Posts by Marc Sani
Business Focus Gives Huge Sea Otter an Interbike Feel
Monterey, US A total of 528 exhibitors, representing more than 1,000 brands, came to the Sea Otter Classic last month, jamming the Laguna Seca Raceway exhibition area, setting records for attendance, reaffirming the event’s hold on the US bicycle industry, and enhancing its growing cachet among a bevy of foreign exhibitors. Australia was represented by…
Letter From America – Banks Shaping Bike Industry
Sante Fe, New Mexico The US banking industry – turned topsy-turvy with the demise of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March – is quietly reshaping the bicycle industry. Retailers, facing a raft of cash flow issues, are finding it increasingly difficult to refinance older loans, refinance and pay for overpriced inventory, or seek loans to…
Letter from America – New Bugbears for US Industry
SANTA FE, New Mexico It seems the US bicycle industry has set aside – at least for the moment – worries over supply chain disruption, overseas shipping costs, and tariffs on some Chinese imports. That’s not to say these concerns are unimportant, but the industry is moving full speed ahead into other hot button issues.…
Letter From America – Economic Headwinds Bring Dour Outlook for 2023
Sante Fe, US As the year winds down, looking toward 2023 is a daunting task whether as a manufacturer, supplier or retailer. So let’s take a stab at some prognostications and sort out the macro-economic headwinds and the downdrafts wafting through retail. Nonetheless, now is the time to rewrite and rethink forecasts for next year.…
Letter From America: Infrastructure Over Subsidies for Cycling Boost
Santa Fe, US There’s been much wailing and gnashing of teeth of late among e-bike advocates who’ve long hoped the federal government would loosen its purse strings and subsidise the purchase of new e-bikes. And it almost came to be. But a bold plan to offer a 30% tax credit toward the purchase of an…
Letter from America: Signs of Major Market Contractions
Santa Fe, US Here’s a prediction and if it’s wrong … well, that’s the way predictions go. Nonetheless, let me go out on a limb and suggest that the US bicycle market will contract, perhaps significantly, over the next 12 months. And the outlines of that trend are starting to emerge. Anecdotal evidence suggest inventory…
Letter From America: Rationale Behind the Great White Feeding Frenzy
Santa Fe, New Mexico It’s as if someone tossed a ton of chum into the turbulent waters surrounding independent bicycle dealers, attracting a scrum of swift-moving sharks snapping up prime retail locations in the prosperous suburbs of major metropolitan areas. Look at a map and it’s easy to see where the Great Whites — Trek,…
Letter from America: Taking Stock of the Chaos
Sante Fe, New Mexico So much change, so much disruption, so much unknown—that characterises much of what can be discerned from the steady drumbeat of economic news today. “Where there’s chaos there’s often opportunity, and it takes an optimist to find those opportunities.” Most of it has been decidedly downbeat. It’s a bull market for…
Letter From America: Bike Shop Fire a Warning About e-Bike Battery Safety
Letter from America – How Will We Fare in These Uncertain Times?
Santa Fe, New Mexico If there is one word to define the state of America’s bicycle industry, at least at the moment, it would be ‘uncertainty’. But one expert who has lived through the many boom-and-bust cycles that have defined the bicycle business for decades is certain about one thing. “Another bicycle boom is wishful…