Originally Posted by
musicmaster
IMHO, national chains (or at least regional chains) are going to be the future. They can leverage lower operating costs (by combining budgets and consolidating positions) and have a larger buying power for further discounts on stock. In theory, this leads to higher margins.
The two big things that Performance provided that other LBS's couldn't are:
1 - Competitive pricing. The Fuji bikes, especially with the semi-frequent 20% off sales were a lot better than what other LBS's were offering. If you were lucky and could stack a clearance price with one of those discounts, you could get some killer deals. I picked up a 2016 Fuji Tiagra Disc for $440 or so last fall. Yes, I was lucky with that purchase, however those deals did exist.
2 - Array of parts and tools. Most of the LBS's I've been to don't sell many tools for the DIY'er and only stock a handful of parts (cables, chains, pads, etc). Add in their "Spin Doctor" brand items, and I'd frequently pop-in for random tools and parts I needed at fair pricing.
ASE, the parent corp for ASI, Performance, and Nashbar, was basically the most vertically integrated company in the cycling business. They owned design, manufacturing(by partly owning/being owned by a manufacturing plant), and distribution/sales. Even they couldnt keep it together.
Now they couldnt keep it together in part because of the debt they took on when ASE was created due to being effectively forced to absorb Performance and Nashbar a handful of years ago, but in the end even the most vertically integrated company couldnt make it. National chains arent even that integrated.