Brompton Bicycle
Brompton Bicycle, the London-based manufacturer of the world’s most iconic folding bike, has announced a “strategic partnership” with Halfords, a British chain-store group that sells bikes and automotive parts. The move has been slammed by bike shop stockists of the brand who fear being sidelined.
A statement from Brompton said the deal with Halfords would provide a “real opportunity to convert commuters and motorists, as well as those who’ve not ridden in years, to switch to pedal power in cities.”
The 125-year-old Halfords has more than 450 stores in the UK and also operates 21 Cycle Republic stores, the group’s own-brand bikes-only stores. The group also owns two Tredz stores, which were formerly independent bicycle dealers (IBDs) with strong internet sales.
Brompton bikes will be first available in Cycle Republic stores, with a broader roll-out in a select number of Halfords stores in April next year. The brand’s new e-bike and special-edition bikes will not be made available to Halfords initially.
Brompton CEO Will Butler-Adams told Forbes.com: “We’ve had challenging times with our IBD network over the past nine months. Some have gone bust, others have had financial problems – it has been a hard market.”
He added: “The way people shop now is different – it’s omnichannel, and the consumer’s journey to buying a product has changed. We passionately believe that more people should be out there riding, but we often struggle to engage with people who can ride but who don’t own bikes. Halfords offers us a route to that customer.”
Butler-Adams admitted that being stocked in Halfords would be a “risk,” but he felt there was “an opportunity to increase sales of Brompton bikes via bike shops because of being stocked in Halfords. The people who shop in Halfords own cars and caravans and we need to be reaching those people. Halfords has tremendous reach.”
He stressed: “We have not rushed into this. This is a long-term thing, and it should be a net positive for all concerned.”
Butler-Adams said that IBD owners also gave him a tough time when Brompton said it would open own-brand flagship stores – there are now Brompton Junction stores in London, Beijing, Tokyo, Milan, Shanghai, Amsterdam and five other cities – but that “no IBDs lost sales to Junction stores, and everybody is doing better because of them now.”
Brompton Bicycle
Brompton sells to 1,500 bike stores worldwide, most of which are IBDs. Its biggest corporate account is with the UK’s Evans Cycles, an IBD-style chain store which is currently in financial difficulties and could be sold to a rival soon.
Forbes.com contacted Brompton stockists for this story, but none would go on record. “We really have much too much to lose,” said one.
“I am unhappy with this announcement,” said one dealer. “I get the sense that there are new, big corporate retail types on the [company’s] board who are driving this agenda. People will get lousy service from [Halfords] and then come back to us.”
However, he feared an immediate loss of sales, and was most worried that Tredz would “start discounting for some reason or other.”
The dealer said for Brompton to go to market via Halfords was a “sign of weakness” and “perhaps they are struggling and hoping that these larger, more mainstream channels might boost sales.”
He added: “It’s pretty sad. It was an endorsement from [independent bicycle dealers] that got them where they are today in terms of market share.”
Ben Cooper, owner of Kinetics, a Glasgow bike shop which services and modifies Brompton bikes, asked: “I wonder if Halfords will really want to invest in the staff training to sell and repair Brompton bikes properly? Evans’ current difficulties might also play a part – Brompton has been stung before with having all their eggs in one basket.”
Brompton makes 48,000 bikes a year, 75% of which are exported.
33% of Halfords Group sales are cycling related. The group – which employs 10,000 – had sales of £1,135m in the current financial year.