Bell/Fox Future?

Flatliner
Posts
4208
Joined
11/3/2009
Location
CA
10/16/2024 3:36pm

I still love my collection of fox hoodies.

 

We have a big fxr store here,  they also sold fox casual, oakley casual, maybe a few others.  They went to full fxr only and took a hit.

10/16/2024 3:55pm
TR72Moto wrote:
I worked for Moto-X-Fox (ya I'm old) from 79-83 and loved it, Geoff was very customer oriented and just a great person period. Example, I started...

I worked for Moto-X-Fox (ya I'm old) from 79-83 and loved it, Geoff was very customer oriented and just a great person period. Example, I started in the middle of October and was told by Geoff that in December he closed for the week of Christmas but paid everyone, I not starting until late October, would not get paid until the following year if I was still there. Surprise, he still paid me and as a 18 year old kid this was greatly appreciated ! Just good people working there, all rider/racers, and Fox (Factory, see I'm old) was the same, Bob gave me a set of Fox 44mm forks one time (there's a story to that one). But just great people, then the boys sold and .....................it's not been the same, bean counters, their clueless on this industry and it showed.........and continues.                                                                                                                                          A Couple of year later I went to work for Rocky (Tucker Rocky & Turn14 now) same thing, everyone rode motorcycles, they were enthusiast and knew what a counter shaft sprocket was ! Then they sold to a "corporation" and the rest is history as they say and that history is not so good !     Sad for me to see these once, family owned and run businesses, thriving, to suffer under the corporate umbrella of bean counters.

lumpy790 wrote:

I worked at the Tucker Rocky warehouse in Maryland in 1987 

Where was that? 

wrc777
Posts
3199
Joined
5/21/2020
Location
Greenwood, IN, USA
Fantasy
10/16/2024 7:07pm Edited Date/Time 10/16/2024 7:08pm

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Spooner
Posts
2446
Joined
1/8/2011
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
10/16/2024 7:14pm
wrc777 wrote:
Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped...

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Not quite true. WPS sold astars Mx gear the last 3(?) years but will not be selling it anymore. That’s how shops were able to easily get it. Now it’s just through astars direct to dealers and I’m assuming now there are buy ins which most shops won’t do. 

5

The Shop

10/16/2024 9:34pm
wrc777 wrote:
Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped...

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Do people really buy gear from dealers? Or mostly online now? What percentage online vs in-store you reckon?

1
TKLEVEN
Posts
450
Joined
12/27/2022
Location
Carrollton, GA, USA
10/16/2024 9:48pm
wrc777 wrote:
Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped...

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Do people really buy gear from dealers? Or mostly online now? What percentage online vs in-store you reckon?

dealers don’t have shit anymore. Its honestly sad. 

Only helmets ive seen recently at dealers are the cheap fox ones and LS2… 

Bars are even worse, i was looking for new bars the other week, i called all the local dealers around me and only 1 place had some. They were 29 dollar firepower bars… 

3
1
wrc777
Posts
3199
Joined
5/21/2020
Location
Greenwood, IN, USA
Fantasy
10/17/2024 5:00am
wrc777 wrote:
Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped...

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Do people really buy gear from dealers? Or mostly online now? What percentage online vs in-store you reckon?

I think it depends on whether you have a good dealer or not. I like to try it on before I buy. Most local shops don’t get access to close out deals though.

DropBear76
Posts
41
Joined
6/19/2023
Location
Oceanside, CA, USA
10/17/2024 9:25am
wrc777 wrote:
Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped...

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Do people really buy gear from dealers? Or mostly online now? What percentage online vs in-store you reckon?

I've tried to support local shops for moto and mtb. And most of the time they have to order parts/sizes and the shipping is slower than I can get. If I can be patient, I'll order local. 

There is also the element of people working in these local shops that just do not give a fuck about customer service anymore. Make me feel like an inconvenience because I have a question, and I'll never return.

SCIENCE
Posts
376
Joined
11/13/2006
Location
Chester Springs, PA, USA
10/17/2024 9:30am
TR72Moto wrote:
I worked for Moto-X-Fox (ya I'm old) from 79-83 and loved it, Geoff was very customer oriented and just a great person period. Example, I started...

I worked for Moto-X-Fox (ya I'm old) from 79-83 and loved it, Geoff was very customer oriented and just a great person period. Example, I started in the middle of October and was told by Geoff that in December he closed for the week of Christmas but paid everyone, I not starting until late October, would not get paid until the following year if I was still there. Surprise, he still paid me and as a 18 year old kid this was greatly appreciated ! Just good people working there, all rider/racers, and Fox (Factory, see I'm old) was the same, Bob gave me a set of Fox 44mm forks one time (there's a story to that one). But just great people, then the boys sold and .....................it's not been the same, bean counters, their clueless on this industry and it showed.........and continues.                                                                                                                                          A Couple of year later I went to work for Rocky (Tucker Rocky & Turn14 now) same thing, everyone rode motorcycles, they were enthusiast and knew what a counter shaft sprocket was ! Then they sold to a "corporation" and the rest is history as they say and that history is not so good !     Sad for me to see these once, family owned and run businesses, thriving, to suffer under the corporate umbrella of bean counters.

Thanks for sharing.  We are similar age and I concur.  Once the big investment groups get involved the soul, offering and ultimately sales decrease. I always ran Fox stuff up until early 2000's.  You couldn't give it to me now.  

Can't blame the family for getting out.  I find that Pete Fox's Renen to be solid stuff designed and made in US.  Also goo to hear Troy bought back TLD.  

1
10/17/2024 11:22am
wrc777 wrote:
Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped...

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Spooner wrote:
Not quite true. WPS sold astars Mx gear the last 3(?) years but will not be selling it anymore. That’s how shops were able to easily...

Not quite true. WPS sold astars Mx gear the last 3(?) years but will not be selling it anymore. That’s how shops were able to easily get it. Now it’s just through astars direct to dealers and I’m assuming now there are buy ins which most shops won’t do. 

I have spoken to Alpinestars about being an MX products dealer. And the minimum buy in was similar to other big gear brands that are not owned by a distributor.  Similar to the last time I looked into Fox,  or Klim.  

I'm a smaller shop and   I do close to that minimum in just the Alpinestars stuff I get from PU.  Pretty much helmets and boots with recently  some goggles , the occasional T shirt/hat/hoodie.  

To have a decent range of sizes and colors, the minimums really are the minimum that a shop should be buying if they expect to do well with the gear line.  I've started to learn what sizes to stock.  But its harder to guess on what colorways will be popular. If You walk into a shop that has one of every color, in every line the brand offers, and a good range of sizes  that shop will have over the minimum buy in in stock of just pant's and Jersey's Never mind getting into Helmets and boots.   

 

 I decided not to go forward with them at this point. Having the Warehouses close to me is an advantage for PU. And I would not want to shift my Alpinestars purchases direct and not have those warehouses that are a day or 2 away.  I would probably have to double or triple the minimum to have a solid assortment of the pants/Jerseys/Helmets/Boots .  I would love for Parts Unlimited to sell the MX gear in the US too. Like  Parts Canada and Parts Europe.  They have a few colorways of off road pant/jersey that look cool , in the 2025 Apparel catalog.   

1
10/17/2024 11:59am

I personally quit stocking big buy ins and wait until the clearance to put quantity on the wall. To the comment about dealers not having access to the closeouts, That is false. Any WPS or PU dealer has access to all closeouts, The trick is you have to comb that sale immediately or it gets smoked fast. To the comment on the $29 dollar bars. I personally have started stocking firepower and ODI because I haven't been able to get all of what I need from Renthal. I've certain colors and bends on backorder for months. What I do for my motoheads. If they want to check something out, I'll just order a set for them and if they don't like it, I put it on the wall. Most dealers will work with you, We're just tired of the business model of having 5G's worth of bullshit leftover at the end of the season.

5
10/17/2024 12:01pm
wrc777 wrote:
Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped...

Astars is in the middle of scoring an own goal now. They jacked up their minimum order for gear so high all the local dealers dropped them.  They were all carrying the gear the last couple of years. 

Do people really buy gear from dealers? Or mostly online now? What percentage online vs in-store you reckon?

wrc777 wrote:
I think it depends on whether you have a good dealer or not. I like to try it on before I buy. Most local shops don’t...

I think it depends on whether you have a good dealer or not. I like to try it on before I buy. Most local shops don’t get access to close out deals though.

Closeout prices can sometimes be for less than those big places bought the items for.   If they get down to a handful of that item left they already made money on the rest of it, so they may sell it at a loss if You only look at the per item cost and not the total items sold.    A smaller local dealer will have paid a little more for the item to begin with, and  also not have sold the volume that would allow them to take the hit on a hand full of items like a big online shop. 

 

 All the distributors I deal with offer closeout prices to their dealers . Some will offer them on their website for any dealer to find. And sometimes they will email out the offers out that have to be ordered in a certain way .      

 

1
10/17/2024 12:16pm

As someone who works in a shop, i think this is great. Bell has had distribution issues for the last year and now the Fox rep is handling everything Bell as well and now our shop is well stocked with both brands

3
steveloyer
Posts
289
Joined
11/29/2022
Location
Palmer, AK, USA
10/17/2024 12:47pm
kage173 wrote:
That explains why Fox is declining so quickly. 2 new owners within 2 years is awful. My 11 year old son the other day told me...

That explains why Fox is declining so quickly. 2 new owners within 2 years is awful. My 11 year old son the other day told me he would never wear Fox because that's what old guys wear. Having grown up in the 80s &90s I couldn't believe my ears. But he's right. Nobody under 20 wears Fox. 

I'l  bet it sucks to be working there. Private equity guys usually aren't worried about a pleasant working environment. They'll load the company up with debt, cut the headcount to only the essentials, and work everyone to the bone to keep up with the new debt payments. Private equity is usually where brands go to die.

I have notice a steady increase in my generation and we were the ones calling it old and gross an in the 2000s and what posers wear.

wrc777
Posts
3199
Joined
5/21/2020
Location
Greenwood, IN, USA
Fantasy
10/17/2024 3:55pm

Do people really buy gear from dealers? Or mostly online now? What percentage online vs in-store you reckon?

wrc777 wrote:
I think it depends on whether you have a good dealer or not. I like to try it on before I buy. Most local shops don’t...

I think it depends on whether you have a good dealer or not. I like to try it on before I buy. Most local shops don’t get access to close out deals though.

Closeout prices can sometimes be for less than those big places bought the items for.   If they get down to a handful of that item...

Closeout prices can sometimes be for less than those big places bought the items for.   If they get down to a handful of that item left they already made money on the rest of it, so they may sell it at a loss if You only look at the per item cost and not the total items sold.    A smaller local dealer will have paid a little more for the item to begin with, and  also not have sold the volume that would allow them to take the hit on a hand full of items like a big online shop. 

 

 All the distributors I deal with offer closeout prices to their dealers . Some will offer them on their website for any dealer to find. And sometimes they will email out the offers out that have to be ordered in a certain way .      

 

My dealer told me the distributor close outs usually go fast. I did get an Astars gear set for super cheap from my local because the distributor was blowing them out cheap. 

10/17/2024 4:36pm
wrc777 wrote:
I think it depends on whether you have a good dealer or not. I like to try it on before I buy. Most local shops don’t...

I think it depends on whether you have a good dealer or not. I like to try it on before I buy. Most local shops don’t get access to close out deals though.

Closeout prices can sometimes be for less than those big places bought the items for.   If they get down to a handful of that item...

Closeout prices can sometimes be for less than those big places bought the items for.   If they get down to a handful of that item left they already made money on the rest of it, so they may sell it at a loss if You only look at the per item cost and not the total items sold.    A smaller local dealer will have paid a little more for the item to begin with, and  also not have sold the volume that would allow them to take the hit on a hand full of items like a big online shop. 

 

 All the distributors I deal with offer closeout prices to their dealers . Some will offer them on their website for any dealer to find. And sometimes they will email out the offers out that have to be ordered in a certain way .      

 

wrc777 wrote:
My dealer told me the distributor close outs usually go fast. I did get an Astars gear set for super cheap from my local because the...

My dealer told me the distributor close outs usually go fast. I did get an Astars gear set for super cheap from my local because the distributor was blowing them out cheap. 

They can go fast.    If  You are not looking for them and wait for an email or catalog to show up with them in it than You will miss out on a lot of them..  But if You are proactive and or let Your reps know that is the type of thing You would like to know about when there are deals on stuff they can reach out and give You a heads up . 

 If Your dealer is old school and not using the websites, calling all Your orders in , not on the sites hunting for deals, than its easier to miss out on stuff.  I comb through the closeouts almost on a daily basis , and  read the emails and online flyers put out by distributors.     

The Fast Guy
Posts
81
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Califon, NJ, USA
10/17/2024 8:06pm

There are only 2 true core brands left in moto gear.....Oneal and Troy Lee Designs! Both OG owned and no matter what, never lost sight of where they came from. Even when TLD was owned by a VC company they remained true to the core of the brand! IMO, Fox and Bell both lost sight of that a long time ago.....

2
Herr Lich
Posts
2568
Joined
7/11/2023
Location
Sydney, NSW, AU
10/17/2024 8:29pm

It's not what you wear it's how you ride. 

10/22/2024 5:57pm
There are only 2 true core brands left in moto gear.....Oneal and Troy Lee Designs! Both OG owned and no matter what, never lost sight of...

There are only 2 true core brands left in moto gear.....Oneal and Troy Lee Designs! Both OG owned and no matter what, never lost sight of where they came from. Even when TLD was owned by a VC company they remained true to the core of the brand! IMO, Fox and Bell both lost sight of that a long time ago.....

For the record, TLD was never owned by a VC company-that is venture capital. TLD had a minority stake via a private equity firm called SBJ partners from 2016-2022. Troy Lee was still majority owner. And, 2RIDE (also PE and was a holding company within Eurazeo PE) was who acquired TLD in 2022 and bought out SBJ and most but not all of Troy's shares, that lasted about 2 years as you know until this recent episode.

All of this is public info, but big difference between VC and PE.

The Fast Guy
Posts
81
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Califon, NJ, USA
10/22/2024 7:46pm
There are only 2 true core brands left in moto gear.....Oneal and Troy Lee Designs! Both OG owned and no matter what, never lost sight of...

There are only 2 true core brands left in moto gear.....Oneal and Troy Lee Designs! Both OG owned and no matter what, never lost sight of where they came from. Even when TLD was owned by a VC company they remained true to the core of the brand! IMO, Fox and Bell both lost sight of that a long time ago.....

For the record, TLD was never owned by a VC company-that is venture capital. TLD had a minority stake via a private equity firm called SBJ...

For the record, TLD was never owned by a VC company-that is venture capital. TLD had a minority stake via a private equity firm called SBJ partners from 2016-2022. Troy Lee was still majority owner. And, 2RIDE (also PE and was a holding company within Eurazeo PE) was who acquired TLD in 2022 and bought out SBJ and most but not all of Troy's shares, that lasted about 2 years as you know until this recent episode.

All of this is public info, but big difference between VC and PE.

Couldn't think of the correct term and VC came to mind. Thanks for clarifying.... My point was that Troy and Jim Oneal are really the only brand owners that never lost sight of the vision or forgot what got there there..... 

 

Post a reply to: Bell/Fox Future?

The Latest