Before I get into the distributer stuff, I want to SINCERELY THANK the bike!bike! organizers for sending us the BEAUTIFUL poster and invite. We received it a while back and have affixed it to the wall for good. It made us so happy to feel included in the bikey community (and the poster was gorgeous). We can't make it this year, but have applied for funding that might send us next year.

--

Distributer stuff: This is a really exciting project that some of you are taking on, and I echo Geoffrey's comments below about the need for such an org in Canada. 
The relative ease with which an account can be had through Babac (Quebec distributer) does little to make up for the fact that they're stocked with bottom of the barrel parts. This and the annually increasing minimum to place an order makes a less-than-ideal situation.

co-op/shop needs
-low volume supply of basic, quality parts
-ease of account acquistion (a way to give ordering accounts to orgs that haven't incorporated yet)
-ability to sell parts without having a pristine storefront (a requirement for many brands)

Obviously, this is a complicated situation, because the bike shop and its users buck the familiar way that capitalism mediates buying/selling privileges. But nothing we do is easy, right?

Shimano's Canadian headquarters is in my city, there is potential to talk with them directly.

I'm keen to stay a part of this discussion: are there other canadian shops on this list that see a need for a co-op distributer?

Clifford McCarten
Co-Director, B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop
400 Wolfe St, Peterborough ON
K9J 2P3
(705) 748-6681



On 21-Aug-09, at 6:01 PM, thethinktank-request@bikecollectives.org wrote:


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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:01:01 -0400
From: Geoffrey B <vous.je@gmail.com>
To: The Think Tank <thethinktank@bikecollectives.org>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Distributors and interacting with the
profit model
Message-ID:
<6ff82e30908211501y557c22e7y9b7d9a453b4194a9@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

In canada, the need for a community operated distibution network  is much
needed.

I have been frozen out of accounts with big distributors because of our
close proximity to other bike shops. I was even thinking about creating a
mail box outside of our city to take on bigger distributors...thus your idea
of a community operated distro.

We send out about 3k a month to local Qubec based distro such as Damco, and
Babac, even a West Coast distro wants our orders...Asama.

Creating a go to for up and coming community shops is a must. We need to
make accessibility to basic parts and tools a priority for small community
initiatives in Canada, America and the United Mexico.

Geoffrey
Bike Pirates
Toronto, Canada

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