, Sorry, we’re doing our best we’re going to adjust. But you also need to, you know, especially if you’re a team’s you need to stay confident and upbeat while being attentive to anybody’s safety concerns. And you know, just let them know that you care and let them know that you care. Let them know that you care. And those are all keys to keeping your whole team upbeat. That’s really important as we move through this.

Fred Clements  40:03

Great, well thank you very much for the insights you’ve given and the thoughts you’ve shared. I appreciate it. I’m sure the listeners do too. And thank you all for having me and good luck, Peter.

Peter Henry  40:15

Well, thank you, and good luck to all you out there in California. And good luck everywhere. Everybody around the country.

Fred Clements  40:21

Great. Thank you.

Rod Judd  40:22

This has been bicycle retail radio by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership and member benefits, join us @NBDA.com

After spending 12 years as a writer and editor, Fred Clements worked as executive director and vice president for the National Bicycle Dealers Association for 28 years. He then moved to Interbike in a retail relations role, later transitioning into consulting. He enjoys helping the NBDA with podcasts from time to time and rides about 3,500 miles each year on his road bike.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Bike Shop Operations During COVID-19: Landry’s Bicycles – Boston appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Bike Shop Operations During COVID-19: Pedal – Kalamazoo, Michigan:  Now is an uncertain time for retail. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing retailers to make difficult decisions like whether to close their store or not, whether or not to lay off employees, whether to ask for rent deferral or not, etc. We think that now it is more important than ever to come together and share ideas and practices between retailers all over the nation.

For the first episode in this series, Brandee Lepak, Owner of Global Bikes in Pheonix, AZ, and President of the NBDA interviews Tim Krone, owner of Pedal in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and NBDA Board Member about what he is experiencing in Michigan at this time and what procedures he has put in place for his business.

Please enjoy listening to Bike Shop Operations During COVID-19: Pedal – Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Support the show  (https://nbda.com/articles/donation-form-pg511.htm#!form/Donate)

WE LOVE BIKES at Pedal

After many years of working in a service-oriented industry, I got a job in a bike shop and loved it. I loved working on bikes. I loved talking to people about bikes. I loved the technology. All of it was so fantastic and personal and so much more immediate than working in a huge faceless company where a good project took several years. And like many an impassioned employee, I thought I could do it better. And out of that Pedal was born.

I started Pedal with my buddy Ryan at what is now our downtown shop in January 2011. Since then we’ve grown quite a lot, employed some very smart and wonderful people, met and have come to know many good people in our community. We’ve morphed into a Kalamazoo bike shop. We ride where you ride. We know the scene. We like to do the stuff you like to do. We don’t just sell bicycles in Kalamazoo; we’re part of bicycling in Kalamazoo, and it makes us super proud and happy.

Brandee & Tim

Tue, 8/18 10:43AM • 31:58

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, business, employees, retailers, closed, bike, bike shop, bicycle, ride, p&l, happen, stay, customers, weeks, conversation, retail, rent, absolutely, reached, home

SPEAKERS

Rod Judd, Brandee Lepak, Chad Pickard, Tim Krone

Rod Judd  00:10

You are listening to Bicycle Retail Radio brought to you by the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Brandee Lepak  00:17

Hello, everyone. My name is Brandee Lepak. And I’m the president of the National Bicycle Dealer Association, and I am a retailer from the Phoenix metro area. We have five locations throughout the valley. And I’m here today with Tim Krone, the owner of Pedal in Kalamazoo Michigan.

Tim Krone  00:37

Hi, yeah, I’m Tim Crone pedal is in the metropolitan area of Kalamazoo, Michigan. We have two stores on the vast plane and away we go.

Brandee Lepak  00:47

How many years have you been in business?

Tim Krone  00:49

Just over nine.

Brandee Lepak  00:51

How many employees do you have?

Tim Krone  00:53

I did payroll this morning. I have 22 employees. Wow.

Brandee Lepak  01:00

Are you doing? How’s everything going in Kalamazoo?

Tim Krone  01:05

You know, it’s going fast. You almost can’t think about it too much. It’s really weird. We got the shelter in place. thing. I shouldn’t say a thing, the shelter in place executive order from our governor Monday, bike shops were not excluded from that. So we’re closed, which is a little bit weird. And we’re going to stay closed until April 14, as it sits right now.

Brandee Lepak  01:31

So what does that mean? Close? Like you absolutely cannot do any business or can you have, you know, one employee doing Bike Builds and mechanic getting caught up on Repairs? Or is it just absolutely no business?

Tim Krone  01:47

We’re trying to figure out how we can accommodate both the letter and the spirit of the law. And I think the spirit is all about human contact. Right? That’s the thing. So if your bike is in the shop, we would like to repair it and get it back to you. If you special ordered a bike, we would like to build that and get it to you. Our showrooms are absolutely not open, our doors are locked. There are signs on the door. So that’s it. I went out and I delivered some bikes this morning, I went out in the band and me, you know, set the bikes in the driveway and called the person and you know, we might have shouted at each other across the yard. And that was that but yeah, that’s what business looks like right now.

Brandee Lepak  02:31

Have you seen a big increase in online orders?

Tim Krone  02:35

No, No, I haven’t. I like to preface every time I’m doing something that somebody else is going to listen to. In no way would I suggest that I’m an average bike shop or even that I know what I’m doing. But you know, we’re all doing something and maybe we can figure it out if we share our experiences. We have always looked online you know, we’ve got a full-featured smart detailing site. We’ve always looked at that as an extension of our brick and mortar store, you know, so if you’re up at two in the morning, you might think, Wow, wonder what pedal hasn’t stopped? Well, you can figure that out with our website. We don’t really push e-commerce. That might not be smart, but that’s the way we’ve been doing it.

Brandee Lepak  03:16

Right. So with all of your staff, since you’re closed, have you had to do layoffs. Are you letting people go? How are you handling staffing issues?

Tim Krone  03:27

Oh, boy, yeah, I really wrestled with that one. I sent everybody home, but a few key people who are doing the chores that I outlined earlier, and I’m going to pay them what they would normally make through the 13th. At that time, we’re going to have to rethink it. This might speak to my level of preparedness. When this happened. If I had been able to perhaps help my employees navigate this a little bit better. I might not have done what I did, but I just felt like that was one that was going to call them down. Right? I felt pretty good doing it. I mean, it felt right. And three, they’re not going to go get another job right now. So I think it seemed like a winning idea at the time.

Brandee Lepak  04:13

You know, and that’s something you know, one of the benefits of the MBA to do a shameless plug of why everyone should be a member is, you know, we can kind of think through these things together. That way, we’re not having, you know, knee jerk reactions, or, you know, I know when we go to work every day, we’re looking at our employees, you know, and there are a lot of demands, and you’re not really sure how to navigate everything that Trump is coming out with your state, HR issues, the paranoia, and the fear. It’s hard to have that 30,000-foot view right. now know that you’re doing the right thing. It’s the first time any of us have been through this.

Tim Krone  04:56

Yeah, you know, it’s just to throw in a little anecdote in here. Yo, I was wrestling with this, I kind of got my managers together and I said, Look, this is what I think I’m going to do. And we have enough cash to do this. I just want you to, you know, I’d like some feedback on it. Everybody said, Well, you know, that sounds pretty good. So then later that evening, I’m talking with a friend of mine who’s got shops, and it’s not quite the same circumstance, but similar. And he said, Well, you know, he’s a very blunt, beautiful person. He said, You know, I don’t think he should have done that, I think should have done this, this, this and this. And yeah, and I appreciate that. That’s good. That’s good. That’s another experience. I have filed that for if this gets worse, or longer or anything like that. Now I’ve got, you know, I’ve got a friend who has some experience that I can use now, a friend that I met through the NVDA By the way,

Brandee Lepak  05:48

yeah, it’s hard because everything’s moving so quickly. And you know, every day I wake up like the first 10 minutes, I’m awake, I forget that this is going on. Right? And then I was in my living room and I watched the news like, what are we dealing with today? You know what happened while I was sleeping, and it’s so hard, you know, to hit that pause button and take time, and really think about the decisions we need to make because it’s just moving so rapidly.

Tim Krone  06:21

Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s a real balance to be able to think about what you’re going to need to do in a few months and balance that against what you need to do right now. You know, that may have a big impact on how you set up that action months from now, I’m not sure if that makes great sense. But thinking about what you’re going to do today and thinking about how that’s going to affect and what you’re going to want to do in a few months. You know, that takes a lot of brain cycles.

Brandee Lepak  06:49

Well, honestly, and the people who you know, have closed down already, we haven’t reached that Pinnacle. You know, the peak alright, is what I’m kind of hearing. So, you know, if you closed down last week, you know, how long are you going to have to stay closed? And do you have the cash flow to catch up? You know, later in the year? What does this look like? Yeah, it’s just a lot of very difficult questions right now. So while your employees are home, and you’re generously paying them, are you encouraging any work from home activities, you know, updating on training? What are you having them do homework?

Tim Krone  07:33

So I’m not really I know, everybody’s a little freaked out. Right. So some people are actually very worried about getting sick. And I think that’s bigger. Some are worried about the societal burden of this. I think that’s fair. So you know, we stay pretty up with training. And so I don’t think I have much to ask there to be honest. So I got this idea from my wife, right. So this is not mine, but I contacted our community found Which is kind of a warehouse for charitable giving, and then also funding of various charities in town. And I got a list of organizations that need volunteers right now and I forwarded that list to my employees and you know, just basically said if you need something to do because you’re used to doing something, you might consider calling these guys and see if I need some help.

Brandee Lepak  08:25

So that’s a really great idea as

Tim Krone  08:28

well as mine, but credit where credit’s

Brandee Lepak  08:31

Yes, yes. Have you reached out to your landlords and started conversations with them about

Tim Krone  08:38

you? know, it’s funny, okay, because I’m my landlord one share, and I don’t have a whole lot to give. And then my wife is my landlord at the other store, and she has assured me that I’m at rock bottom already.

Brandee Lepak  08:53

Perfect.

Tim Krone  08:54

So we’re that not the case though. That is totally a conversation that would be having. I think when you think about the fact that the rents that are propping up most retail these days are restaurant brands. Right? And those guys are not looking good. I would think that any property owner who’s thinking clearly is going to want to keep a tenant in place. So I would think at a minimum, you should be talking about rent deferral. I think you might even ask for rent forgiveness. But I do think people should be talking to their landlord, for sure. I mean, I’m fortunate that I don’t necessarily have to do that. But yes, that is a conversation that should probably be happening right now for most people.

Brandee Lepak  09:47

Yeah, I wonder if I retailers are having any luck getting, you know, deferrals because I worry about it just piling up like everything piling up after this.

Tim Krone  10:00

Yeah, I think forgiveness is a much stronger ask. I think if you’re going to ask for a deferral, I mean, so I think when you’re negotiating these things, and this is just me, right? I think you should go in with a plan, you shouldn’t go in with an ask, you should go in. If you haven’t asked, you need to ask the whole thing. I want you to forgive my rent for this period of time. I want you to defer my rent, and I will make it up over the course of the next X amount of months, you know, something like that, like, don’t just have a problem, have an answer for it. I think that helps move the conversation along quite a lot. Right.

Brandee Lepak  10:38

So on that same line of questions, have you reached out to your suppliers and if you have, how are those conversations going?

Tim Krone  10:47

So I’m in a kind of a lucky spot, I own a good percentage of my inventory. So that’s not a big panic right now for me, so I’m not having those conversations. Thankfully, the conversation I’m wondering as somebody who owns a lot of his inventory is when my bills come due, how many I hate? Should I be asking for a discount? If I’m ready to pay for this? should I? Should you knock something off the top? Because I think a lot of people aren’t able to pay right now. Or at least having the conversation about not paying.

Brandee Lepak  11:22

Well, you know, cash in hand makes the king right.

Tim Krone  11:28

While it lasts..

Brandee Lepak  11:29

So why not? Why not ask, you know, what do you have to lose? I mean, that’s the thing. It’s, like, you can ask, they can say no, but you can ask and if you come with, hey, this works out for you. It works out for me. I’ve got the cash. You know, I mean, I think it’s worth putting it out there. Right?

Tim Krone  11:48

How can it hurt if you’re being nice about it, which I think is possible?

Brandee Lepak  11:54

And honestly, from what I’ve heard, and what I’ve been told is now is the time to ask

Tim Krone  12:01

Don’t wait. Don’t wait. If it looks like you’re going to need to, I mean, so one thing I would say so I, you know, I’m not serving customers right now I’m doing a lot of stuff, but it’s not on the floor. So I’ve spent some time. I mean, what does it cost me in cash to run my business every month? That’s a pretty easy number to find right at the bottom of your p&l just divide that sucker by 12. So that’s the max that it costs. You’ll I’ve gone and called some, you know, this is when I start advertising a lot. And I cold and people that we have some big contracts with and I was like, stop, you know, we shouldn’t be advertising, right? That’s not helpful. People come to the door and we’re not here. So I think looking at what your monthly bills are, and what’s, you know, what’s a variable cost, what’s a fixed cost, trying to figure all that out and reduce what you can

Brandee Lepak  12:51

write. So that brings me to customer-facing communication. How are you communicating to your customers during As time, you know, what are those messages look like? You know, how are you keeping them engaged with your business?

Tim Krone  13:07

Well, man, we’re going to go on and on with this one. So I try not to over-communicate with our clientele. I try to only share things that I think are interesting. And usually, I try to pile up three or four things and send them at once. So I’ve sent out an email that we have to close because of this. It’s all over our web page. It’s on our social media. So that’s out there. And the way I try to do it is just like, Look, this is the deal. This is the deal. The governor said to do this, we’re doing it. We want to flatten the curve as much as the next guy. We don’t like it. We don’t like being closed, we would much rather be open. We would actually prefer to be you know, talking to people in the store, but we can’t. So we’re going to do this. And when we’re done, we’re gonna we’re going to get back to business.

Chad Pickard  13:58

Your NBDA membership Help support bicycle, retail radio, go to nbda.com to join or renew your membership today.

Brandee Lepak  14:11

Are you worried about recapturing the same level of business? Once you reopen? Do you think that your customers are going to flock to you? Or, you know, is it? How long are you closed for? What’s the mandate?

Tim Krone  14:27

So the mandate right now, I’ve got a little less than three weeks ago, a good two and a half weeks ago, and I’m super worried about that. Like right now, for one of 100 days in Kalamazoo. The sun is shining, it’s going to be 55 degrees. A lot of people have been sent home from their jobs, and I guarantee they’re thinking about riding their bike and maybe how they’d like a new one, or new pedals or something like that. I’m super nervous about them buying that stuff online and having their shopping patterns disrupted. I’m very concerned. About Us winning that back, especially in the short term. So yeah, it’s something that I’ve tried to communicate to our government thus far unsuccessfully. But it’s, you don’t want the cure to be worse than the disease. And I’m not saying that bike shops, clothes are the worst things in the world. But with brick and mortar retail already kind of having a rough go at it. This certainly doesn’t help.

Brandee Lepak  15:27

No, it definitely does not. So when you’re able to open your doors again, do you think that this is going to continue this limited number of people in the store all of the cleaning protocols? I mean, I guess none of us really know is this virus is going to die and disappear, or is it something that’s going to linger and pop back up? You know, I mean, what do you see? How do you feel your shop is going to look, you know, a month, a couple of weeks after you’re open

Tim Krone  15:58

again, so you know As soon as I can, we’re going to get everybody in here, what I think may happen for us because of our seasonality, I’m super worried that our service department is going to get flooded. And we are going to have a very dissatisfied clientele. After that. That’s going to pour some salt on the wound sales. I think we’re, you know, we’re pretty ready to go. If people want to come in and talk about it and get it done and all that I think we’re in good shape. I think over time, we can win people back, but I think it’s, you know, it’s not going to be two weeks, it’s going to take a while.

Brandee Lepak  16:37

One of the things I’ve been really thinking about is, you know, as a bike shop, we’ve worked so hard for so many years, to build that community. You know, right, join us. We’re a community and now we’re told our community can’t gather. Is there anything that you think retailers can do to try to You know, keep that community going.

Tim Krone  17:05

So we’re trying a couple of things. You know, we’re doing some stuff on Strava we’re gonna have some challenges and stuff like that. We have rides on Swift. During the week we sponsored for those things. I just crack up because kind of our little tagline lately has been come ride with us. And so well, that doesn’t really work because we need to ride separately. But, yeah, yeah, that whole community thing is tough without human contact.

Brandee Lepak  17:38

Yeah, yeah. And so I think it kind of takes me into, my next question of, you know, how long does it take to form a habit? You know, what do they say to do something consistently for 28 days? And you’re right, I think that that’s what it is. And, you know, and you think, with you being close, you know, are we teaching our customers new habits.

Tim Krone  18:02

Yeah, yeah, that’s exactly right. That’s it.

Brandee Lepak  18:04

So it brings me to your earlier topic of, you know, are we training our customers to buy online? Are we training our customers how to circumvent us? You know, do you think retails change forever? Now?

Tim Krone  18:20

That’s a great question. Gosh, and I just don’t know, but one of the things that I think, right is your I sell bicycles and everything, you know, we all do. We’re in the people business. Right. And a thing that I have heard over and over is that people miss us. And I think hopefully it takes more than two and a half weeks for that feeling to go away. But I think even though we’re handing online, a lot of business right now, I think people still want to come in and talk to a person and look them in the eye and get some help and guidance. And I, man, I feel like that’s going to have value post Coronavirus. I’m kind of mirando on it. But we’ll see.

Brandee Lepak  19:16

You know, I’ve been trapped in my house now for a week and a half. And just like everyone else quarantine staying at home, and I’m itching to I just want to get out. I just want to go to a restaurant again. I want to be around people again. But it’s not something that’s going to happen suddenly, right? It’s gonna be this easing into it. And I just, I wonder, I really wonder how that’s gonna look for our group rides because so much of what we do is building that community and what retailers can do. How can we, you know, bring back those friendships and that sense of community in this new world that we’re living in It’s we’ve got our work cut out for us for sure.

Tim Krone  20:03

Oh, goodness, yes.

Brandee Lepak  20:05

So let’s talk about employees. Give us some good advice about how you’re communicating with your employees during this time.

Tim Krone  20:12

You know, email has always been our method of communication we have you know, I’ve got one email address I can send everything to and it gets to these guys. So that’s how I like to do it. It might be obvious in the course of this podcast that I can’t say it in just two or three words it takes me a while and emails are a nice forum for that. I try to bold the important parts for the people who just can’t bear it. But yeah, email communication works best for me.

Brandee Lepak  20:46

You know, one of the things that I’m really concerned about in our business is how are we going to be able to retain this staff, I mean, we have so much invested in them, you know, training time they know our business. They know us they know our mission. They know our vision. You know, they know who we are. They know our customer base. Are you afraid of losing that? 

Tim Krone  21:13

Well? Yeah. I mean, if it goes on, yes, you know, and this comes back to the planning thing, and I confess, I haven’t done this yet. But in the next week or so, I mean, I’m I would be stupid if I didn’t make a list of absolutely critical. Next critical, not as critical. If we’ve got to go through and start laying people off and start conserving cash, got to do it. I don’t really like to think about my people, as far as my co-workers is where they sit in some ordinal list, but I think that’s going to be important. And yes, they are even the gal that I hired a week ago, right. She’s already done some training. She’s already met some clients. She already knows how to use the cash register. No, that has a nonzero value. She’s in the payroll system. Man, I’d like her to stay cuz I don’t want to go through all that stuff again.

Brandee Lepak  22:08

Oh, I mean, definitely in our business, you know, I’ve had employees who have been with us, you know, I think our longest employees 12 years now. And they definitely have very specific tasks and roles and, you know, within our shop, that we’ve depended on them to do those jobs and to, like, all of a sudden, you know, have the workforce shift to something else, and you lose those key people. It’s just so scary to think about, you know, what that looks like retraining everyone and that reinvestment. Yeah, so I mean, we got to do what we can do to keep them. So how are you helping your staff handle the stress of all of this,

Tim Krone  22:53

I’m a pretty positive person pedal is a pretty positive place and me just kind of Trying to keep going with that I forward news articles that I read hopefully that have some positive content some good stuff they can do while we’re down. We all like riding bikes. I wish we could ride them together right now. That’d be fun. But yeah, I try to stay positive. You know getting in your pity party doesn’t help anybody.

Brandee Lepak  23:21

So how are you taking care of yourself right now? The leader the man in charge, the Grand Poobah? How are you? I mean, what does this look like a bubble bath eyemask

Tim Krone  23:37

I bought a bike to commute to work on that kind of sounds sad, but I did. And that’s fun. That’s been interesting. You know, I like to be active and I found I get pretty grouchy if I’m not and I got kind of wound up there for a couple of days. Got a little grouchy and started working out ride my bike a little bit more than that helped a lot.

Brandee Lepak  23:57

Yeah, it’s important I find during this time That retailers are taking that time, all of us, you know, to just grieve. And just understand that we’re all going through the same thing. We’re all in this together and just try to find solitude. I mean, just even like you said, going for a bike ride. I’ve taken my kids out on a bike ride around the neighborhood. You know, we try to do it once a day and just that simple act of like a normal activity. During this time. It’s good for you. It’s good for them. It’s good for everyone.

Tim Krone  24:34

Yes, it absolutely is. Which just circle back around, which makes this whole bike shop being closed thing. even weirder. Mm-hmm. It is a nice meditative thing to do when you’re stressed out about the world. Yeah.

Brandee Lepak  24:52

So many of us find our peace of mind on a bike right? You know when you need solitude when you need interaction with others. Humans when you just, you know, there’s that point when you’re working out where the endorphins kick in, and it’s like, all of your anxiety just washes away. You know, and yeah, you know, yeah. So wrapping this up, what do you think the future looks like? How can we end this? So we’re not like depressing our entire audience. No. I mean, for me personally, I feel like we’re going to move through this pretty quickly. And I mean, I know there’s going to be long term effects, but I just feel like, you know, q1 for us in Arizona was really strong. I mean, we started the year coming out swinging. That didn’t happen. Yes. e-bike sales helped with that, but we weren’t just selling e-bikes I feel like people want to ride their bikes. They want to get out. They want to exercise. I don’t think that this is just going to go away. So I’m hoping we end the year strong. What do you think?

Tim Krone  26:07

Yes. So I think a couple of things about this one thing, I have this beautiful friend who swam for a big division one school, and she told me that every scholarship, every varsity athlete, was required to take a psychology class. And the focus of the class was on identifying things that stress you out that you can change that you’re responsible for, and things that you can’t change, external forces, and let go of those external forces. I think if you’re spending time worrying about what the Coronavirus is going to do, that’s unproductive, right? If instead, you’re talking to your landlord about your rent situation, that’s a little bit more productive. If you’re talking with your suppliers. That’s a little bit more productive. If you’re putting together a cash flow analysis, with kind of some worst-case-scenario stuff in there, that’s a little bit productive, you can control that stuff you can’t control. I hate to say what the government does, but kinda. So I think if you can focus on what you can do and control and how you can react, and think about what’s going to be required of you in the next couple of weeks. I think that’ll, that’ll make your footing a little bit more firm.

Brandee Lepak  27:33

Well, in all of that, what I’m hearing too is knowledge is power, you know, know your business know what’s going on?

Tim Krone  27:41

Yes, absolutely. 

Brandee Lepak  27:43

Right? I mean, maybe we have some retailers listening to this, who really don’t have a great grasp on their p&l or how to do cash flow management, or to really be able to predict I mean, you’ve been in our profit Project groups for how many years now?

Tim Krone  28:04

Gosh, six or seven years, something like that a while,

Brandee Lepak  28:08

a long time. And so you’ve been looking at analyzing, you can protect your business. I mean, what can we tell retailers who, you know, maybe don’t have that great grasp who haven’t been studying and planning and really have a great understanding of their business right now.

Tim Krone  28:28

So, you know, to some extent you have it, right, you’ve got your p&l. I think most retailers have a point of sale system. between those two things, the answers are in there, right. It’s just a matter of pulling it out. And you know, what stuff like the P two program does is helps you develop systems to acquire and accumulate that data effectively, but it’s there and there are people who can help you if you need it. That’s the thing if you know what you’re after, that’s a whole lot better than not even knowing what you’re after. Right? That’s kind of not a great place.

Brandee Lepak  29:07

Yeah. And you know, if we had to suggest to a person who is like maybe sitting in their car listening to us, they’re like, I need help. Who would you suggest they call? I mean, I know. We have Dave Dekeyser who does consultations to the MBDA re p to consult I know Mike Barnidge at QBP I hate to offer his services without asking, but you know, QBP has been really great, Todd Cravens, who knows retailers. Reach out to other retailers.

Tim Krone  29:36

retailers. Sure, sure. Sure. I think most people would help. I will help. I don’t know if minus the help that you want. But I could. I think there’s a program I believe it’s called score, which can get you hooked up with a retired business person, typically an executive who can help with that kind of stuff. I have a couple of friends who have had fantastic experiences with that program. So score, I believe it is a cure.

Brandee Lepak  30:05

Yes, I’ve heard of that. And then also yesterday, I was researching the SBA loans, the Small Business Administration loans that they’re giving now. And I saw something too there that there is a number that you can call to get advice. So basically ending this, you know, wrapping it up, there are people available, reach out to the NVDA we can always try to connect you with another retailer. You know, if you need somebody to talk to don’t feel like you’re alone, because you’re not, you know, we’re all going through this and you have, and there are so many people. I mean, that’s the thing I love about the MBA is the fact that there are so many people willing to help you commiserate with you, advise you and lead you out of us. So, you know, don’t think that you’re in this fight alone because you’re not

Tim Krone  30:57

Right. Yeah, so you don’t have to be alone.

Brandee Lepak  31:01

I think we can wrap this up now. What do you think? Did we cover everything important? I think Did we solve all the problems?

Tim Krone  31:13

Oh, gosh. I think what a lot of us hope for is a good night’s sleep. And then I could do it again tomorrow.

Brandee Lepak  31:22

Yeah, 

Tim Krone  31:23

I think if we can get there, that’s a pretty good start.

Brandee Lepak  31:26

Well, thank you so much for joining us today and it’s always a pleasure to talk to you and stay safe, my friend.

Tim Krone  31:33

You too will talk to you soon. 

Rod Judd  31:34

This has been bicycle retail radio by the National Bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership and member benefits, join us @nbda.com

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Bike Shop Operations During COVID-19: Pedal – Kalamazoo, Michigan appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Cash

If you have enough of it, you can probably ride out the next 30-90 days. That’s the timeframe I feel right now makes the most sense to prepare to get through this crisis. No one has a crystal ball right now, but all the models show that is the case. After this passes, the economy will potentially come back very strongly, depending on several factors. But during the lead up to the peak of this people will become wearier and adhere more strongly to the distancing and stay at home orders. Cash reserves are always the best security blanket. If you do not have the cash, read on. 

Credit And Financing

 If you have a line of credit in place, be very careful with how much you tap early on so you have some reserved if this goes longer than any of you would like. Another consideration is to do some forecasting of what it is going to take to keep you in good standing with all of your accounts payable, so you are ready to get going as soon as things start popping. If you need to secure financing, get started by getting your financials cleaned up for February, so you have new P&L and Balance sheets ready to provide. Get your last couple of tax returns available as well. As of this writing, the federal stimulus package looks like it is a go. The devil will be in the details of how strict the requirements will be to access those SBA loans. Do not assume the banks will just be handing out money because you have a business. I guess that you will still need to go through some application and approval process, which hopefully is fast and painless, but be ready to have to provide at least some necessary information detailed above. Try to be realistic with your budgeting and forecasting to determine your exact needs based on your best guesses as to the time and severity of your business’s impact. 

Debt 

Consider how much you are willing to take on to overcome this crisis and set some limits for yourself. Taking on debt is a big decision, and you should project 12-18 months out to see what cash flow looks like and run some bad, functional, better, best style scenarios to verify you are comfortable being able to service the debt you may take on. 

Relief Options

Relief options are changing day by day and depends on what state and even county you reside in. I have seen sales tax holidays begin to be implemented for taxes collected in February and March in some places. There are going to be what appears to be an endless amount of different programs, and you need to keep up on those. One significant and excruciating way to preserve cash is to examine your most significant expenses. Payroll is the top of that list. While it is agonizing to begin cutting staff, it is also one of the first things you can do to preserve your cash. The unemployment and federal payments that apply to almost everyone at this point look like they should do an excellent job keeping your staff taken care of. Do not take any payroll expenses on that you can refer to these programs. 

Finally, stay on top of what is happening for ways you can weather this storm. Every small business will be going through these same things, and I feel confident that with some perseverance and use of available options to get through the following months, you can come out of this and move forward. Brandee Lepak, the NBDA President, put together this great list of things to do and resources to be aware of here. Be Well! 

Critical Covid-19 Resource Page

Words by David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Covid-19 Cash And Financing Considerations appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Essential service

This designation is a very new term that has taken on critical significance to the bicycle retailer’s mission. It should not be taken lightly. Owners and employees of businesses that are located on the same block, such as barbers and beauty salons, massage therapists, and bars and restaurants, have had their companies either severely impacted or shuttered entirely. Bicycle retailers have, however, been able to continue operating in areas that have seen very strict business shutdowns because bicycles are used as a mode of transportation. Be aware that not all business owners are as fortunate as you.

Social Distancing Tool 

Bicycles have also been identified as a good social distancing tool. What a strange concept and term “social distancing” is. Usually reserved for the introverts amongst us, social distancing is perhaps the most exciting term that has emerged in this global pandemic. For many, social distancing is a very foreign concept. Bicycles and riding them is a very social activity. Group rides and vacations among friends to ride bikes is at the core of our favorite business. However, now being social is the antithesis of being healthy. Riding alone is considered okay and a healthy way to get out, exercise, and experience relief from the news and realities of our current world. But getting out and riding and pushing that message can have some negative implications. It is slowly gaining some volume that riding a bicycle, particularly in any remotely risky situation, is potentially a selfish decision. The idea that riding a bike, and possibly crashing, could strain medical resources is not just a whisper. Mike Sinyard from Specialized alluded to this in a letter to the public that can be found on Specialized’s Facebook page as of this writing, asking riders “to think seriously about the impact a crash could have on strained medical resources in your area.” 

Minding Your Messaging

The above points should be taken into consideration as you are marketing through social media, emails, and other avenues of reaching your customers. You do not want to appear tone-deaf to the realities of the moment, and your friends and neighbors. Be empathetic that not everyone is considered essential, and they may view your business as getting a pass. While riding is absolutely a form of transportation, be careful if you are a suburban retailer where the majority of your customers arrive via vehicle to pick up their recreational items. You are shouting that you are essential due to the transportation part of the equation. Additionally, if you are pushing people to get out and ride, be aware of the fact that riding can be considered riskier than sheltering in place and very well may put you into a more statistically significant chance of needing medical care over having stayed home. 

Employee Health  

Be very careful that your staff is feeling okay about the direction you are choosing if you stay open. “Guarded entry,” which many shops have implemented, basically includes keeping the doors locked and allowing customers to enter at staggered intervals and controlled numbers. Exposing your employees to needless risk while watching other businesses close and those employees being able to stay home can be tricky. While they are hearing they should be helping to “flatten to the curve’, you will need to help them understand their importance, while also doing everything you can to minimize the risk of being needlessly exposed. Displaced workers have their own sets of stressors. Still, the reality is that unemployment and proposed (as of this writing) federal financial deposits should cover some percentage of the lost payroll. Those who keep working are exposed to potentially infected people, but the psychological stresses that that brings. If your employees do not feel that the potential exposures are worth the perceived needs and risks, you may experience some issues with placing those employees in those situations. I spoke with a retailer that lost three employees this week due to fear and an abundance of caution they did want to be exposed unnecessarily.

Summary

These points are not raised to say one choice or the other is right or wrong. Staying open, marketing, and understanding your employees, potential stresses should be taken into consideration. There are no known right or wrong answers at this point. You will have to decide what is best by considering your own local market conditions and needs. Be very aware that other local businesses may not have the opportunity to stay open, and that some customers may view your decisions differently. Tough times, but times in which you can cement your place in your market as essential and relevant as a compassionate and incredibly valuable member of the community. Be well and please reach out if you would like to chat – David@nbda.com

Below are two examples of businesses taking two very different approaches to the current pandemic. I have noticed that other companies, such as book stores, gift stores, etc. use similar reasoning lines. 

First one from one of my local bike stores here in Fruita Colorado, Over The Edge Sports –

“As of March 17, Over The Edge, Fruita is going to play its part in helping humanity not spread COVID 19, so we will be closed until April 1. We are SO sad not to help all our mountain bike friends during this amazing time of the year. (and our 25th anniversary season) We honestly love you all, and we’ll miss you terribly. Your Friends at Over The Edge, FRUITA”

Social media responses seem positive for Over The Edge’s announcement.

Here’s another angle, this from James Moore, former NBDA president, and board member’s Moore’s Bicycle Shop in Hattiesburg, MS. James noted he had had lots of positive feedback on the post below.

“Moore’s Bicycle Shop is open for business though we’re doing business with several precautions for employees and customers. This week I sent a letter to the mayor’s office explaining how other states have listed bicycle shops as “essential businesses” and why so.

Next week, you’ll see billboards suggesting that cycling can be useful for getting through this crisis. Those billboards combined with the fact that we’re still open may seem opportunistic on the surface – I’d like to explain our reasoning.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I told my staff to be prepared for a 40-50% drop in business as folks would be focused on rebuilding rather than cycling. Precisely the opposite was our reality. For the next nine months, we experienced a 40% increase in business. It took me a while to understand why – then it made perfect sense.

After Katrina, we had an influx of folks from other areas that came here with no job to go to, and their kids were often not enrolled in school. Folks were cooped up in apartments with little to do as other recreation venues were still shut down. People realized that riding a bicycle was one thing they could even do to combat the cabin fever they were experiencing and to get out and look for work or places to help out.

I remember taking a chance using our limited gasoline and driving the family to Letha’s Bar-b-que on a rumor that they had opened and had food. I walked in and was told they only had one quart of baked beans left. I asked how much and John Neal, who worked there at the time, pointed to his bicycle in the corner and said, “the beans are yours for free – that bicycle I got from you is how I’ve been able to get to work.”

This crisis is similar to Katrina, but at least with Katrina, we knew what had to be done to get back to normal. With kids and parents at home now and every other recreational venue, including city parks, theaters, the zoo, sporting events, and concerts no longer option folks need an outlet.

We’re here to help meet that need. I firmly believe should we move into a lockdown mode that compliance with even more confining demands. It will be easier to comply with if families still have one outdoor experience they can do safely, do together, and is affordable—cycling checks all those boxes.

President John Kennedy said it best when he said, “Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bicycle ride.” While the bicycle offers proven physical health benefits, I’ve always believed that the mental benefits outweigh the physical benefits. I often get asked, “What’s the best bicycle?” My answer is still “any bicycle that takes your head to a place it’s never been before.” We all need to be transported to the place now.

Finally, to be sure this does not appear self-promoting, know that there are three great locally owned bicycle shops in town. In addition to Moore’s, there are Infinity Bicycles in the Arbor next to Cowboy Maloney’s and Jed’s Perfect Endurance on King Road. Then there’s 3 Wal Mart Supercenters and Target.

If your budget does not allow a bike shop level bike, get the best bike at one of our discount stores. Or check out one of our reconditioned bicycles. You can get down those bikes that have been hanging upside down in the storage room since the ’70s and bring them into one of the local bike shops for service.

As long as we are healthy, we’ll do our best to help you escape the stresses that will be with us for a while. Please be patient should you visit us and respect the social distancing protocol we’ve put in place. Thanks, James Moore, Jenny, Amber, and Matt.”

Words By David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Strange Times – Mind Your Messaging appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

In addition, other bicycle producers are also temporarily halting production around the world as they struggle to get parts from China.

These are signs of how the Coronavirus outbreak is creating a domino effect in straining the bicycle supply chain.

Shortages of China-made parts have already begun to ripple through the bicycle supply chain. Southeast Asian and Taiwan manufacturers are temporarily idling assembly lines because of problems getting parts from China.

Everyone is continuing to monitor the supply chain and in close communication with Tier one suppliers to mitigate any risk to production. The bicycle industry is now in the Twilight Zone.

If it is going to last six or seven months, we will start substituting and moving production around. If it is going to be six weeks, it is too much trouble to change.

The outbreak has led the Chinese government to impose extended shutdowns of bicycle manufacturing throughout the country after the traditional break for the Lunar New Year Holiday in hopes of slowing the disease’s spread.

Some component makers restarted last week. It is not clear how many have and at what scale. General supply chain disruptions and worker quarantines make it difficult to anticipate when production will return to normal.

I do anticipate the outbreak to depress bicycle and bicycle component production by around 1 million bikes (globally).

Bicycle production factories will likely run out of frame tubing and therefore frames. Both are critical components for complete bicycles and E-Bikes and primarily sourced from China.

This is a day-by-day monitoring effort. If it goes on for more than six weeks. We have bigger problems.

Many assemblers are arranging for parts to be air freighted when available. Flights are VERY limited as the China government is restricting flights and cargo flights are being very carefully controlled.

So, what to do?

1. Connect with your key brands and inquire on the outlook for short- and long-term product availability

2. Investigate alternative sources for critical products

3. Prioritize brands, and products within your retail locations to capture opportunities by optimizing limited availability

4. Be proactive in Identifying substitutes (even at a higher cost)

5. Move inventory from one location to another as a precaution

6. Consider adjusting selling prices on high-velocity products with limited availability

7. Formulate a plan for rapid decision making to capture opportunities

Words by Bob Margevicius

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post How Coronavirus is Disrupting the Bicycle Supply Chain appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.