NYMXer

With sales comes service, and Walmart will never pay any employee enough to provide that level of quality service.

drlogik 

I shop at Walmart ONLY as a last resort but that's beside the point. Walmart is a commodity provider. Cost margins are measured in very small increments and profits are realized by large volume sales. It's the volume sales that is their secret. Their buying power from their suppliers enables them to get a reduced cost on an item and you multiply that across all their products and it's been a recipe for success over the years. That's their business model.

Selling high-end bikes is a boutique not volume or commodity business. That doesn't really fit the Walmart model. Does that mean Walmart would never do it? No. "If" they found a way to turn high-end bikes into a commodity sales product by negotiating cost reductions to the point that they compete with rank-and-file bikes, then be VERY afraid. I just don't see them being able to do that....for now.

The key here is the service that is required with high-end bikes. I don't see Walmart investing in a bike service department that is qualified, competent and can turn-over the volume of repairs necessary to justify its existence. There to though, if they figure that out also, then, well, be very afraid. I just don't see it happening though.


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GlennR

Sure and Mark Cavendish signs with the Walmart cycling team to compete in the tdf on a Cervelo P5X.

indyfabz

Those two examples involve some self determination. WM cannot make, say, Specialized sell them bikes. In fact, the model suggested by the OP runs counter to the strategy of higher end bike manufacturers, which is to market a quality brand, not something cheap, which is what WM is associated with.

12strings

1. "Understand that there would be almost zero crossover between clienteles (no one buying a $3000 Trek is also looking for a cheap Chinese colander ... or even a pair of $5 Bell cycling gloves."

MY REPLY: This is true, though I myself am a bit of cross-over shopper. I bought a$800 "entry-level" (ie, 4-5x the cost of a wal-mart bike) road bike, and often buy accessories online...but have used walmart for things like: Floor-pump, bottle cages, blinky tail lights, etc...I'm especially happy with my $4 zefal bottle cages. Of course I'm not a 3k bike customer...for me, $800 was a total splurge.


2. "I've often wondered how hard it would be for them to build something akin to a no frills early 90's rigid mtb."

MY REPLY: This baffles me as well, but I assume it is easily explainable this way: The don't care about serving the custmomer, only about what sells and makes money...so a $175 full-suspension, disk-brake MTB looks much flashier and will sell more...even though it will not last as long, or likely ride as well as a rigid, simple bike. Whenever I advise people on walmart bikes, I urge them toward the simplest bikes they can find, either single-speed, or perhaps single-chain-ring, definitly no suspension.

Retro Grouch 

The really funny part of that is that one of Sam Walton's early concepts was that people shouldn't be made to wait in line to give somebody their money

Retro Grouch 

I don't think that building such a bike is the issue. MARKETING such a bike to sell in reasonable quantities might be.

DaveQ24

Well ... I wouldn't assume so much. Maybe my town is an anamoly, but the local WM is about 3/4 mile from the upscale mall with Nieman Marcus, S5th Ave. Nordstrom and Macy's as anchors - and there is a lot of overlap in the customer base. I see many people I know there shopping who are significantly wealthier than I am, and I''m comfortably middle class. I''m a pretty regular customer there - maybe I''m your "almost zero" - but I've got 4 bikes that listed at $8000 or over, and a $200 Wal-Mart bike. I shop at WM for certain things pretty regularly - some groceries and cleaning products, some things are decent bargains there - and some things I just like, including some of their athletic clothing. There are pros and cons to a lot of things in life. WM has both.

TimothyH

Walmart already sells ultra high-end products on their website. They have made a move toward more organic foods and sell some pretty high end personal grooming products. These are just examples. The Walmart Neighborhood Grocery stores are very nice places to shop.

Keep in mind that Walmart is a multinational corporation and owns assets all over the world. They are also in partnership with many companies which sell high end products. The typical Walmart Super Center is only part of their business. It isn't likely that they will be selling Cervelo S5's at the local Walmart store but it isn't inconceivable that they would sell high end sports gear through a different outlet.

Either way, manufacturers would do what running shoe manufacturers already do. They ship some models to the big box store and other models exclusively to small botique running stores. You can't try on a New Balance 788 at the local running store and then buy it $20 cheaper at the Sports Authority down the road because the Sports Authority won't stock it.


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bmthom.gis

You know what might happen is that people might stop balking at the price of shop quality bikes, especially first time buyers. It is a daily occurance (well, almost) at a shop for someone to come in and look at bikes and make some comment they could get their whole family on bikes from Wal Mart for the price of 1 nice hybrid.
Wally World would have to sell close to what shops sell for, it's not like there is much of a profit margin on bikes anyway.

In the end, I don't think they would sell, their target buyers don't want to spend $4-500 on a bike, or they would be at their LBS instead.

That's not to say you couldn't get a nice one from their website in the future. Phil Wood hubs have made an appearance by 3rd party sellers.

jefnvk

I can find quality name brand products in nearly every department of Walmart. I can buy Samsung TVs and Dell computers and iPhones there. I can buy Michelin tires there. I can buy Under Armour clothing there. I can buy Jack Daniels and Miller Lite and Coke there. I can buy all sorts of Remington and Winchester products in the Sporting Goods. I don't think the availability of those products there have any effect on people's opinion of the product.

This is probably why they wouldn't. Unless guaranteed enough volume, no manufacturer is going to do this, and at the price point they'd still likely need, Wal-Mart is just going to source from someone else as they'd never sell that volume.

I can't say I'm really in the know on bike shop wages, but the people that work at most of mine are frequently the same college kids working at Wal-Mart. Can't imagine the pay at a LBS (or really, most local shops) is THAT MUCH better than Wal-Mart.

1Mule

Don't see Walmart ever getting into serious bike repair any more than they currently do auto repair ie: oil changes, filters, tires and wiper blades, but don't think for a minute that bike manufacturers give a rat's @ss about the welfare of bike shops in comparison to financial bottom line.

FullGas

WalMart...? not a fan of their business model and basic contempt for anti-trust laws which have ruined many small businesses...

refuse to shop there, regardless of how low their prices are.

FrenchFit 

Look at musical instruments, guitars. Fender and Gibson started producing a line for Best Buy Co. and others, then it seems they appeared to retreat ... and I assume they found it was damaging their brand value. But a few other makers doubled down, and Best Buy Co,. is aggressively going after what is thought to be a 8 billion dollar consumer industry. The bike industry is about the same size,...I wouldn't be surprised to find names like Jamis, Surly and KHS sold at Wal-Mart or Target, but not the brand leaders.

My friend bought a Schwinn bike at Wal-Mart. He pretended he bought it at a LBS because he knew I would scold him. The bias we have, other simply don't.

Seattle Forrest

They would have to pay those people more than minimum wage, so it will never happen.

rydabent

Define "high end". At what price point do you no longer get bang for the buck, and start just buying a name.

Seattle Forrest

For a bike? $10.

FarmPond

I've dealt with Wal Mart senior management for my off farm job. They make the most money on groceries plain and simple. Most of their decisions going forward is how to maximize grocery profitability as well as personal products. Everything else is secondary so no way would they add anything that is more than a one time transaction (i.e service after purchase). Adding something that requires service and knowledgeable staff is not ever going to be on their radar.

I never shopped at Wal Mart in the first place but after working with Wal Mart corporate on a project it only further solidified my hatred for the company.

quicktrigger

Try $15/hr as of about a year ago. They cut other things at the time, and insurance sucks, but it is not min wage anymore.

I have no issue with people not liking Wal Mart, but much of the spew in this thread is just that, much of it already refuted. Wal Mart is not a warm fuzzy company, but what large company is? Knock them all you like, but make it reality. Like it or not, they (Wal Mart and other Chains) will expand into new markets, just as Home Depot, Lowes, and most every other chain does. IMHO, the poster above that said that bike shops are likely to become repair centers (i.e. small engine repair for mowers), probable has it right. You don't see TV shops like you did in the 70's anymore, stereo shops are rare, etc etc. Face it, people like to shop at home on their own time, with shoes kicked off, often in their jammies, and the frequently lower price just ices the deal. And if that doesn't cut it, then they like to shop in one place if possible, and that is where Lowes, Wal Mart, Best Buy and others come in. The word is efficient, and the big chains are nothing if not efficient.

Dave Cutter

Sorry you don't like my analogy. But I am pretty sure it predates even my fathers birth. So I can't take credit for it... even though I wish I could. It's a standard for explaining natural change.

Typically... and from time-to-time in all businesses have to set aside their best business practices and build new ones. The businesses that refuse to do this... eventually fail.

Have you ever even been in a Walmart? Do you know anything about Walmart or Sam Walton? Walmart has been incorporating new/additional businesses into their stores... since the beginning. Even the banks... are in their stores!

The marketplace (shops within the shop/store) format isn't that new. I would have guessed everyone would be familiar with the concept. Think "brand name mall". That IS the future of big box stores.... with the box getting even BIGGER.

Seattle Forrest

For what position?

Dave Cutter

Yean the Mafia used to burn down small businesses that didn't play ball. THAT ruined small businesses.

Walmart... like them or hate them is a competitor... period. Everything always changes! Even the bicycles are no longer locally made with steel tubes (at least for the most part). If you don't like the change you see going on today... just wait... the change will also change.

“If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.”

~ Sun Tzu

fietsbob

What if they simply Hired someone who knew what they were doing when they put them together, .. and gave them enough Time , (it will take More )
To actually have them work properly, then gave each a test ride to double check They were in fact adequately functional ?

mrodgers

SuperWalmart has become just Walmart. It wasn't that long ago, at least up here in the north, that you went to Walmart for inexpensive clothes, H&B aids, and household products. You then went to the grocery store for food. Then came SuperWalmart which was the grocery side added. Now no one calls it SuperWalmart any more. It's again just Walmart.

Near me in Grove City, PA, the Walmart is still the old Walmart, no groceries. They have yet to build the SuperWalmart.

Things can and do change. The comment on markup being so low on bikes is with the LBS, not with the manufacturers. The manufacturers are the ones making a killing. It doesn't cost $1000+ to build a decent road bike. To have "good" bikes in Walmart, Walmart would simply demand the manufacturers to sell to them at a certain price point and thus Walmart would be able to sell the same thing the LBS sells for less money.

Either that or, the manufacturers would build to spec for Walmart just like every other company does. The Samsung TV at Walmart or Maytag refrigerator or piece of furniture at Sears is not the same Samsung, Maytag, or furniture that is sold in the "specialty shops" for more money.

Dave Cutter

If I worked at the Walmart Corp Office in Arkansas....

I'd have a buyer set-up a deal with one or two of the best bicycle training centers in the country. Arrange say 4 training classes a year for Walmart employees only.

Then instead of only sending employees that needed bicycle mechanic training I'd send a training specialist or two as well. Then have the Corp training dept then hire a nationally (or even globally) known expert on bicycle repair. Together they would produce a Walmart bike repair shop operations manual.... along with a series of instructional videos.

Then... to re-coop the investment....... I'd create/print a few bicycle repair manuals/books (under a deal with the expert previously hired). I'd sell the books in the stores as well as use Walmart's political connections to make sure federal grant money that buys books for library's across America.... also buys/receives the books.

Besides making money.... it might even produce the best darn local bike repair shops... ever.