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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doug@coatesvillebikeworks.org
610-383-4349
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