Can anyone tell me why bike shops only open for half a day on Sunday?

[Big Dave]

I am. Many Sundays. And most evenings. But if I'm at work Sunday,

You are also old and bemoan Publicly that you have lost it!

[Ixion]

You can order online from a variety of local parts departments. Some wholesalers even offer database access and 'speedy local delivery'.

Yes, order online. Tht's pretty much what i do nowadays. Haven't been in a bike shop in a long time. But, if I'm going to order on line, then reality is that I have the entire world to order from.Takes no longer to get aprts from the US than from Auckland, mostly. Plus much less likelihood of being tempted into an unplanned purchase.

Really, if on-line is the new business model for bikes, why bother with shops at all? Have an online store, that works for parts and accessories, and for bikes, fill in the form and the salesman berings it round to show yuou. No rent to pay.

[Big Dave]

Ywhy bother with shops at all? .

The time and overheads it would take to do the number of presentations necessary to close a sale preclude. In most games if you are converting one out of seven it's a good wicket.

Stock still has to be stored, prepared and serviced.

[Muppet]

Stop your bitching - there are no motorcycle shops open on a Sunday in Christchurch and they all close by 1.00pm on a Saturday.

The Harley shop used to open on a Sunday and close on Monday but they stopped this a year or more ago when the recession hit.

However they were open today, but that was due to the Harley thingy happening down here and they were probably hoping to sell some bikes and bling!

Besides - this everything open all weekend and public holidays - stuff that, I'm against it. Where's the family time now days for the poor buggers working retail?

Damn straight! Well said.

[Ixion]

The time and overheads it would take to do the number of presentations necessary to close a sale preclude. In most games if you are converting one out of seven it's a good wicket.

Stock still has to be stored, prepared and serviced.

But people never get to the shops to be presentationed. Cos the shops are never open except when people with money are at work. So they buy online. Storage, that can be cheap warehousing, much cheaper than retain space.

[imdying]

My pet hate are couriers. They come around to your house and leave a card because you are at work. WTF can't they just deliver when we are home like between 6pm and 8pm at night for example.

Why not address your parcels to somewhere that will have a receiver during business hours? I always have my delieveries sent to work, for example.

Exodus 20 covers most of the OPs original question... I have no idea what God would think about setting aside a weekday (as an alternative) for worship, rather than the traditional Sunday, but given the intention of such a commandment, I suspect that would be fine also You can be sure someone would moan about it though.

I do know that opening an automotive related business between 8-10am on a Saturday morning is folly if you haven't got paperwork to do; Kiwis do like to indulge on a Saturday morning sleep in, and thus don't come in before 10am.

From my own perspective, if I were managing a bike shop, I would offer to the employees this schedule of work:
Tue-Fri: 10am-6:30pm
Sat: 12am-5pm
Sun: Closed

[Big Dave]

But people never get to the shops to be presentationed.

You need to get out more.

[Big Dave]

I think the couriers play a game - ring the doorbell and sprint to the van to see if they can split before you answer it.

[IdunBrokdItAgin]

All for corporate thinking and analysing business models when you're comparing Dick Smiths and Harvey Norman to Bike Shops and SHOP organised rides

Great business accumen

I think that is the problem right there. No offence intened in using your observation to make a point here but:

Why are bike shops different to other retailers?

Most modern retailers gear their opening hours around their customers. No-one is suggesting bike shops open 24/7 (silly comment) but rather than being open on weekdays (I have been in at random times during a working day and it is usually just me and possibly another customer in there) why not switch the opening hours around to hours which are preferred by the majority of prospective customers.

Using electronic retailer comparisions was pretty close in my mind because:
Both import the goods, and are affectedheavily by the exchange rates.
Both face competition of direct importers (parrallel importers in the electronics industry) and the second hand (trade me) market.
Both sell relatively big ticket items (some of those TVs cost more than some new bikes - but this comment is more in relation to gear and parts). Hence why both offer finance on decent sized deals.

I sound like I might be a bit bike shop bashing here but I'm really not. As I said I prefer to walk into a shop and try on merchandise before I buy, rather than get an e-mail telling me of when I can expect delivery. I just wonder why I can't go into a bike shop at the weekend when other (non-bike) stores are still open (and really busy).

[Ixion]

...
I do know that opening an automotive related business between 8-10am on a Saturday morning is folly if you haven't got paperwork to do; Kiwis do like to indulge on a Saturday morning sleep in, and thus don't come in before 10am.

From my own perspective, if I were managing a bike shop, I would offer to the employees this schedule of work:
Tue-Fri: 10am-6:30pm
Sat: 12am-5pm
Sun: Closed

Now, THOSE hours would work splendidly for me. Evening to rush in on way home from work and order stuff. Saturday afternoon (after sleep in) to browse.

(BTW it's not justa sleepin that Kiwis like on Saturday morning)

You need to get out more.

No point. The shops are never open.

[KelvinAng]

Sat: 12am-5pm

You slave-driver!

Yes a Saturday sleep-in would be nice. I've lost count of the number of Saturdays I've planned to wander the street of bike shops, only to decide against it because I woke up at 10 and they close at 12.

[Brian d marge]

Carry on

This Saturday Sunday thing really is a western mind set , Your in the Service industry as in SERVICE , You provide a service to YOUR customer

If most of your customers are farmers then you tailor your service to meet their needs

if they are office workers then go out and get their money out of their wallets

Anyway what do I care , is not my business and not my money , Im quite happy doing what I do , and what other people do isn't an issue

Stephen

who at 11 am in the morning has just finished his "Sunday morning Ixioning" now for a cup of coffee and let the show begin

( Get the music cranked up the cad going ,,,yeahaaa)

[Winston001]

..

Bike shops just don't seem interested in customers that have a job.....I guess maybe they're focused on the lawyers and dentists who can take time off whenever they want for a trip to the bike shop during the day.

Which is exactly as it should be Les. Can't have poor folks hanging around the mighty machines.

[Robert Taylor]

I have never worked this one out.

I did ask in a motorbike shop once and the reply was "we don't make enough money on a sunday to break even".

Surely more people are around to buy accessories and trial bikes on a sunday than on a week day?

Just never made sense, you don't see harvey norman or dick smith closing early on a sunday (just comparing some retailers).

It just seems like a really strange business model to me. At first I thought they closed to allow for shop organised rides but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Frankly, NZ is way oversubscibed with bike shops relative to our tiny population. That means too many struggle to make a decent profit and proof of that is how many you see come and go. The current strength of the $US and the relative ease of internet trading also perpetuates the whole issue.
We need a lot less shops that are stronger and will then have the turnover and profitability to have 7 day trading with staff rostering. And excellent staff of course.
But less shops will mean having to travel further. Its difficult to have your cake and eat it too.

[dipshit]

I agree, opening your retail store between 9am and 5pm on weekdays only like many shops do is one of the most dim ideas ever conceived.

But your typical NZ bike shop doesn't want "customers" coming in and disrupting their busy day of important work running a bike shop. We are more of an inconvenient nuisance for them.