Performance Bike: finances?

"Mike Jacoubowsky" writes:

Wouldn't surprise me if they're having cash flow problems:
they're closing my local store.

Where us that???

We're losing one here in Redwood City. Not real happy about that. I'd rather
see them stay in town, and keep more cycling money "local."
[...]

It's not all bad for you, Mike: now that the Performance Bike is
gone, your Redwood City store is the closest bike shop to me, so
you'll get at some minor boost in business. Not that I spend a
whole lot, but...
--
"To the engineer, the world is a toy box full of sub-optimized and
feature-poor toys."
--Scott Adams

"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in
:
We're losing one here in Redwood City. Not real happy about that. I'd
rather see them stay in town, and keep more cycling money "local." My
first choice would be to have a store as close as possible to one. Could
always be one of those "be careful what you wish for" things though!
:)

The Redwood City Performance store has been terrible for 10 years or more.
If it was an independent store, it would have gone out of business long
ago.
Their stock is terrible; only a fraction of what is in the catalog or most
independent shops. Stuff in their sale fliers was rarely in stock at the
store. The Performance store down the street in Mountain View is much
better, though that one has gone sharply downhill since Performance took
it
over from Supergo.

To me, Performance stores in general don't make a lot of sense. Their
catalog might work because of the wide variety of products they sell.
However, if the stores carry only a fraction of the selection, what's the
point? If I want a part today, I'll just go to an indepent store that is
more likely to have it in stock.

I couldn't understand why they kept Performance and got rid of the Supergo
name. The Supergo customers were looking for cheap stuff and didn't expect
service. Their expectations were generally met, and some of the Supergo
stores were even staffed fairly well. Performance, on the other hand, has
always pushed their service as one of the big attractions, and has generally
failed in that regard. Thus their customer's expectations weren't being met.
I think Supergo really could have taken off. How this opportunity was missed
might be an interesting story.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Last night's "Special!" email from PerfBike tickled something in my
brain. Why are they so desperately seeking business that has to hit
the bank by February 11? Not exactly one of the traditional financial
deadlines. Are they having cash flow problems? Anyone here know the
inside skinny on Performance?

Wouldn't surprise me if they're having cash flow problems:
they're closing my local store.
--
"The road to hell is paved with convenient shortcuts."
--Peter da Silva

OTOH, they just opened one a few miles from me (in Dublin, Calif.).

But they're not opening the 80-100/year they said they'd be doing when they
obtained all that VC money a few years back. The plan (at that time) was to
open enough that they would attain a sort of critical mass, at which point,
when people would think of a bike shop, they'd think of Performance, not the
IBD (independent bicycle dealer) down the road. That would give them the
muscle they need to obtain a strong bike line, or perhaps even develop their
own, with credibility simply due to high visibility. It would also allow
them to market more efficiently through non-enthusiast channels (newspapers,
non-cycling magazines etc), something that's beyond the capabilities of the
IBD or even the bike companies themselves.

But it never happened. Something changed, and rather quietly. There's very
little buzz about Performance on the various IBD e-lists.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Anyone here know the
inside skinny on Performance?

Fiscal year just ended $14mil shy of the business plan and that probably
doesn't make the new investors happy. The old Supergo stores are failing.
Gary is out as CEO.

Anyone here know the
inside skinny on Performance?

Fiscal year just ended $14mil shy of the business plan and that probably
doesn't make the new investors happy. The old Supergo stores are failing.
Gary is out as CEO.

Where does this information come from? Is there something on the 'net?

Thanks-

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Mike Jacoubowsky" wrote in message
t...
Anyone here know the
inside skinny on Performance?

Fiscal year just ended $14mil shy of the business plan and that probably
doesn't make the new investors happy. The old Supergo stores are
failing.
Gary is out as CEO.

Where does this information come from? Is there something on the 'net?

Thanks-

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com



Uh, "Someone I know" works at the Chapel Hill office

The benefit of a Performance store is that you can order catalog items
at the sale price and save on shipping. Most LBS's stock very little
and o course can order things but at the inflated prices they normally
charge!!!! If there were more Nashbar ,Performance, Supergo' esque
stores I bet more people would enjoy cycling


On Feb 8, 10:59*pm, sally wrote:
"
The Redwood City Performance store has been terrible for 10 years or more. *
If it was *an independent store, it would have gone out of business long ago. *
Their stock is terrible; only a fraction of what is in the catalog or most
independent shops. *Stuff in their sale fliers was rarely in stock at the
store. *The Performance store down the street in Mountain View is much
better, though that one has gone sharply downhill since Performance took it
over from Supergo.

To me, Performance stores in general don't make a lot of sense. *Their
catalog might work because of the wide variety of products they sell. *
However, if the stores carry only a fraction of the selection, what's the
point? *If I want a part today, I'll just go to an indepent store that is
more likely to have it in stock.

wrote in message
...
Last night's "Special!" email from PerfBike tickled something in my
brain. Why are they so desperately seeking business that has to hit
the bank by February 11? Not exactly one of the traditional financial
deadlines. Are they having cash flow problems? Anyone here know the
inside skinny on Performance?

I have been buying from them online for a couple years. The Internet has
changed everything, and some businesses have been slow to focus on the new
consumer reality. My own buying habits have changed over the years, to the
point that I would rather buy online, than in brick and mortar retail
stores. I can find exactly what I need online. I will pay shipping if
necessary, and I often save sales tax, which here in Chicago is I think
8.25%, not a small amount on a large purchase.

There is a new PerfBike retail store in my area. Their bike mechanics are
OK. Their sales floor staff is mostly clueless, but I expect that from
retail stores these days. But they have leased a lot of footage.

The challenge for PerfBike, is to meld their online business, with their
retail stores. This is not a simple task. And they need to first figure out,
who their target customer is. I don't think they have a clear view of who
their target customer is, and how best to serve him.

All I need from a LBS is bike repair. Stores which devote a great deal of
floor space to showing and selling bikes, are doomed.

I

On Feb 9, 3:21 pm, "Jay" wrote:
The challenge for PerfBike, is to meld their online business, with their
retail stores. This is not a simple task....

They've made at least one good move on that front in the last few
months, offering free ship-to-store service (which I've found nice at
REI for a years now).

This helps alleviate the problem of the store not having the same
stuff the web site offers, as well as the shipping cost thing.

wrote in message
...
On Feb 9, 3:21 pm, "Jay" wrote:
The challenge for PerfBike, is to meld their online business, with their
retail stores. This is not a simple task....

They've made at least one good move on that front in the last few
months, offering free ship-to-store service (which I've found nice at
REI for a years now).

This helps alleviate the problem of the store not having the same
stuff the web site offers, as well as the shipping cost thing.

Yes, I have also used ship-to-store. I bought my Sidi shoes like that. They
need to do more of that kind of thing.

REI has also opened a new retail store in my area. I made a $100 purchase
at their grand opening, mostly OR stuff. It was raining that winter day, so
I had all my rain / cold weather bike gear on. The sales people knew right
away, I was not just browsing.

J.