Rapha closes North American office

[72gmc]

I don't have any Rapha or a Gunnar. I've missed everything.

[mickey.d]

Originally Posted by EB

This is unfortunately a non-fact.

Benton County has the highest median household income among counties in Arkansas: $85,269.

It's not even close to Loudoun County, VA: $170,463

Originally Posted by shoota

Gag me. Have you been to Bentonville? It's pretty liberal for the midwest/south.

I mean, unless you want modern reproductive or gender affirming healthcare?
Good luck getting young people to move there.

[aaronffs]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Surely there's something else to do there other than riding bikes and going to church

Heard the sprinter van service scene is quite extensive

lmao

[shoota]

Originally Posted by mickey.d

I mean, unless you want modern reproductive or gender affirming healthcare?
Good luck getting young people to move there.

I'd argue they don't want to move there because it's expensive for the region.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by mickey.d

The Waltons force any brand they do business with to open an office in Bentonville.
Fun fact! 100 years ago the most millionaires per capita were in a small WV county where coal executives lived. Now it’s Benton County, AR.

You just making stuff up.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by EB

This is unfortunately a non-fact.

Benton County has the highest median household income among counties in Arkansas: $85,269.

It's not even close to Loudoun County, VA: $170,463

Since he specified "millionaires per capita", I figured it might be correct since I have no idea how many people live in Benton County. Maybe Benton has a very wide rich/poor gap, whereas Loudoun has NO gap because even the "poor" are pretty well off.

[EB]

Originally Posted by makoti

Since he specified "millionaires per capita", I figured it might be correct since I have no idea how many people live in Benton County. Maybe Benton has a very wide rich/poor gap, whereas Loudoun has NO gap because even the "poor" are pretty well off.

Medians are by definition resistant to issues of skewed distributions. You're thinking of means, which aren't usually used for measuring income as they are sensitive to distribution and can be misleading as a result.

[Kyle h]

Originally Posted by mickey.d

Colorado Springs- but after the Waltons installed the same person who helped them buy Rapha as the head of USAcycling they created a satellite office in Bentonville.

Isn’t said person a member here?

[spoonrobot]

Originally Posted by mickey.d

Colorado Springs- but after the Waltons installed the same person who helped them buy Rapha as the head of USAcycling they created a satellite office in Bentonville.

They have forced collegiate and jr cycling people and the Technical Director to move there. As you can imagine, people involved with collegiate cycling by and large don’t support the insane conservative culture war laboratory that is Arkansas. Now, being willing to live in Bentonville is a crucial test to whether or not you can continue advocating for american cycling. Vittoria lost their OEM sales manager for the same reason- they don’t want to risk raising their kids in Arkansas.

This is hilarious. Some people really live in a fantasy land of their own creation.

I gotta see if I can stack something in the cycling industry if jobs are this easy to give up.

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by .RJ

are the clubhouses staying open?

for me its been a shame that a lot of great products were redesigned and become worse for it - but Rapha has certainly forced other brands to step up their game.

AFAIK none of the clubhouses are closing, but of course that could change. Here in Los Angeles they just renewed their lease, despite the fact that the local retail environment has changed a lot and not for the better (Patagonia relocated, REI just closed, etc.) -- I know that's hardly news. They have tended to choose fairly high-rent locations, and I think that when lease renewals are coming up they take a hard look at the ROI equation. I was told, second hand, that this was the dynamic that led them to close Sydney a few years ago despite a strong local membership.

I too have been disappointed with a lot of the design work over the last couple of years, but the recent releases point to a return to their design roots. But I doubt that classic wool blend jerseys are a prescription for the growth they want.

Originally Posted by duff_duffy

My Facebook feed this morning had a link to big sale by them. Too good to be true, led to a scam site. Wonder how many people will see this story and think they are just getting a good deal and get ripped off.

I saw a similar ad on Instagram a while ago, link led to an obvious scam site (domain was something like raphadesign.life, had cribbed a bunch of content from rapha.cc). I reported the ad as a scam and a few days later Instagram rejected my complaint. Obviously they care more about the ad dollars than about their customers getting scammed. Again, not news.

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by mickey.d

Colorado Springs- but after the Waltons installed the same person who helped them buy Rapha as the head of USAcycling they created a satellite office in Bentonville.

They have forced collegiate and jr cycling people and the Technical Director to move there. As you can imagine, people involved with collegiate cycling by and large don’t support the insane conservative culture war laboratory that is Arkansas. Now, being willing to live in Bentonville is a crucial test to whether or not you can continue advocating for american cycling. Vittoria lost their OEM sales manager for the same reason- they don’t want to risk raising their kids in Arkansas.

Everyone weighs issues, concerns, and opportunities differently, so any move from one spot to another can be framed as potentially bad for some scenarios.
The move could have been to liberal leaning Chicago/Cook County and I could easily list off multiple reasons why the move is potentially negative for some people/situations.
...to be clesr- I grew up in Cook County, have family there, visit there multiple times a year, and love it.


There is definitely a culture war in Arkansas. It is eerily similar in timing and subject matters to what has been going on in my state for the last 5 years. The same national groups are influencing both State legislatures.
But just because there is a culture war doesnt mean Bentonville or NWAR are terrible places for liberal minded people to live.
Yes, if a specific law negatively impacts an individual or a family memver, then it may be in the emoloyee's best interests to live and work elsewhere. But for a lot of people, that region is a really solid mix for what they are looking for in life.

[Butch]

The thing that gets me is the price the Waltons paid for Rapha, $260,000,000 for a company doing ~$100,000,000 a year max. When the sale was made the price was some huge multiple of EBITDA.

As with so many companies in this industry, a buyer, from outside the bike industry, comes in and overestimates what a niche brand is worth and how much it can grow.

Is it just me but after Simon sold it there seemed to be constant sales to the point where I remember people saying they would "just wait till it goes on sale".

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by Butch

The thing that gets me is the price the Waltons paid for Rapha, $260,000,000 for a company doing ~$100,000,000 a year max. When the sale was made the price was some huge multiple of EBITDA.

As with so many companies in this industry, a buyer, from outside the bike industry, comes in and overestimates what a niche brand is worth and how much it can grow.

Is it just me but after Simon sold it there seemed to be constant sales to the point where I remember people saying they would "just wait till it goes on sale".

The heart wants what it wants ... and if it is a billionaire heart, well, price what it wants accordingly.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by EB

Medians are by definition resistant to issues of skewed distributions. You're thinking of means, which aren't usually used for measuring income as they are sensitive to distribution and can be misleading as a result.

We aren't talking either of those.
In this case, it's the # of millionaires per population. There's nothing to average or mean. 10 millionaires is the same as 10 billionaires, because the billionaires are millionaires, so they count the same.
If someplace has 7 millionaires, and 3 billionaires and 100 people in town, it has a higher # of millionaires per capita than someplace with 3 millionaires and 7 billionaires but 110 people. The latter has a higher average and mean, but a lower per capita.

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by makoti

We aren't talking either of those.
In this case, it's the # of millionaires per population. There's nothing to average or mean. 10 millionaires is the same as 10 billionaires, because the billionaires are millionaires, so they count the same.
If someplace has 7 millionaires, and 3 billionaires and 100 people in town, it has a higher # of millionaires per capita than someplace with 3 millionaires and 7 billionaires but 110 people. The latter has a higher average and mean, but a lower per capita.

What if in the first scenario, the 7 millionaires have $999,999,999 each, and the billionaires have $10,000,000,000 each. And in the 2nd group, the 3 millionaires have $1,000,001 each, and the 7 billionaires each have $1,000,000,001 ?