Re: [TheThinkTank] Deal with the devil!

26 Jan 2013

      Harold, give me some time to build this relationship. Ask me again in about three months.
-Doug
Sent from my smarty-pants phone.
On Jan 25, 2013, at 10:58 PM, Harold Schreckengost mewshi@gmail.com wrote:
...
Excuse me, I have a question.  Would you mind giving me this DMs name and general info?  I am looking at getting a co-op going, and I work at Walmart... I would love to get something like this at my store.
On Jan 25, 2013 7:17 PM, "Matt VanSlyke" vanslyke.matthew@gmail.com wrote:
...
You're not alone, Doug. WalMart started donating their scratch and dent bikes to a one-day give away to kids 3 or 4 years ago. I would guess that they've donated about 200 brand new bikes.
Matt V. 
NYBC
On Jan 25, 2013, at 7:05 PM, david bosch davidmbosch@yahoo.com wrote:
...
Doug,
 Very interesting. You will have to keep us posted. Maybe if this works out, Wal*Mart will reach out to other non-profits to establish a similar arrangement. Maybe, OK this is a long shot, we can have some influence the the bikes that department stores carry in the future.
David
From: Doug Franz doug@coatesvillebikeworks.org
To: 'The Think Tank' thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org 
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 6:45 PM
Subject: [TheThinkTank] Deal with the devil!
The strangest thing happened last night.  I was at an open house for another charity here in Coatesville, talking up our charity because it’s my job, and I was introduced to the District Manager of Wal*Mart.
I’m not a Wal*Mart fan.  I understand they fill a need in society, and obviously lots of people don’t subscribe to my point of view or else they wouldn’t be as successful as they are.  But for me, I would rather give up other luxuries to afford the more expensive products at my neighborhood store than buy them from the Wal*Mart in town.  I actually feel some joy when one of our kids asks me what his Wal*Mart bike is worth, and I answer “10 cents a pound!”
Anyhow, this woman explained to me that Wal*Mart doesn’t have a system for handling the bicycles that get returned to them or that arrive with defects from the manufacturer.  She asked me if they could be sent to us as a donation.  I explained to her that we accept bicycle donations, but typically the Wal*Mart bikes get stripped for parts and recycled.  She asked if they could send them to us anyhow.  I pointed out that we incur some costs in the processing of this material, and if we decide to fix some of them up there is the costs of the parts.  She asked if they could send a check along with the bikes.
So, we made a deal.  Wal*Mart stores in her district will send us bikes they can’t use, along with $20 per bicycle.  We have 35 bikes arriving next week.
This will be interesting. . . .
Doug Franz, President
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coatesvillebikeworks.org
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