Halfords scraps standalone Bike shops

[legrandefromage]

The majority of people I deal with dont want spend more than £50 on anything cycling related. They think I'm a loony

At Halfruads brought something of the premium brand to the masses. My local LBS panders to the lowest common denominator of stack it high sell it cheap.

 

[tintin40]

I brought good cycling shorts from them for £5

 

[BarneyRubble]

They aren't shutting the stores, they are just rebranding them Halfords and putting the usual range of car tat in there as well.

The majoirty of them are too small to be re branded into Halfords stores not to mention some also have high street locations wich is not in the Halfords bran plan going forward .

I think the closures will be pretty limited because they have a Tesco style "Metro" format for High St Stores....from their trading statement:

Cycling Strategy

Halfords has a core capability and market leading position in Cycling that is delivering market share growth. Within the premium sector, these gains primarily reflect the continued success of our Boardman brand and an ongoing programme of premium brand introductions within the Group's existing core superstores.

Halfords' pilot stand-alone cycle stores have been impacted by the increasing success of our superstores in the premium market segment and the migration of sales to the web, particularly for accessories.

Consequently, we no longer believe that the stand-alone concept will deliver the absolute levels of financial return demanded of Halfords' investments. Ranges currently only available in stand-alone stores are therefore being transferred to our superstore chain and Bikehut and Cycle Republic stores are being re-branded, where appropriate, to a full Halfords offer via the Metro format. Recognising Halfords disciplined investment in this pilot, the exceptional exit costs, including the closure of stores where necessary, total approximately £1.2m.

 

[JeRkY]

I have an old school friend who (i think) pretty much runs the cycle department in one of the Leeds Halfords. He can order pretty much anything I need, and indeed his particular store actually carries a fair bit of decent stock.

I have bought many a 5 arm Middleburn chainring from stock in his store.
I hope that isnt going to change!

That said my Local Halfords in oxfordshire is dire by comparison. They stock nothing of use and certainly have no premium goodies.

 

[Xesh]

I have an old school friend who (i think) pretty much runs the cycle department in one of the Leeds Halfords. He can order pretty much anything I need, and indeed his particular store actually carries a fair bit of decent stock.

I've got a friend that works in my local Halfords too. The funny thing with Halfords is that they can only order stuff that's listed on their computer (Sorry the computer says no! ). He can order Hope headsets and skewers but not headset spacers, etc. :?

It says it all though when he comes to the shop I work at to get his bike stuff. He told me we give him better prices than he gets at work! :shock:

He also gets any wheels built by us as well.

 

[Easy_Rider]

Didn't even know these sorts of Halfords bike shops existed until now