Cannondale ONLY LBS
 

I see a store with a Cannondale sign that spans the width of the store. What? I entered. Very posh. Well done decor, lots of bikes and accessories and clothing. Four salesmen offer help - I'm the only customer. And they are polite enough to stay away after I say "no." After I've cruised all the bikes, I engage a salesman.

• There are 3 Cannondale factory stores in the world - Long Island, NY, Cambridge, MA, and Framingham, MA (this last store, the one I visited, is not even in the Cannondale web site0
• I found it incredibly impressive to see such a complete array of bikes. Even the biggest stores I've visited only have a smattering of the different models available from any manufacturer.
• Cannondale had a LOT of different bikes (I think the following is roughly right)-
  • Road - the CAAD (aluminum) 5 and 8 series, each with 4 or 5 different component levels
  • Road - the carbon bikes, with 3 series having different levels of carbon construction, each with 4 or 5 different component levels
  • Road "Endurance" aluminum plus 3 levels of CF, each with 4 or 5 different component levels
  • Triathlon bikes, two models, each with 4 or 5 different component levels
  • Cyclecross bikes, two models, each with 3 or 4 different component levels
  • Mountain bikes, full-suspension, hard tails, etc. - 45 models including different component levels
  • That's about 87 models BEFORE getting into Recreation, Urban, Womens, Tandems, Kids bikes
    • The "Bad Boy" series - single-side forks, 28" wheels with "Thickslick" tires? Have I entered another galaxy?
• And of course the store did not have all the models - but they had a lot (no tandems, only 2 tri bikes, few kid bikes).

I found it very entertaining.

By the way, when I checked their web site, I noticed the Cambridge store has a work area equipped with work stand(s?) and tire pump 24x7. The LI and Cambridge store both offer "Wrench and Ride" nights.

Where were the Domanes and S-Works??

Must be new. I grew up in Framingham and it definitely wasn't there back in my day. Current CAAD series is 8 and 10 by the way

Like I said - it's so new they don't even have it listed on their website.

Oops on the CAAD's - I was awash in too much info. Ironically the only Cannondale model I was aware of was the CAAD 10. I was "aware" but not very much. I thought it was a CF bike!

These LBS like to stick to companies that only sell exclusively through them. I know a shop that dropped Ridley after Ridley started selling on PerformanceBikes or whatever online site it was. Plus CompetitiveCyclist has huge discounts on various less known bikes.

Which is unfortunate since I think LBS should buy different bikes from different companies that best suit their clientele. Why not sell a Trek Domane, Specialized Roubaix, and Scott CR1 along with the Cannondale Synapse? Rather than have large stocks of bikes like CAAD10, or EVO that most people aren't going to want just because shop decided to be exclusive to one brand? To me that's stupid.

Actually, they're not traditionally LBSes in a sense in that they're exclusive dealers. Not sure about Cannondale stores, but Trek stores are locally owned, they're just exclusive franchisors of Trek bikes. In return for their exclusivity, I'm sure they receive better product pricing, which translates to higher margins.

had no idea about the cannondale store. I know (and have been to several times) the giant store near fenway, nice guys there, but a bit too far for it to be a go-to spot for me

But probably lower sales. Why stock on up on Trek models that have low sales when you can sell models from other brands that sell well? In this case it's a Cannondale factory store. But the Cannondale shops I been to, pretty much exclusive to just Cannondale. And I don't think they do that much business since I haven't seen any new Cannondale bikes around here this year. So this shop gets good prices and deals on Cannondale but sell so few I don't see anyone riding a new Cannondale? Great business model... :/

This is true. There is a shop near to me that is Trek only. They only offer Trek and Bontrager stuff and they seem to be doing pretty good.

If you they were doing well, probably expanded the business and the owner wouldn't have to work, off vacationing in his second home in Hawaii. Have enough income to pay your techs far above standard. Just saying, if you're still working a small shop selling Treks, you're not doing that well.
- Doubt your shop owner is riding around in a Masserati and shop employees making 22/hour cause selling Trek's exclusively a good business model.
- This brand exclusivity benefits the brand much more so than the shop. I know Specialized for example do not provide the same discounts to a shop that isn't Specialized exclusive.
- I also doubt the tactics these brands use to force shops to sell their brand exclusively is legal. But so many things law is murky and corporations get away with what they want.

The Trek store reminds me of Performance Bike, 'cept they only sell Trek.

That's like asking a Ford dealer to sell Chevys. I bought my Trek from a Trek Bike store like the Cannondale one, I get better service than I had received from other stores in the past, get problems and questions resolved much quicker as well.

I think most of the LBS around me are basically exclusive shops. Most specialize in 1-3 brands at the most. I have yet to find a shop where I could really shop around for any brand I want

Lower sales aren't always a bad thing if margins on what you do sell are higher. A lot of shops make most of their actual profits on service anyway, which is one of the reasons running a bike shop is a tough business. Can't say about Cannondale, but you may have noticed that Trek stores are predominantly in areas with very good demographics, so they probably sell fewer bikes overall, but make it up on service as well as sales of higher-end units that carry higher margins.

A few things:

I am not aware of any brand that offers additional discounts for being exclusive. Generally, they offer lower dealer pricing when you buy X amount of product for your annual stocking order, regardless of whatever else you carry. However, this usually entails them wanting you to stock X amount of house product as well, such as Bontrager fro Trek dealers and Pearl Izumi for Shimano dealers now that they are direct only.

Specialized is the only company to my knowledge that really, REALLY tries to push other product out of their dealer's shops. The company I work for dropped Specialized a few years back for this very reason. At the moment, we carry Trek, Electra (now Trek owned) Cannondale, Salsa, BMC and Colnago. We previously carried Scott, which is what Specialized had issue with, even though we were selling a ton of bikes for them.

I've very rarely seen shops that are exclusive to one brand. Mostly for the reasons listed. It's better to have more than one option for the same range. Looking for comfort? I can show a customer a Domane, Synapse and Grand Fondo in one day.

I'll not pretend to know the specifics of exclusive shops because I've never worked for one, but occasionally, we will get a bike from a manufacturer that is "on loan" where we don't pay for it unless we sell it (I can get you a sweet deal on a first gen Impec). Perhaps this happens in one form or another at some of these exclusive shops.

Fair enough, I was basing that off the amount of bikes they sell and all the service they do. Their maintenance department is always busy even in the winter when other shops are slow. Now you could be right, they may not be doing well at all. I can't confirm that.

One thing I wouldn't do is assume they are not doing well because the owner isn't driving an exotic car and living in a beach house some place. That's the thinking that has so many Americans in trouble now. I don't think everyone that makes good money wants to live that way. One of the Attorney's in my office makes a very handsome salary and could afford to drive an exotic car but he drives a Prius.

The last four years I have gotten a raise every year but I still live off what I was making in 2010 and drive my paid for, Ford explorer. It's not because I have to but I choose to in order to have a nice retirement and not have to work until I'm 80. To each his own though.