Originally Posted by
Siu Blue Wind
Maybe they are closing because people slammed them on internet forums and they lost business. *shrugs*
Nah, this town has been saturated with bike shops for a while & I figured a few were going under in the recesssion. I'm just surprised it was Performance. We have a couple of very large boutique shops in the highest rent shopping districts, with an awful lot of bikes in the $3k-$10k range on the floor. When you go in on a Saturday afternoon & there are 2 customers & 6-8 employees, something's got to give. I'll be surprised if we don't lose one of them in 2009. With so many people finally worried about their mortgages, credit card balances and dwindling 401K's , how many will spend $6000 on a bicycle next year??
I'd thought Performance filled a need for tightwad DIY types like me, & was attractive to people wanting entry & mid-level bikes. Maybe with Target, Walmart, Sports Authority, REI, a couple of mom and pop small shops and the boutiques, Performance was too much in the middle & didn't fit any niche. Looking at the Performance website, I didn't see any other stores liquidating. Fresno must have been their lowest performer.
Even though I want to support the local shops, I have to look out for my own budget and will end up spending most of my money online. With several bikes in the stable & usually having critical spare consumables on hand, I don't need to spend $55 locally for a tire I can buy online for $30 because I cut a tire on Friday & want to ride on Saturday.