Originally Posted by CrankyOne

It's not just shops closing. Bicycle sales in the U.S. have declined annually for 17 straight years (based total sales from all sources; LBS, Online, Dept/Discount store, etc.). 2018 actually saw a slight revenue increase of 2% though unit sales were down 9%.

More: https://streets.mn/2015/07/29/why-ar...the-14th-year/

OTOH, sales and service revenue have been steady or increasing for European countries over this period (and prior). European bike shops also get more revenue per bike because people are more willing to invest in a bike that they will use frequently for transportation and they also do about 3x the service revenue (relative to bicycle sales) of U.S. shops.