Peak Cyclesport talks moving toward the masses on the High Street
Peak Cyclesport completed its relocation from a secondary location in Macclesfield to a prime location new store in town centre Macclesfield earlier this year. We caught up with owner Andy Bowers to find out what trends prompted the move…
If you’re headed for Peak Cyclesport there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the shop’s reputation for pairing people to performance cycles, often bespoke built for a customer along with a professional bike fit. Yet earlier this year, having supplied a local grocer with a cargo bike and also signed off on a move into Macclesfield signs were emerging that a repositioning was underway to broaden the retailer’s scope.
The move was driven by two main factors. The former location had grown over the last ten years, starting life as a small corner unit in a large mill but then knocking through into an adjoining unit to create nearly 4,000 square feet of space. While characterful, the format wasn’t ideal in terms of car parking, sight lines and workflow. The new unit has 2,000 square feet of rectangular showroom, 800 square feet of workshop, 1,000 square feet of stockroom and dedicated onsite parking. “It’s much better for customers and staff,” says Andy.
But the real game changer was how retail rents have changed in recent years. It simply wouldn’t have been possible to secure a prime location next to Specsavers, Boots, TK Maxx, Clarks and The Entertainer a few years ago. After some protracted negotiations, Andy was actually able to reduce costs by a sizeable amount.
While there were some operational difficulties to overcome in the move, worsened by Covid, such as being without a phone line for six weeks, the benefits are now really starting to flow.
“The move has opened up dialogues with a number of partner suppliers too. With a population of eight million within an hour’s drive of the Macclesfield store, the location offers great click and collect possibilities and to drive footfall to a well-appointed and positioned showroom,” he says.
We asked Andy if this is the precursor of becoming a single brand partner plus type store. “Possibly”, said Andy, “but more likely it might lead to a couple of deeper shop-in-shop brand relationships, rather than the 8-10 brands we’ve historically carried. Some of the more enlightened manufacturers are now looking at fewer, but better retail locations. This promotes ease of B2B and admin service, plus it gives travelling customers a better retail experience”.
Trending just as heavily in the North, where the topography further merits the need for a little assistance, where do electric bikes fit?
Peak Cyclesport is continuing to sell both non-electric and electric at the new store, but having a service deck accessed by a ten percent gradient ramp gives customers a real demo bike experience. “It’s not too far from the truth that by the time customers get to the top of the ramp their grin is so wide that they are sold,” explains Andy.
As any indie retailer will appreciate, it’s not all plain sailing. While bricks and mortar costs have fallen, advertising and paid for digital cost remains high to keep the presence of the business in the consumer’s mind.
Would the latter therefore be better spread across a number of similar locations, if they could be found? “We were approached by an investor to roll out the format to ten locations across the UK, but we weren’t ready at the time,” commented Andy. “We’re probably at the crossroads of where we will go; either to use the success of the new location to replicate in other geographic areas or to partner with an investor, or even existing market operator.”
With JD recently announcing the acquisition of Wheelbase, it’s a model that’s becoming more common across bike retail.
“It’s clear that there is a drive towards consolidation, with widespread anecdotal evidence of suppliers culling smaller accounts in favour of partner stores,” concludes Andy. “The internet channel has changed consumer buying patterns and it’s no coincidence that the new store is focussed on bikes, bike fit, handover and post purchase service rather than, necessarily, clothing, parts and the myriad of product sectors that are now mainly internet.”
