MoreGolf Group acquires Cycle Lab

[MariusC]

This would probably only cater for Road and XC only. Look I have no problem with XC but it would be nice to have a good local store that still sells 26" bikes, Enduro/AM gear and parts and some downhill goodies.

So morecycling make this epic. Stock your 29ers HT and dual sus, 26ers HT and dual sus, Long travel bikes, BMX etc

[igknot]

I don't think so, they have built up a loyal following(smaller independents) and adds value where the bigger stores won't be able to. Like my grandmother, she refuses to go to dischem even though they are halfprice on some of the goodies she buys monthly, why? because oom Kassie always asks about the grandchildren, she gets greeted at the door and if her script runs out for medication oom Kassie sorts it out for her...same model will apply to the lbs

My statement is not limited to Cycling, it is the unfortunate way of the world.

We have Makros,Games,Builders warehouses,Fruit and veg citys and Dischems but we are loosing all the corner mom and pop little green grocers chemists and hardwares.

We have a shallowing and widening of services but we are llosing depth.

We have call centers and refrence number but we dont have a relationship with the store owner.

We have relationship managers that has our name in a database to send us a personal sms on our birthdays.

 

I like to walk to the shop.

 

Maybe it is just me.

[GLuvsMtb]

My statement is not limited to Cycling, it is the unfortunate way of the world.

We have Makros,Games,Builders warehouses,Fruit and veg citys and Dischems but we are loosing all the corner mom and pop little green grocers chemists and hardwares.

We have a shallowing and widening of services but we are llosing depth.

We have call centers and refrence number but we dont have a relationship with the store owner.

Adapt or die. Its simple. There is always space in the marketplace if you can add value.

We have relationship managers that has our name in a database to send us a personal sms on our birthdays.

 

I like to walk to the shop.

 

Maybe it is just me.

Adapt or die. Its simple. If you can add value, theres space for you. If Naspers went home and cried about electronic media killing printed media they would have been part of our history by now. Instead they saw the opportunity and is one of the best performing shares on the stock exchange.

Edited September 27, 2013 by GLuvsMtb

[ianhoy]

Good lad that Mark Stockton fellow. Much missed.

 

 

Mark's Meander at Northern Farm is named in honour of him

[rouxtjie]

My statement is not limited to Cycling, it is the unfortunate way of the world.

We have Makros,Games,Builders warehouses,Fruit and veg citys and Dischems but we are loosing all the corner mom and pop little green grocers chemists and hardwares.

We have a shallowing and widening of services but we are llosing depth.

We have call centers and refrence number but we dont have a relationship with the store owner.

We have relationship managers that has our name in a database to send us a personal sms on our birthdays.

 

I like to walk to the shop.

 

Maybe it is just me.

Sure and agree but my point is there will always be a place for the independents(doesnt matter what you trade in), the keyword as GluvsMtb pointed out is value add, now there can come in various forms

 

A.Relationship with you customers

B.Adding value to sales and service

C.Specialist services

D.Out of the box thinking when it comes to generating sales...become client centric and you will succeed, stay product centric and fail

 

They will also have to trade smarter..resourcing, stock holding, shop layout, basket analysis....these are all things within the grasp of the independent with minimal capital outlay.

 

The bad LBS won't make it, the good ones will do better, the way the world "shops" have changed and as people said, adapt or die....harsh but the truth

Edited September 27, 2013 by rouxtjie

[Shebeen]

and because it's been aqcuired by a private buyer we won't see the figures of the deal. Wonder if one of the big retail players would look at getting into the game?

 

if golf is in a decline, which I'm pretty sure we can agree on,

Dunno about that, maybe a temporary dip. when last did you hear of an actual golf club closing down? Some housing estates might be lying half developed but there was a major bubble in that market.

 

Death to the local independent lbs.

Huge big mega stores with low prices and low info and service.

Yes and no. I think there's a place for both. I'm no fan of the 'lab and their walmart approach, but they've definitely proved a viable business model. In the same time plenty of standard lbs stores have also opened.

[rouxtjie]

PS...the independent pharmacy is a great example, I used to work for a software house that developed the POS systems for the independent so them staying in business was our bread and butter(I wasn't coding the software though, I was building Business Intelligence models so that they have the tools to be more profitable). With the big players coming into the pharmacy sector(dischem and clicks being able to dispense drugs at the same price as the independent due to legislation), the smaller one man pharmacies started closing down since their frontshop(or retail area) and efficiencies wasnt in order. Went to the retail federation show in NY and brought back heaps of ideas and models for the independents ...Business Intelligence being one of them. We gave them this as a value add proposition from our side, which kept them in business and in turn kept us in business. We managed to up the net profit % of the independent by 8% across hundreds of pharmacies in some cases by as much as 20%.

 

You take 8% of your gross profit and add it to your bottomline....happy independent pharmacy staying in business...doing better than before and having more control. The same rules apply to upping the bottomline, whether you are selling bikes or pharmaceuticals...retail is retail

 

This was over and above the value adds I suggested above, this was just by working smarter with their resources and assets.

Edited September 27, 2013 by rouxtjie

[Caerus]

and because it's been aqcuired by a private buyer we won't see the figures of the deal. Wonder if one of the big retail players would look at getting into the game?

 

 

Dunno about that, maybe a temporary dip. when last did you hear of an actual golf club closing down? Some housing estates might be lying half developed but there was a major bubble in that market.

 

 

Yes and no. I think there's a place for both. I'm no fan of the 'lab and their walmart approach, but they've definitely proved a viable business model. In the same time plenty of standard lbs stores have also opened.

Durban Country Club is one place that is in some serious financial trouble

[rouxtjie]

....

Yes and no. I think there's a place for both. I'm no fan of the 'lab and their walmart approach, but they've definitely proved a viable business model. In the same time plenty of standard lbs stores have also opened.

Yes, deffos a place under the sun for both, but like I said, the one man band that isn't prepared to change won't do well, the big outlets have economies of scale going for them, clout with the agents and money behind them, the smaller shops must use these strengths as weaknesses and expose them...they will not only take the business of the other smaller shops but even some of the big shops market.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

and because it's been aqcuired by a private buyer we won't see the figures of the deal. Wonder if one of the big retail players would look at getting into the game?

 

 

Dunno about that, maybe a temporary dip. when last did you hear of an actual golf club closing down? Some housing estates might be lying half developed but there was a major bubble in that market.

 

 

Indeed, dont expect the golf courses to be empty anytime soon, at the club I play at its very much alive and well and even though I am retired I still get umpteen invites from the banks and other relevant companies to golf days, weekends are impossible to get a game unless you book.

 

The truth is all activities go through phases of growth, maturity and if they are very unlucky, decline, its nothing new, its a perfectly normal cycle.

 

I am old enough to remember when Wind Surfing was a major activity, today, not so much, 10 years ago Gyms were full of big guys huffing and puffing and moving around huge chunks of iron, today, its petite healthy housewives doing Yoga, Taebo and Pilates, there was a time running was so big you could almost not get into a club, it was that elitist, today its struggling.

 

I think Mountain biking is just in a nice growth phase, nothing wrong with that, and good luck to More Golf for seeing the opportunity, but nothing lasts forever and in time Mountain biking will reach a level of maturity and then decline as folk move on to the next great adventure, so Yah, I wish More Golf well, but I am pretty sure they will be the first to say golf is hardly dead.

Edited September 27, 2013 by GrumpyOldGuy

[Chro Mo]

Durban Country Club is one place that is in some serious financial trouble

This has been going on for years!

 

One mismanagement after another.

 

What a shame!

[morecycling]

so Yah, I wish More Golf well, but I am pretty sure they will be the first to say golf is hardly dead.

 

We are the first to say this

[The German]

Word has it that Beachwood Country Club and Royal Durban Golf Course closing down in the very near future.

 

Beachwood earmarked for housing development. Not sure whats happening with Royal Durban space.

 

Peter Pan...

[Caerus]

Word has it that Beachwood Country Club and Royal Durban Golf Course closing down in the very near future.

 

Beachwood earmarked for housing development. Not sure whats happening with Royal Durban space.

 

Peter Pan...

The writing has been on the wall for ages, my ex wife worked for them two years ago.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Word has it that Beachwood Country Club and Royal Durban Golf Course closing down in the very near future.

 

Beachwood earmarked for housing development. Not sure whats happening with Royal Durban space.

 

Peter Pan...

 

I cant comment on those as I dont know, but people need to remember Golf estates and the Game of Golf are not the same thing.

 

Not everyone who lives on a Golf estate plays Golf, the same as not everyone living on an estate with a M/Bike trail rides M/Bike, estates are housing developments and as we all know housing is under severe stress, Golf, the Game, however is not reliant on Estates to be enjoyed, many people play on stand alone golf courses and most of them are excellent and very busy.

 

The day M/Biking pays the kind of prize money Golf pays to serious professionals, is the day I will start worrying about the future of golf.

[Oceana]

I cant comment on those as I dont know, but people need to remember Golf estates and the Game of Golf are not the same thing.

 

Not everyone who lives on a Golf estate plays Golf, the same as not everyone living on an estate with a M/Bike trail rides M/Bike, estates are housing developments and as we all know housing is under severe stress, Golf, the Game, however is not reliant on Estates to be enjoyed, many people play on stand alone golf courses and most of them are excellent and very busy.

 

The day M/Biking pays the kind of prize money Golf pays to serious professionals, is the day I will start worrying about the future of golf.

Mowbray Golf Club in Cape Town has just been placed under a rescue plan, but whether it will succeed is debateable. The game is not in good shape at the moment.