IN N OUT BURGERS AND BICYCLE SHOPS:

I recently read an article on the OC Register talking about how Chick-Fil-A is starting to open up franchises right next to In and Out Burgers. If you think about it, makes total sense right? If you still don’t get it, bear with me.

If you are deciding to open up a bicycle shop or any retail establishment for that matter, then my best bet would be to open it up next to an In and Out Burgers, Starbucks, Blockbuster Videos or any place that brings in A LOT of traffic. Traffic brings exposure and that can easily translate into profits.

No one can really resist a bike shop. Typically once a potential customer cruises in to check things out and remembers how fun it is to ride bikes, then they’ll most likely to come back, it also helps if the shop staff aren’t a bunch of pompous douches.

Anyhow, my guess is that having a bicycle shop in a high traffic area will more likely bring in more customers than the ones that are tucked away in shopping center that only has some low traffic establishments.

So going back to Chick-Fil-A’s tactics, I think it’s pretty brilliant! If you’re not familiar with In and Out Burgers, its the best fast food burger joint around. Nothing is frozen, everything is fresh and its oh so good! Which then brings me to my closing statement. Open a bike shop next to an In and Out!

DEPARTMENT STORES CAN CHEAPEN A BRAND NAME: Most people assume that if a bicycle brand is found at a Target, Walmart or Costco, then it must be low quality. Just think about it, Mongoose, and Schwinn are the biggest offenders. When I see that brand in a Performance Catalog or in some shop, I tend to automatically think about the cheaper versions that I’ve seen at Walmart.

Now I understand that there’s a big difference between the Mongoose that Eric Carter rides than the ones you can find at Walmart. I also understand that if company wants to sell their product in volumes, then they go through big stores like Costco to get the bikes out to more people than a regular bike shop or internet store would.

But what happens is when a company does that, they pigeon hole themselves and they can’t seem to get out of that reputation. Take for example, Fezzari Bicycles. We reviewed the Alta Peak and its a great bike. But when people on the trail saw the bike, they would say, “oh I saw those being sold at Costco!� Then they assume that the brand isn’t all that great.

Because of the fact that I’ve seen brands like Mongoose and Schwinn at the big box stores, I’m probably less likely to want to buy those brand of bikes. Oh heres another thing that irritates me…car companies branding bikes! When will Cadillac, Honda and Jeep learn…