Performance Bike (ASE) Files Chapter 11

[NewDFWrider]

Doing regular retail (versus high-end retail) just sucks. The barriers of entry are too low and suppliers like Shimano really hurt distributors by letting grey market stuff flow so easily.

I'd like to see retailers start emphasizing their knowledge about the product (it's bad when I know more than them, and I know little) and start highlighting the skills of their mechanics. As I said to explained to one mechanic/bike shop owner recently: I'm coming to you because I know you're not going to get a 17-year old to build up my bike and fix my problems.

[cnighbor1]

The parent company of Performance Bike just filed for bankruptcy 104 stores
I wondered why I was getting emails from them with such big discounts
Is the day of the do it yourself male gone? If one buys say a rear derailleur one needs to know how to install it etc . Therefore stores
like performance have a hard time selling items like that
agree?

[dbnm]

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=230596

[benb]

The article makes it sound like it's the expansion into retail locations that is the issue?

So they grew up on mail order and online and put a lot of LBSes out of business and then decided to open their own bike shops right as all the online competitors started popping up. That was some real foresight by management.

I forget where but the only time I've ever been in a Performance store was somewhere on vacation.. I don't know that we have any in my area of New England.. there are too many top quality local/privately owned shops with too much history I think.

Now the Trek/Specialized dealers.. they're kind of turning into something a lot like a Performance store, but there are still plenty of local dealers that are way way more interesting.

[William]

Originally Posted by bthornt

They have a store in Jacksonville. I went in with a friend who was looking for a low end bike. The saleperson tried to sell her a bike with Shimano 105, and kept telling her that "its what the pros use."

My response:
Well, I don't need to ride with what the pros use so just put that lowly Dura Ace on instead and lower the price.





William

[MikeD]

Well, that sucks. Add that to Art's Cyclery and Niagara Cycles that also went out of business. Wonder what's going on, it's not like the economy isn't good and people aren't buying bike stuff because of that?

Chapter 11 doesn't mean they are going out of business. Chapter 7 does mean that.

[William]

Both threads on this topic merged...




William

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Well, that sucks. Add that to Art's Cyclery and Niagara Cycles that also went out of business. Wonder what's going on, it's not like the economy isn't good and people aren't buying bike stuff because of that?

Chapter 11 doesn't mean they are going out of business. Chapter 7 does mean that.

I never had any trouble on any of the many orders I made from Performance or Nashbar.

On the other hand, I only ordered twice from Niagara Cycle. The second time, my order went very wrong, and customer service was unhelpful, to say the least.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Well, that sucks. Add that to Art's Cyclery and Niagara Cycles that also went out of business. .

wow, i didnt know that.

i had ordered lots of stuff from arts over the years. that's a shame.

[ultraman6970]

Niagara was ok but started going south little by little.

As for performance, online I got a couple of things and all went ok, in the stores well... they never had what I needed so why to go there?

Many of us, we are in a niche so specific of parts and clothing (i do not have rapha stuff btw) that is hard to even find what we need at performance.

[kophinos]

I don't believe Art's went out of business, I believe they just ceased to do online sales. I could be wrong.

[MattTuck]

Originally Posted by benb

The article makes it sound like it's the expansion into retail locations that is the issue?

I interpreted it as, the distributor was doing ok, but performance was not doing ok, and owed the distributor so much money, and was such a big part of their business, that if performance folded, so would the distributor. So, the distributor said, well, let's just acquire performance and save ourselves from immediate failure.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by kophinos

I don't believe Art's went out of business, I believe they just ceased to do online sales. I could be wrong.

Apparently the store will survive as an LBS.


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[unterhausen]

Niagra would accumulate orders to QBP and then ship them to you when they got your part in. So they were very slow. I need something from QBP and I can get it from my LBS cheaper and more quickly than they ever were. Their model worked at one time, but it was doomed to fail.

I went into a performance shop once, it was lifeless, so I left fairly quickly. It blows me away that Trek and Spesh looked at that as what they wanted for their stores, just not worth going into a shop like that at all.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by bthornt

They have a store in Jacksonville. I went in with a friend who was looking for a low end bike. The saleperson tried to sell her a bike with Shimano 105, and kept telling her that "its what the pros use."

Totally OT, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that's what some of the pro women's teams use. But that's because women's racing tends to be hugely underfunded, and they often have to use whatever they are given.