RE: Dear LBS

+1 for that thought.  Hold up your hand if you're old enough to know what a
"cog board" is (was?).  Keep your hand up if you ever replaced just a couple
of cogs.  

Way back in the last century, your LBS' primary market was people of
moderate income, and the rider wanting the absolute top end gruppo was the
one who waited while the order shipped from overseas.  Now, the market is
the higher end and those of us who just want a set of brake pads wait for
them to show up.  OTH, QBP et al seem to able to deliver to your LBS in days
not weeks.  

dougP

-----Original Message-----
From: touring-bounces+dougpnirv=cox.net-Wizm5X4GRk5g9hUCZPvPmw@public.gmane.org
[mailto:touring-bounces+dougpnirv=cox.net-Wizm5X4GRk5g9hUCZPvPmw@public.gmane.org] On Behalf Of Mary
Shaw
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2011 4:14 PM
To: Bill Laine
Cc: touring
Subject: Re: Dear LBS

Thinking back a few decades, it seems to me that the variety of parts was
much smaller, so your LBS did not have to keep as many different parts in
inventory to have what you wanted -- because there were fewer different
things you might want.

Mary Shaw

On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 4:00 PM, Bill Laine <bill-2ccdMLZqwXVWk0Htik3J/[email protected]> wrote:

> Think back a few decades. Every town had a bike shop. They carried a line
> of product and the consumer would go there to have a conversation about
what
> they wanted to do and then (ideally) trust the shop to provide a
functional
> product. The consumer got their information from the bicycle store that
they
> trusted. The dealer could carry the parts they needed to support the bikes
> they sold. Now, if a rider wants more braking they have already discussed
it
> on forums, surveyed the market, and come to a decision before they even go
> into the shop. It's a different world then when the model of the LBS was
> developed.
>
> Bill Laine
> Wallingford Bicycle Parts
> New Orleans



> [[snip]]
>
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