Evans Cycles Struggling!

[Agis]

yellowjack said:

They've also got an online store, and a big warehouse. I can't see how they're doing worse than online-only outfits beyond the costs of running their stores, so in the end it's down to customers voting with their feet really. We all want internet prices in proper shops. I'm as hypocritical about this as anyone else too. I realise there are extra costs involved in running a physical store over and above the cost of goods, but I want other people to pay the extra while I get the price-match treatment. Local independents struggle too, and we'll only realise what we're missing when we've lost it. It's not like you can just "nip into Wiggle" on the way home and have them help you out with a loose crank arm or a missing chainring bolt on the spot and for pennies...

This.....we are all guilty of it!

[ecs]

Potentially explains why they aren't able to speak to Lezyne about a warranty claim I've got - unpaid accounts? Either way, Evans said they'd replace my lights from their own stock but I haven't heard from them about it for a while.

[opieoilman]

I looked at a few of their £1000-1500 FS MTBs earlier in the year and there seemed to be a lot of stock problems. I ended up buying online elsewhere. A friend had the same problem, they were talking about a 3 month wait to get the bike in. Our local shops had very little in that price range, so was a case of buying online from somewhere, but Evans lost sales due to not having the stock. I've bought things like pumps off them with no issues at all (all online, the nearest shop is over an hour away).

[Tempest_5]

I've always liked Evans, there was one in Kingston back in the eighties before they got big. I was a student and the bike was my main mode of transport, as it was for most students then. I got my spares from there.

I've had two bikes from their on the cycle to work scheme over the last nine years and the branch nearest to my work is friendly and helpful. Unfortunately I don't tend to buy much else there as I can get similar bits such as puncture repair kits, lights, clothing etc half the price in Decathalon or my local Tesco.
I can't justify £70 for a pair of mountain biking shorts compared to a pair for £20 from Decathalon when I have three children and a Land rover to feed. I struggle to understand how others can afford this stuff as well. Maybe if they had the equivalent of a supermarket "essentials" brand that would help with turnover.

I'll be sad to see it go, if it does.

[lufbramatt]

Looks like Halfords might have stepped in to save them

[alolympic]

According to the coverage in some of the press, sales have actually seen growth, even though they have posted losses.
So, a combination of;
- high operational costs
- rising cost of goods, combined with low value of sterling
- fierce price competition, its all very well price matching but if you have higher operational costs your margin rate could be virtually nothing
Probably obvious as they are the pillars of a retail business, but I thought interesting that their problems aren’t specifically down to dwindling sales.

[bakerstreet]

alolympic said:

According to the coverage in some of the press, sales have actually seen growth, even though they have posted losses.
So, a combination of;
- high operational costs
- rising cost of goods, combined with low value of sterling
- fierce price competition, its all very well price matching but if you have higher operational costs your margin rate could be virtually nothing
Probably obvious as they are the pillars of a retail business, but I thought interesting that their problems aren’t specifically down to dwindling sales.

Price match is all well and good, but you have to get people into the shop first otherwise the price match isn't worth anything. Evans have been on the back foot for a while. Going up one of the biggest online retailers (Wiggle) is a big ask.

I don't really have the time or the inclination to walk into shops and start asking about price matching on a tiny items. I'd rather just get a decent price straight away and its delivered right to my desk. I watched someone try and get price match on a Shimano cassette in a Evans store. It really was a clusterf$&k of a process. May have just been that store though.

[anonymous-user]

Evans

2016 £135.839m sales £48.968m gross profit (36.04%) stock £25.688m

2017 £138.295m sles £51.120m gross profit (36.96%) stock £28.202m

Wiggle

2016 £178.069m sales £34.067m gross profit (19.13%) stock £27.079m

2017 £205.478m sales £36.442m gross profit (17.74%) stock £27.272m


Both reported pre tax losses in both years

[Max5476]

Although I have always found them very helpful, I'm not helping Evans, I have bought my last two bikes from them, but where one was 3 months ago, the one before was 10 years before that! I definitely got my moneys worth on it by running it completely into the ground.

To be fair I just don't spend much money on cycling, so I'm not helping the competitors either.

[loudlashadjuster]

Always found it hard to understand why Evans didn't focus more on the 'fit' kind of items that don't match well with online only sellers. You know, shoes, saddles, jerseys etc., even basic bike fits.

Shoes in particular are such a personal fit and they could really push a dedicated fitting service, but sadly when I was looking for a new pair my then-local Taplow store only had about a third of their online range, and then only in certain sizes and at prices that made the option of ordering three pairs and sending back the wrong sizes from a Wiggle etc. seem like the best option.

[russy01]

JPJPJP said:

Evans

2016 £135.839m sales £48.968m gross profit (36.04%) stock £25.688m

2017 £138.295m sles £51.120m gross profit (36.96%) stock £28.202m

Wiggle

2016 £178.069m sales £34.067m gross profit (19.13%) stock £27.079m

2017 £205.478m sales £36.442m gross profit (17.74%) stock £27.272m


Both reported pre tax losses in both years

Think there is more to it with wiggle? Where is crc in all that, has wiggle taken the merger costs and the money has been made through crc?

[anonymous-user]

russy01 said:

Think there is more to it with wiggle? Where is crc in all that, has wiggle taken the merger costs and the money has been made through crc?

The parent is mapil topco

For 2017 it reported sales £282.9m gross profit £80.4m operating profit £7.3m loss before tax £32.7m

Will be interesting to see the next results, especially given stuff like this

https://www.bikebiz.com/landscape/meltdown-at-chai...

[yellowjack]

lufbramatt said:

Looks like Halfords might have stepped in to save them

Reading something in a copy of The Times (I think) that someone had left on the train last night.

I didn't know it before, but apparently Halfords own 3 Tredz stores, and a bunch of Cycle Republic stores. Their share price took a knock recently after they announced they were to invest into a load more garage/MOT centres, and more specialist bike stores, specifically a large increase in the number of Cycle Republics.

I wished I'd kept the paper now, or at least torn the article out, just to get the details right, as what I've said above is just what I remembered from it.

[anonymous-user]

Yes, Halfords bought tredz and wheelies back in May (iirc) 2016

Cycle republic is a brand Halfords has used for some part of its bike business for a while now. It was all closed in about 2009 and then started to be used again around 2014

[anonymous-user]

Evans pre pack administration, bought by sports direct

https://twitter.com/skynewsbreak/status/1057300123...

"Half" the shops are closing it says

https://news.sky.com/story/hundreds-of-jobs-threat...

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 30th October 16:56

[Scabutz]

Never been that impressed with Evans. They have loads of stuff available on their website when when you check local store stock the store never has. The prices aren't that competitive and the staff are no more experts than in any other bike shop.

Only relates to one store but their Milton Keynes store is int he wrong place. They are in the Xscape building which is an arse to get into and park (which you have to pay for also) if you just want to go there for that. The LBSs and Halfords / Trek / Decathlon / Go Outdoors are all in out of town centre retail parks and easier to get to (although the Halfords . Decathlon car park can be a bit of a git).

[anonymous-user]

Already some interesting items on sports direct website

There were some zipp wheels, but they seem to be gone

These are still in stock though

https://www.sportsdirect.com/shimano-9000-whlset-c...

[neilr]

Companies reveal how worthy they are of you business not by how well they take your money or how they might be slightly cheaper but by how they deal with you when things go wrong.

Evans are woeful in this respect, ive learn that on 3 occasions personally when having to return faulty purchases. Utterly obstructive on each occasion and it turns out their warrantee claims are dealt with by a third party that they rigidly adhere to.. In fact 4 itimes If you include a guy in the queue the last time I was there returning soething telling me how he too found them so bad. I pity anyone who has to make a warrantee claim on a bike or high priced purchase from them.

The last time it happened I deceided never to use them again. Buffoons at best.

Click and collect at Halfords you don't pay until you get to the store, if its not right, then no harm no foul. Evans you have to pony up the dough before you pick it up. When (not if ) they fk it up (which ive also had) they are terrible at rectifiying it.

I'm sure their unofficial motto is "We've got your cash, now fk off"


Funny how stores (across the board) run fine for years and years and only start to go tits up when venture capitalists buy them up isn't it. Im sure its just coincidence though.

[SVS]

I’ve returned stuff to Evans on a couple of occasions. The staff were great and handled the returns quickly and helpfully. Perhaps customer service varies by store (Evans would hardly be alone in this).

[Usget]

neilr said:

Funny how stores (across the board) run fine for years and years and only start to go tits up when venture capitalists buy them up isn't it. Im sure its just coincidence though.

Absolutely this. I feel the same about House of Fraser.