[TheThinkTank] Random Thought: Creating a bicycle parts/tools distributor for Community Bike Shops.

[veganboyjosh at gmail.com]

i love the idea.

what about creating some sort of blanket national/international
organization/club/something that community bike shops could belong to, and
then creating accounts for that group, the members of which would then reap
the benefits?

i dunno how chain stores--rei, performance, etc--get their accounts set up,
but surely every brick and mortar store that is a part of a chain doesn't
have to go thru the hassle of getting an account set up?

i also love that jonathan called grease "wearable." it certainly is at
community cycles...

there was some talk of this at bikebike! in 07, perhaps we should get a
discussion group going, and have a workshop about it in 08?



On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 9:41 PM, Vyki Englert <vyki.englert at thekickstand.org>
wrote:

> Love the idea, if there is a shop willing to set themselves up as a
> distributor, I'm sure the kickstand would be interested in being on the
> distribution list.
> We are still so very new, I doubt we could set ourselves up for that
> position.  Though down the road, I'm sure we would be able to help alot
> more.
> -vyki
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 9:59 PM, 1304bikes <1304bikes at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I really like this idea as well, mainly because we here at 1304bikes
> > fall into the not established enough to get a distributor account.  This
> > means we usually have to pay retail prices for anything we happen to need.
> > A lot of the local bike shops to give us a nice discount, but we still pay
> > some markup on wholesale.
> >
> > I agree with option 2, that it is worth doing.  I'm just not sure how
> > one would go about doing so; but i certainly love the idea.
> >
> > -Doug
> > 1304bikes
> > Raleigh, NC
> >
> > On 3/12/08, Jonathan Morrison <jonathan at slcbikecollective.org> wrote:
> >
> > > Distributors (
> > > http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Distributors) are
> > > just the middle men separating manufacturers from retailers.  Just like food
> > > cooperatives that buy in bulk and disseminate food at bulk rates, we could
> > > do that with bike parts.  For those of us that buy using distributors it
> > > would save an roughly 25% off of wholesale, and for those community bike
> > > shops that aren't established enough to get a distributor account -- we
> > > would be providing an option that is 75% off of MSRP.
> > >
> > > Ideally we would get accounts with tool manufacturers like park tool,
> > > pedros, hozan, etc.,... as well as wearable items like grease, bearing,
> > > chain lube, patch manufacturers, and then lower-end (but quality) parts
> > > manufacturers for things that we don't get enough of donated, or that aren't
> > > worth re-using.  This will be different for each shop, but as an example in
> > > SLC we don't re-use bearings, spokes, cables or housing -- they get recycled
> > > and we put new ones on bikes.  We also buy new road tires (27" & 700c)
> > > because we don't have enough decent ones donated, either they are too worn
> > > or dried out.
> > >
> > > I can think of 2 conclusions:
> > >
> > > 1) It isn't worth doing.  The 25% cut a distributor gets is worth
> > > paying given the hassle and it is just another random thought that might
> > > result in spending $5 to save $3.
> > > 2) It is worth doing.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Sincerely,
> > >
> > > Jonathan Morrison
> > > Executive Director
> > > Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective
> > > 2312 S. West Temple
> > > Salt Lake City, UT 84115
> > > w: 801-328-2453
> > > c: 801-688-0183
> > > f: 801-466-3856
> > > www.slcbikecollective.org
> > >
> > > Get Addicted to Crank!
> > > http://www.slcbikecollective.org/crank/
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Thethinktank mailing list
> > > Thethinktank at bikecollectives.org
> > >
> > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > 1304bikes
> > 2419 Mayview Rd.
> > Raleigh, NC
> > 1304bikes.org
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Thethinktank at bikecollectives.org
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Vyki Englert
> "sprocket" acting Director of operations
> Member Board of Directors
> Gainesville Community Bicycle Project, Inc "the Kickstand"
> 722 South Main Street Gainesville Fl 32601
> www.thekickstand.org
> vyki.englert at thekickstand.org
> 850.819.8808
>
> 'every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist
> the black flag, and begin slitting throats.' --h.l. mencken
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