And then there were none....
 

Whelp,I guess it was fun while it lasted. The Brompton Junction in Wash DC is now closed. If you need your Brompton worked on,I suggest going to Griffin Cycle in Bethesda,Md and asking for Dave. If he can;t fix it,he can contact me.

Oh no!

Are you OK, work-wise, or on the hunt?

Looking at your signature line, I'm guessing you're an all-around bike mechanic, not just a Brompton specialist. I hope you can find work soon. (or have already)

Sad news. Are there fewer people buying Bromptons because there are fewer people working in Washington DC or on hybrid work schedule?

My partner lived there for a couple of years and were pleasantly surprised to find a lot of bike infrastructure there and easy bike access to the Metro.

I think (?) the closures are happening all over. Is Brompton going to an all business to consumers (B2C) model, with maintenance on call or contracted to generalists in the area? There is value to Brompton specialists, unless others are really well trained in all things Brompton. Or is Bormpton just moving their stores to lower rent areas outside cities?

I also wondered immediately about you Dyna, do tell.

I'm going on unemployment for awhile. I'm retired military and have savings,so I'll be ok. Will prolly go back to my old shop in the Spring.

The DC Junction could've turned a profit if they'd been smart. First,they put it in the wrong location(not to mention how stupid is it to have a 3 level bike shop with no elevator?:mad:). Georgetown rents are $illy high,and there was nothing that made the shop stand out. We even had issues with people waiting to get into the bar next door blocking our storefront so you couldn't tell we were there. They also didn't promote it well. They had Brompton ads on some of the local buses,but it was just a name and pic of the bike. It didn't say where we were located. The cherry blossom festival is a huge thing here in DC,yet they didn't have any marketing about the special edition cherry blossom bikes we had in stock. For black friday we had a printed-out sign that said discounts up to 30% off. This when we had a stack of renewal bikes for sale. They also didn't support us as well as they should have. They would bend over backwards to support dealers,and would even transfer parts from our shop to them,but we'd have to wait to get things we needed. We would regularly run out of racks and wheel hooks. We also weren't a real bike shop. I would do monthly classes teaching folks how to maintain their bikes. I'd tell them about lubing their chain and cables,but would then have to send them to real shops to actually buy lube. We had to purchase disc brake pads from QBP because Brompton doesn't stock them. Hell,when the G Line demos showed up,we had to buy 20" tubes because Brompton didn't supply us with any. And don't get me started on my boss,he should not have been manager.

What really does me is how they tossed me out. My co-worker and I were sitting downstairs when our boss and his boss suddenly rolled in. The top guy said we were going to have "a fun little meeting" upstairs in 5min. When we went up,he read us a form letter stating the shop was closed effective immediately. The week before Xmas and they're giving us the boot with no notice. :mad:

I'm worried about the customers. We had a couple bikes waiting to get picked up,and some folks were waiting on parts to come in. One customer is waiting for a warranty part to be installed and would not trust REI or a certain local shop to do the work. They don't even have a sign in the window saying they're closed. There's going to be folks looking for check-ups and tuneups who are going to get a surprise when they call the shop or stop in.

This was my dream job. It could've been epic. Now the dream is dead. :(

We've got a local shop who can't even install the rear wheel right:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...35b70c4da4.jpg

2 customers came to me with this. Srsly,it says 'top'.

Bromptons are pretty straight forward for most things,but when it comes to the frame bits and things like the funky 2spd derailleur,you want someone who knows what they're doing.

What you explain seems very different from European Brompton Junction shops that are real bike shops but selling only Brompton bikes and have a direct relationship with Brompton UK to receive bikes and parts.

Who is/was the owner of this DC junction, was it owned by Brompton?

What they did was just plain mean. They way they let you go, the timing and the immediacy is deplorable. I hope you spring back with something.

Yep,Brompton owned it,just like the NYC Junction. Things are very different at the London Junction. For example,I didn't have a single tool on the wall,they were all in drawers. They wanted to keep it tidy. So every time I needed a tool,I had to pull it out of a drawer. Was a PITA.

I'd be tempted to put a sign up on the window with your contact info for private work done on Bromptons. Maybe you could build up a local business of your own.

Just tape one to the window every time it gets taken down, and when folks drop in to see why their calls aren't being returned, they'll at least have access to you for cash jobs.

One bad turn deserves another, hehehe.

I'd put an ad on Craigslist, if allowed in terms of use. Don't flame past management (though we are glad to hear your venting here), just something simple:

Brompton service

The local Brompton store was closed permanently on extremely short notice. I worked there as a certified (if true) technician, and have <X> years experience servicing Bromptons. I would be happy to provide private services to you at same rates. Please contact me via <your preferred method of contact>. Thank you.

(optional) If you own a bike left at that shop for service, or have paid for a bike but not received it yet: I'm not in any control of that shop, but I can provide to you contact information to hopefully get things resolved.

Other shop: "If Brompton wanted it installed in only one orientation, then they shouldn't have made it possible to install in more than one."

The opposite:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poka-yoke

I hadn't heard that. Looking online, that seems to refer to a process that "alerts" the operator of the error, like that "TOP" label in the example pictured.

To me, a GOOD poke-yoke is one that prevents it being assembled wrong, and only allows it being assembled correctly.

Early in my career, I designed something for a customer, to their requirements, that had right-hand and left-hand assemblies. The biggest part that was handed, had two holes in each part. One hole was a drain hole that was offset in the handed direction, and needed to be in a place, such that it could be misassembled, but off in rotation. The other hole was for locating the part in the weld fixture, and I designed that so mismatch was impossible, poka-yoke. And I put on the part and assembly drawings a warning in all caps about each hole, "DRAIN HOLE ONLY! DO NOT USE FOR ASSEMBLY LOCATION!", and the other hole, "LOCATION HOLE FOR ASSEMBLY". And each part was stamped R or L. One day I get a call from production, can those parts be mismatched? How important is it? Me: "Why." "Because we welded up a bunch with the parts mismatched." Me: "If it didn't need to be that way, the customer would not have requested it to be that way, because it adds cost. There will be an interference problem." They had to scrap a bunch of parts. Me, I was naive in thinking that the fixture maker and production engineers would follow the drawing, but no, they went rogue, because locating it off the drain hole made for a faster changeover between Right and Left assemblies. I should have personally inspected the fixture design early, but back then, we were taught to "stay in our lane", and I was "Design", at a different location 5 hours away. Subsequently, I never assumed production manufacturing would get it right, I always personally inspected all the tooling.

Brompton is a British company. Being British they believe they're from a large country and have no idea how to deal with sales and marketing to the United States, which is a large country.
I once contacted Brompton about their faulty dealer locator on the website. The problem is, it gives a town but no state, Mt. Airy USA is not a location, Mt Airy, NC and Mt Airy,MD are , and they have a store at one of these places. I e-mailed and attempted to explain the problem, they just couldn't understand. So it comes as no surprise that they would locate in a certain area and then market it badly.