[Closed] Wiggle buying CRC?

from the article "like us they have a deap seated love of cycling persuading bored desk-bound men to part with their money on components they don't need just to relieve the tedium of office work"

FIFT

Damn that's me, looking at hubs, rims and spokes to see if wheelbuilding is a more suitable skill that being able to sit in an office chair attempting to look busy 🙁

[quote=chakaping ]

The move is dependent on clearance by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Wonder how much of a hurdle this will prove to be.

none, I'd have thought

Anyone remember visiting the Wiggle shop. 284 Hayling Avenue, Southsea?

Now a mobile phone shop.

Euro - Member
CRC is my LBS. I know several who work for CRC and hope they keep their jobs for their sake and also for mine (staff discount on 'own brand' stuff is very good and i'm trying to save for a new Nukeproof bike).

Same here. Last year I needed a couple of bb spacers and decided to try somewhere different and called down to Madigans. "Nah mate, we don't stock things like that, try CRC" they said. So I did. Asked the guy at the counter and he wandered off into the workshop, came back with five spacers and says "there you go". How much do I owe you? "don't worry about it".

They may get a bashing for putting other LBS's out of business but they still do a great job at the things you expect from a LBS rather than a multi million corporation.

Seems to be a done deal then, still a few things that are left out in the open:

- Hotlines Distribution part of the sale? and with them Nukeproof?
- Will they merge? If they do will that mean a CRC closure - I assume then it will be going to the midlands where Wiggles huge new warehouse is (drove past it the other day, its massive)

From a purely 'socio-economic' point of view CRC closing / moving would be a huge blow to their area - 500 jobs gone (or I assume close to that as key staff would move)

crc are the post offices biggest customer in Northern Ireland. Could be big knock on effects.

That's what I don't get about LBS.. Why say 'we don't stock that'? Just say you'll get one in, in 2 days and slap 10% on for the effort of ordering the' thing 'in?

mattyfez - Member

That's what I don't get about LBS.. Why say 'we don't stock that'? Just say you'll get one in, in 2 days and slap 10% on for the effort of ordering the' thing 'in?

Seriously? - That would mean you waiting a day longer (CRC - next day) than if you just ordered it online and paying much, much more (typica online discount of -30% plus this 'extra 10% for the effort as you put it)and having the trouble of returning to the shop to pick the item up - Would you purchase an item in the manner you are suggesting?

Not being horrible but I take it you dont own a shop / business?

If you don't stock it, shop round the internet for it. You'll find it cheap enough somewhere to make it worth ordering it in and still make a profit at rrp. And you'll have it in a day or two.

neil the wheel - Member

If you don't stock it, shop round the internet for it. You'll find it cheap enough somewhere to make it worth ordering it in and still make a profit at rrp. And you'll have it in a day or two.

I dont understand - Are you suggesting bike shop owners go online to shop around distributors for a single item, contact the supplier, setup a trade account, wait for the order and then supply and make a profit?

By the time all of that has happened the customers likely gone and ordered it online, or the shops made so little out of the item its not worth bothering with - Time is money.

Or are you suggesting a shop buys from an online retailer and attempts to add a mark-up?

It seems when we talk about bike shops many people forget the shop is there to make profit....think about how a profit can be turned from scavenging the internet to find single parts or suggesting people return in 2 days to pick their item up at a 10% price hike 'for the effort'

Anyway, this is all off topic of the CRC / Wiggle merger which is unlikely in any reality to have any further effect on the LBS model.

Duh, repost.

The LBS in its traditional form is doomed, only 'boutique' shops selling high end parts / builds and providing quality service will survive.

Having a good natter to the owner of my LBS on Saturday, the LBS isn't doomed unless Wiggle/CRC/Whatever they're called suss out how to do repairs and servicing via a broadband connection.

On the contrary - The online market had become so cut-throat that CRC operated on an average profit margin of 5%. You have to sell an awful lot of stuff every day to sustain that.

He reckons that having weathered the worst of it, the LBS's still going will be fine, as they work on more real world business model of margins higher than 5%.

Lets face it, there are now a lot more bikes out there, and as i constantly confirm: we all keep breaking stuff.

There will always be a demand for the LBS

There will always be a demand for the *good* LBS. Hopefully the CRC/Wiggle merger will drive a few more of the disinterested, incompetent, shit ones out of business.

There will always be a demand for the *good* LBS. Hopefully the CRC/Wiggle merger will drive a few more of the disinterested, incompetent, shit ones out of business.

I dunno, there's only so cheap you can sell stuff, I doubt the CRC/wiggle behemoth will be that much cheaper than they were individually. Especially when you think that Merlin/Parkers/Ribble/Evans are often even cheaper anyway. If you were already happy paying more at an LBS then this isn't going to change much, unless you lived under a rock and didn't know Wiggle/CRC existed and were only alerted to this fact by the recent news.

[url= http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/merger-to-create-global-champion-approved/019755 ]Merger approved[/url]