Another bike dealer gone bust !
 

"The Bike People " formally Carnell/city & the original Carnells in Doncaster,have gone bust !yesterday/today,i've been down to rescue a bike from the workshop before it got swalloed up by the liguidator !
they were doin some warranty work !

The doors are closed,and men in suits and clipboards are stocktaking !

Another chapter closed !

I think there's a big Carnells in Milton Keynes, too, isn't there. Might be worth a post Xmas trip to buy up some liquidated stock.

What, me, a Vulture? Never :devil:

From what i hear it won't be the last one either before the spring.

Theres no more Carnells left in the Country !! when they bought Motorcycle city,they ran the co for a while then the whole group of car & bike dealerships were bought by the Royal bank of Scotland,who carved it up then shut the bike side,country wide !Doncaster was sold off,& run as the bike people for a while now that gone tits up !!!
like uve said,wotch this space,they'll be more !!!

Well to be honest , they survived longer than was expected! and they have become a victim of their own success.

and it all started when they turned the bike trade into the car supermarket trade !
They not only took out the little bloke off the strret corner, where most of us can remeber goin to in our youth for anything from a DELCO plug spanner, to a lenght of HT lead and everything inbetween!

proper bike Shops!!!!

when i was a youth the shops were: Brownhills (honda) shop, custom (kawasaki) shop in Hednesford, The (Suzuki) center in Cannock and even The (yamaha) shop in Brownhills on the other side of the road to the Honda shop!!

and whatever bike you wanted thats the shop you purchased it from ! and the other shops were visited to make a full days viewing on a saturday Essential,

single Franchised dealers was the way in them days .

Untill the likes of city , Carnell, bikes uk etc etc seen the Rabbit and decided to Flood and F*** up the bike trade with multi franchise Faceless supermarkets ,,

They Wiped out whole biking communities, and it is great reading Morts post about Nelly's as it reminds me of how my shop was in the 80's.....

JHP are doing the same thing and creating a community (Ducati) where you can go view,Buy and chat about bikes that you like , instead of hearing "just £100 deposit on ya credit card today will secure your new bike SIR"

and Before i'm shot down in flames i have been in and around the bike trade all of my life!! if you havn't please don't comment!!!!

Goodridance To them and bring it on (Independents) i'ts the way back FORWARD in biking as it is a FRATERNITY ! A COMMUNITY ! and A SERVICE! that should be second to none!!

Just my OPINION >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>mav:sniff:

Mav,your observations are spot on.
We had a Carnells just down the road.I never bought anything from there.(Well,apart from their closing down sale!;) )

i've not beein in the bike trade mav, but i'm gonna give my opinion anyway... You're spot on bloke.

There's faceless shops opening and closing too frequently down here on the coast, but luckily the little guys seem to be surviving too... just climb over the dismantled race bikes on your way to the parts shelf and if they haven't got it "it'll be here for you tomorrow mate, and it'll cost ya 50p, put the kettle on while you're 'ere". "Oh, and you'll need a special tool for that, here use mine just bring it back when you're done".
Or you could have.... "can't order that 'till we need a load more stock sir, and it'll be £99.99 which you've got to pay up front so we can f*** you around cos we've got your money already".

sorry, was that a bit of a soap box moment?

mav, having spoken to you the other night I know exactly why you feel so strongly about this!

I give as much as possible of my business (biking and personal) to owner-operated companies. The service is generally much better, comments and complaints are dealt with quickly, I know my money is not being spent on expensive national advertising, and I like that the shopkeeper knows my name when I go in.

This, in my opinion, is one of the reasons for the decline in society in this country over the last twenty-odd years. Prices may have come down, but salaries more so (inflation-adjusted) so cost of living has gone up.

Sorry, my soapbox moment over!

"The fact i've not been in the bike industry doesn't make me more or less qualified to have an opinion"-Steve you always have an opinion mate-it's what makes you you-we rely on it, and it keeps the board fun-we may not all always agree with you, but we all still want to read what you post.

As for me I tend to agree that the Carnells of this world are not for me-I have been in them and looked at all the bikes, but never bought anything off them. I have a family run multi franchise-Ducati, Aprillia, Honda, Suzuki-down the road from me and I know all the guys there, and I use JHP-oh and I use Denis Trollope in Bristol for all my TZ stuff-another knowledgeable one man band.

John

i don`t quite understand the way its being kind of celebrated that a big business has gone bust.....i`m all for the small business, but how many people here drive past a small local store to get to the big supermarket on the edge of town to do their food shopping......hmm...i smell hypocrisy...

Maybe we should all spare a thought for the people who have lost their jobs at the worst possible time of year.:(

If it's anything like the last time, they'll not be losing their jobs, they'll be working at the same place under a different name.

I feel more sorry for the people who bought bikes from MCC and then had to go elsewhere for their first service and pay for the pleasure.

Bunch of crooks.

"i agree totally John"-we'll have to be careful Steve, agreeing with each other-we'll be into a 'group hug' next and who knows where that would lead...............:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:: lol::lol:

John:devil:

Whilst i disagree with the Companywide logic of the 'big turnover' i think they actually did a lot for Biking. THey gave the average man on the street a way into biking he would never have had. Usually through the face he'd feel intimdated walking into a place full of hairy sweaty bikers. They gave him a BIG BRIGHT place full of shiney things...



They did indeed steve !!!!! then left them in the shite , with servicing warranty etc etc

Oh and yes 50% off and mass buying power cheaper bikes etc etc

and absolutly Diabolical RESIDUAL values to the point of (the secondhand bike market nearly collapsed;)


thats what i meant about (Don't comment ) if you dont know the trade steve ! not dont coment period ! may be the way i wrote it :)


JUST MY OPINION:smug:

I think it a shame some people get mucked about by these big company's. the only thing I don't like about them is that whenever you pop in for a bit of a look around you always get pounced on by being offered a new bike.
I just want to have a look at some new machines.
I like the little shops to, personal service counts for a lot and there is nothing better than the old boy down the local bike shop as kids who was prepared to share a bit of knowledge with you for free. Don't get that from any big shops I have found.
But then again they can be good hubs for meeting on ride outs and stuff.

[Edited on 22-12-2004 by keefer]

[Edited on 23-12-2004 by keefer]

This Carnell/Motorcycle city/Riossi Bike people thing has polarised opnion so many times before.

Anyone noticed the lack of real bargain Kit recently??

Yep, maybe the some of the staff were just "sellers" but you don't go down to yet local mac D's expecting a five course blowout with advice on the wine to choose wine do ya??

By the same token you don't march into yer local five star eaterie expect a 99p burger.

Any business needs to make a profit to survive long term, just how much you want to contribute to the profit is up to you as a customer. No one forces you into the premises at gun point??

Good consistent customer service at competitative prices is part of formula for long term succes for any business, big , small or medium size. Unless you have a monopoly you can't afford to get it wrong for long.

Ray.

i am a great believer in market forces, no matter what the business. if someone doesnt price things right or their service is poor they eventually they go out of business. simple.

You don't have to look far to understand why dealers are going bust.

Whether it's Carnell's and their spin-offs using a similar business model and selling bikes to the masses on the cheap or other complex social factors, motorcycling is not much to do with the automotive industry these days. Hands up, who owns a bike as essential transport, a cheap alternative to a car? Not many people I'll bet, because it ain't a cheap alternative. I'll bet you that even a commuter bike is nearly as expensive to run as a small runabout, especially when you take the higher insurance a bike usually attracts and the fact that the bike will rot away after a few winters.

So what's motorcycling become? It's more akin to the leisure industry. People are much more likely these days to buy a bike as a toy. That's why sportsbike sales dominate in this country and it's why people are so fickle that they rush out to buy this years model based on what MCN says is the best bike this year and sod the depreciation. You don't do that if you're looking at it as transport, you want a bike that you can ride in all weathers and run it hard until it's earned it's keep. So the typical motorcycle is a great big, very shiny and very expensive toy, a luxury item that all but committed motorcyclists can do without if they have to (I bet we all know someone who's gone out, bought a bike and jacked it in as soon as the novelty has worn off).

So how do people fund these expensive shiny toys? Mostly, it's fuelled by credit (let's face it, only Lord Rattler and the like can pull several thousand pounds out of their back pocket and say "I'll have that one" :frog: ). And the cheapest form of credit? Yup, remortgaging! All very well until the interest rate creeps up, the housing market cools down and people realise that they've already milked as much of their housing equity as they're comfortable with. People are pulling in their horns, tightening their belts and just not splashing out on big ticket items as they've done steadily over the past six or seven years of mortgage nirvana.

So under these circumstances the opportunities that opened up when the mortgage boom came are now closing up again, and all the businesses that climbed onto the bandwagon in the good times are now finding that there's not enough room for them all. Only the fittest are going to survive. It's always been that way.

Keeping fit in business means that you have to be agile enough to understand what your customers want and give it them, so the smart money goes to the people that understand their customers in the first place. Really understanding what your customers want means that you have some sort of relationship with them and value them as a person. Ask yourself whether you've ever done business again with someone that treated you as if they didn't care.

Bang on Jools !!! and also the fact That those little yellow boxes have popped up everywhere and the new antisocial laws are taking their toll! around here the police have informed the locals(bike meets) etc They will be OUTLAWED next year (2005) everything you say is right and biking for those who remember the 70's is on the down turn again!!!!!

and watch this space a lot more bikeshops will be bust B4 the start of next season!

just so you know interest rates have peaked and the next move will be down.

depends if you are a glass-is-half-full or empty kind of guy.

But only until after the election :devil:

nothing to do with the political parties now luckily.

and they will still go down next. i see what you mean from the chart but its a very different picture now.

financial futures are predicting rates to be stable or lower from now until june '07.

Its a bit deep for a Weds eve, but I reckon you're spot on Jools - apart from the slight upon my good person!!!:mad::mad::mad:

Tim:frog:

I'm a "glass is twice as big as it needs to be" type person!!!:lol::lol::lol:

[Edited on 22-12-2004 by Rattler]

who needs glasses, just give me the bottle :lol::lol:

[Edited on 22-12-2004 by electricsheep]

Well put that man.;)

DC:burn:

Im a bit dissapointed that Rattler needs glasses, but i dream of being in the same camp as him.. oh hang on a minute, did i say camp??

Its a message board!!

...as a row of tents??????:o:o:o

At least you dont need a key for a tent :P

Oucccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

:D


:o


:lol::lol:
C
xx

Some sound proofing would come in handy sometimes tho!

Yeh - who was that snoring bloke called Dave Harris I wonder?:lol:

Tim:frog:

cant beat bill and mick wilkinson, kettlewell, righit bike shop.:burn:

Tim,
I resemble that comment.

dave:lol:

Minutes from the Bank of England showed its monetary policy committee discussed an interest rate cut at its last monthly meeting, so it is very likely to do down next time.

Guys guys guys,calm down !!!
When i started this thread,it was purley meant to point out that another dealer had closed !!although it does appear that it's happening quite regularly of late.

Clearly oppinion is divided,as to the whys & wherefores of there dimise !

And i'm sure,the Directors of these dealerships,are very skilled in there various area's,and have looked @ all the possiblitys of saving the Co,& failed!

But @ the end of the day,WE all need these dealers,for service,warranty claims etc !!so kicking them is not the answer is it ? yeah,theres gonna be some,that give poor service,as is the the case in all buisness's !and we do have our favourites.

But whether large or small,there survival depends on us guys! my understanding of this situation is they were losing money,and the directors were not prepared to put in any more capital ! into what has been a terrible year for bike sales !! all the retail sector is/has suffered this year !!

Anyway,clearly the webteam have been monitoring this thread,and as the starter,i propose they close it as some comments are getting personal & thats not what this thread or the board is/was about !!

Merry Xmas everyone & a happy new year !

[Edited on 23-12-2004 by Simon Reed]

Simon if its your post you can delete it yourself.
top post, edit then delete.

Shame you just cant take out the handbag stuff in the middle.

K. merry Christmas

The stuff in the middle can be removed - and has been, as requested.

Eamonn.