Posts
8677
Joined
3/12/2011
Location
Fort Worth, TX
US
Edited Date/Time
2/13/2015 1:12pm
Just curious. There used to be 2 Yamaha shops within 10 minutes of Fort Worth. Both have closed their doors in the past couple of years. The closest dealer is now about 30-45 minutes away which is odd considering I'm in a major metropolitan area. Is it just this area that they're closing up shop or is it more of a nation wide thing? And are other brands struggling? I'm not just speaking about MX only but the motorcycle/UTV/ATV sales as a whole. I get that there isn't much of a margin in MX sales.
Now if you couple that with who the comsumer is. Most riders feel entitled to the "I ride a motorcycle" discount, and then they do the "I can buy it at acmebikeparts.com for $XX.XX. You need to beat that or I'm out of here." Powersports customers are rarely loyal to their shop. It's unfortunate. It all ties back to why shops don't "sponsor" riders with bikes and parts deals any more. There's no return. You used to see fast guys and want to at least check out a shop assuming they had it together. Not these days, a few clicks and its delivered in a few days at a price a local shop can't touch.
And let's toss the economy in. Yes, it's coming back. But it tanked. And it scared a lot of people with discretionary income (motorcycles aren't vital to everyone). People who used to buy two bikes a year to race on are now on one bike for two or three years.
The loss of local shops can be blamed on ourselves. Our quest to put price over service. Our lack of loyalty. And our lack of understanding how a business really works.
It's a sad cycle. Hopefully it comes back.
Shane
The Shop
Even though, I prefer going to the lil shop up the street in my town. Eric and his wife are good people and I prefer to support the lil shop over the cash cow that is a powersports powerhouse.
Brands Kicking ass are
KTM, Husky, Harley, BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Victory, BRP(ski doo, sea doo, Can Am) Polaris.
Brands not doing too bad
Honda, Kawi
Brands not selling well.
Yamaha, Suzuki.
The brands kicking ass are brands that are make something that is a bit different than the comp(Europe/Domestic, the brands that all make the same shit with different labeling are falling behind(Japanese).
Pit Row
I have a thought as to why. If you have a chance, stop by a department store on Saturday. It doesn't have to be Wal Mart, but that will be fine. Sit out front, on the bench, and watch people go by. Give it 15 minutes. After you do, answer this question...
How many are small enough to actually fit on a motorcycle? OK, so there goes half the population.
The good news is this. As the sport gets smaller, its very nice for those of us that participate. Most buy into the "grow the sport" nonsense just because we HAVE to have EVERYONE doing "IT" to feel good about ourselves. Be secure in your own choices.
True, we not see as many new bikes, or as many innovations. We might lose a magazine , or two. We might even lose a brand. So what?
We also lose crowded tracks, and crowded riding areas. We lose government involvement due to the number of accidents. Noise complaints. The list goes on. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
Unless you work for a motorcycle company, you have .as much to lose, or more, than you'll gain if every family has a motorcycle.
Go back to 2006 and think about how the super fast motorcycles were under fire. As sales fell, that issue disappeared. Meanwhile, BMW slid in a 200hp superbike that will come close to 200mph in bone stock trim. Back in 06, our local track cam e close to getting shut down for noise and dust issues. Our governor rode there, at the time, and thats half the reason wit stayed open. As fewer used the facility, that issue went away.
And poor old Suzuki...they are dying. Between Jan to sept 2014, they only managed to produce 76,000 machines over 50'cc. during the same time, Yamaha made 150,000. If they work up tomorrow and their sales were like KTM's, you'd have a bunch of Japanese guys killing themselves.
The benefit of paying more for your boots at the shop is that we have them in stock. You can try before you buy so you aren't shipping the wrong size back and forth (I had to go up a size when I wore SG12's). And if you have a warranty, we can probably make it right quickly. Instead, you come in and try on the boots we've paid to stock and go order online. You've taken advantage of our stock, and not provided anything in return. It happens frequently and is frustrating.
People assume we must pay about $250-275 for a pair of SG12's and are trying to double our money when we sell them. The other assumption is we are greedy when we can't discount as deep as an online retailer. Truth is, we only make about 35 percentage points if we sell at full price. Less as we discount it to a customer.
When comparing a retail shop to an online shop, they're really two different business models. If you do a warehouse style business (online), you could accomplish with one employee what we do with about three in the shop. That alone is a much cheaper alternative for business. Second is that warehouse space is cheaper and easier to maintain than retail store front. There aren't any displays, people at the counter, etc. Just a dude, a phone and computer and a bunch of parts. Most orders come online without customer interaction. Print. Pull. Ship. Makes it easier to get off of trying to make a profit margin to keep the shop open.
Shops can sell on discount and volume. But it's not a sustainable business model for a brick and mortar establishment. You train your customers to always buy the least expensive item.
I know there's other guys here who work at shops. I'd love to hear their thoughts.
Shane
It's already an expensive sport and more so if I have to pay retail. I don't even care if they stock the parts as long as they would order them and price match the online guys. Either way I'm gonna have to wait a few days to get my goods so I don't care where I get them. When I ask for a little discount off of retail they act like I just fucked their wife in the restroom. To hell with them, if they're so strict with the pricing that I can't afford to buy from them then I apparently don't need them around.
Adapt or die, small guy. I'd rather make $10 off of 11 guys who might be back next week rather than $100 off of one guy who won't be back for a year.
I know HJC helmets are pretty much the same price, online, as they are in the shops. I'd deal in the brands that price fix. Like the Akrapovic exhausts..same price online as as a dealer. Why reward Gaerne by letting them use your store, and your money, as a sizing chart? The company set the rules in a way that you cant compete, so why do it? You wont really lose the sg12 sale as you never had it in the first place.
I try to spend all my money at my local shop and gather their blessing before they can't beat something. Most of the time if it's within 35-50 bucks for a large purchase I'll buy it from the shop.
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