Being from Eugene, OR there are a lot of small bike businesses. If you do it right in a niche neighborhood you have a chance. Service/maintenance and repair department could stay busy and bring in consistent revenue with good seasonal marketing plan. If there's an REI or Performance Bike close they could make it tougher. We have an REI and there are still 4 smaller shops within a ten block radius that are doing alright but REI definitely made a dent in their service volume and accessories margins. Eugene has a very large bike population though. Might be worth a trip up here to investigate the shops.
I have a good friend that just retired last week and was an agent for Bianchi, Look, Continental, Eston, Bell Sport and more for 20 years. REI and Performance we're his accounts with Bell unbelievable numbers (7 figures) in just Gyro and Bell helmet sales. You might be able to bend his ear a little.
|