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 http://www.communitybikeshop.org
On 21-Aug-09, at 6:01 PM, thethinktank-request@bikecollectives.org
wrote:
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
We would certainly be interested in ordering through a coop oriented Canadian distributor. We don't retail any new parts except cables and housing. We currently have a Lambert account however they were actually back ordered on housing the other week! So a distributor that was pretty much guranteed to have housing in stock would be nice. The other parts we tend to buy are ferrules, cable caps, tires, tubes, brake pads, shifters, and the odd seat post or other part to finish an overhaul on the used bikes we retail.
Unfortunately I don't think we could order directly from a US based coop distributor due to the complexities of brokering shipments through customs. (However it may be workable for a Canadian Coop Distributor to do so buy ordering infrequently in bulk.)
Also unfortunately we don't have any spare volunteer time available to help organize any of this.
Chris Wells (Email Handler & one of many Volunteer Head Mechanics)
re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op 477 Bronson Ave. Ottawa
info@re-cycles.ca http://www.re-cycles.ca/
--- On Mon, 8/24/09, Clifford McCarten director@communitybikeshop.org wrote:
From: Clifford McCarten director@communitybikeshop.org Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 36, Issue 28 To: thethinktank@bikecollectives.org Received: Monday, August 24, 2009, 8:40 AM 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 McCartenCo-Director, B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop400 Wolfe St, Peterborough ONK9J 2P3(705) 748-6681http://www.communitybikeshop.org
On 21-Aug-09, at 6:01 PM, thethinktank-request@bikecollectives.org wrote:
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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