Presca closing online store as discounting pressures weigh heavy

Presca, a producer of sustainably made cycle clothing, is to close its online business citing well-known industry headwinds that have caused a spiral of discounting in the bike trade.

Presca CEO and Head of Climate Positivity, Rob Webbon, wrote to LinkedIn that the business had in fact doubled its revenue in the last 24 months and in the past year doubled the size of its customer community.

Despite that, Presca’s competition looks to have proved the tight spot in getting to sustained profitability; where other brands have been clearing warehouses in volume with significant sales it has been difficult to compete.

Rob wrote: “Everyone stocked up heavily when supply chains eased post-pandemic. At the same time consumer confidence has fallen with the constant media stories about energy crisis, cost of living crisis etc. All our competitors have been running massive sales to clear their warehouses and to be frank it’s been very difficult to compete against that.”

The clothing brand’s online wind down has been met with a chorus of praise for the work the brand was doing on sustainability in manufacturing and supply. Rob and Creative Director Lily had both contributed educational articles here on CyclingIndustry.news explaining how the cycle clothing industry could clean up, use more recyclable materials and improve its manufacturing practices.

Rob added on his social post: “For now we’re looking at the future of the amazing brand we’ve built. We will continue to fulfil all our teamwear commitments. In line with the ethics of everything we’ve built no-one will be left high and dry.”

The business will now wind down the online presence toward a closing date of March 20th. Significant discounts are available on all men’s and women’s lines.