The world’s biggest cycle retailer heads to administration, says reports

In news that will probably not surprise those following the recent trials of SIGNA Sports, it’s now being reported that one of the world’s biggest cycle retailers is heading into administration, with WiggleCRC entering self-administration. Cycling Electric quotes well-placed sources for its scoop.

UPDATE: Via a post on LinkedIn, it has been confirmed that SIGNA Sports United North America bike division has been forced to cease operations, said CEO Bike, Hap Seliga. He explained that despite “exceeding our top and bottom line FY23 goals” the shock move – immediately following the termination of the equity commitment – sees the division disbanded.

Rumours about the future of the online giant have been pervading trade-only forums and chat groups, heightened after this week’s revelation that SIGNA Sport major shareholder SIGNA Holding was terminating its €150 million facility for SIGNA Sports. That move came at a bad time for SIGNA Sports, which is already restructuring to deal with “severe liquidity and profitability challenges” while also delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

SIGNA Sports’ portfolio is far broader than WiggleCRC, though inevitably attention will be drawn to the UK-based online retailer which has been hoovering up a huge share of the cycle market since it merged in 2016 and also didn’t do too badly as separate businesses Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles previous to that.

While Wiggle has not had an easy run this year, its rebrand was not universally well received (we’ve a deep analysis of this here), the reported fate of this huge cycle industry player owes a lot to the current state of the market, which remains severely overstocked as the trade moves into ‘off-season’ and consumers continue to cautiously watch their disposable income.

The wider picture is that retail has undergone a vast shift in the UK in the last two decades, which is understating it hugely. Household names have withered and all but disappeared, like Woolworths, Wilkos, Toys R Us, Mothercare, Dorothy Perkins and many more. While the bike trade may not readily acknowledge it, the cycle retail market has seemed relatively robust when viewed in this wider context.

Evans Cycles had a rocky time circa 2018, but since Frasers Group take over things look decidedly more rosy for the retailer. Cycling may now make up just 25% of Halfords’ business, but it remains a well known cycle hub and that seems unlikely to change. In recent times, we’ve seen bike brands move to buy or support mid-sized cycle retailers like and Balfe’s Bikes. Meanwhile Frasers Group has also stepped in with the likes of ProBikeKit. Cycle Surgery is probably one of the bigger cycle casualties on the high street of the past decade and more recently, Velorution shut its doors for the last time as the cycle market’s woes became more acute. And now one of the UK’s (and world’s) best known bike retailers is in severe financial straits and – reportedly – heading to self-administration.

Can the cycle industry feel lucky that it has (mostly) avoided high profile retail closures, like those seen across the rest of the high street? That’s one to debate. But it’s probably less debateable that cycle retail is not wholly immune to shifts in shopping behaviour. Should WiggleCRC’s days be numbered – and we hope not for the sake of staff at the very least – the impact on the wider market may be keenly felt.

NB – Hundreds of independent bike retailers have of course sadly shut in the last two decades, though it’s debateable how many and how many new independent bike shops have opened in turn.