I thought it would be a good time to provide a more in-depth update on how things are going, for those that want more then a catchy blurb or insta reel. The general bike industry, how we are doing and finally what we are up to at the moment.
Industry Doom or Boom?
Let's face it, it has been a continuation of bad news in the industry recently, and the pace has certainly not slowed down over the past 6 months. There have been some pretty massive casualties, notably Chain Reaction / Nukeproof & Kona Bicycles. Bike shops have been struggling all over the world and in NZ its no exception. Recently we saw the Torpedo 7 franchise being sold off for $1... how crazy is that to think? Then one of our more successful dealers, Capital Cycles, sadly went into liquidation. This store was an absolute cycling institution and one I have fond memories of going back in my youth. Its a real shame to be honest seeing all these great business's go bust.
The hard part to understand is that the sport its-self continues to boom. Talking with our dealers around the country, the word from the trails is only good. We hear of more tracks being built, more riders out riding all the time. We know the sport is here to stay, but it's clear some pretty major mistakes were made by some of the big players in the industry which then has caused this situation.
The word is some of the big brands in NZ are still sitting on years worth of stock. This stock appears to mostly be lower-mid end product. But it effects everything as these companies are desperate the re-coup funds and therefore put everything on sale, after sale, after sale.
My gut feeling is that we are going to see high end product become hard to find by the end of this year. Or at least there will be gaps in the sizes or models available due to brands not being able to re-order what's being sold off, while they continue to clear the models that haven't sold.
Our Situation
Last year we made the tough decision to let go of our one full time staff member, Mat Wright. He has gone on to do epic work behind the scenes at WORD and we are excited to partner with them on this epic bike raffle for a 160E. This has allowed us to minimise expenses and go into a bit of a cocoon to survive the hard times. My wife Roshni was appointed to a nutrition role at QE health in Rotorua (which she is loving) but this has also been very helpful to have one of us with a very stable income to show the bank! She still works as a private practice nutritionist, see her site here to see her fabulous website!
I have found my rhythm working on my own again now and feel like the service we provide has not reduced. I honestly feel like we offer exceptional service to our dealers and to every person that owns a Yeti or Open in NZ.
That said, we did have to let go of our demo tours, which is sad, as we have done for the previous ten years and I love travelling around and seeing everyone. I'v also been unable to stay on-top of all my marketing efforts, such as email newsletters, which again I'v been unable to do recently as I'm just too busy.
I am proud that I have managed to continue supporting our young riders through the Yeti NZ Racing program (see recent update from Europe here) and I am super determined to continue supporting the sport as much as I can going forward. We aim to have a new intake of riders this year (stay tuned for more on this soon).
Financially we are okay again and our stock levels are now close to where I want them, so that's pretty awesome, all things considered. I also need to thank Yeti, as they have been extremely supportive through all this, allowing us to only buy what we need and offering better pricing to help us move product.
We are Moving
Yes you heard it right. But not far this time :) We are so stoked with our move up here to Rotorua we are certainly not leaving this wonderful place. However we have finally found a really exciting new spot to run the business from.
The new space will incorporate warehousing, office, demo bike storage and setup space, showroom and importantly, a beautiful La Mazozocco coffee machine (still in dream stage)! The showroom itself is actually a collab with our local dealer Ride Rotorua. Our space is next door to them and we will open access for them to the showroom. This allows me to come and go and the showroom will always be accessible during normal working hours. Pretty exciting !!
To be clear, this new space won't change our sales model at all. We will continue to support buying through dealers as we feel this is the best for the end-user. But we will also offer the option of buying direct as we know some people prefer this option too. And while this showroom and demo fleet is semi-attached to our Rotorua dealer, its fully available for customers of any dealer or direct customers. We know its a bit of a different concept, so hopefully it will work well !
Demo / Hire Bikes
We recently refreshed our entire demo fleet. Despite being a little chaotic with all the building going on, I have been getting lots of people out riding the bikes recently. We are also about to refresh the software used to book them, but for now you can still do that here. So don't hesitate to book a demo or hire any time! We are also still selling a few of the old ex-demo bikes off as well, see here.
Okay, that's it for today... we'll keep doing what we do and hopefully if you are in the market for a new bike you will consider a Yeti !!
Cheers,
Kashi