BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
"Behind The Bikeshed is more than just a shop, it’s the centre of a cycling community," says the company website. The community is now soon to be poorer, then, because Bernard and Carole Baker have announced their Andover shop is to close on 10th February.
The Baker’s founded their business in 2009.
"As well as selling bikes and equipment, we also have a thriving workshop with Cytech qualified staff, we promote races in conjunction with British Cycling and we organise rides for our community," continues the shop website.
"We also have something quite unique in the bike trade, with two women amongst our five staff. To support this we have a dedicated area within the store for Women specific bikes and equipment, showcasing products from Specialized and Liv."
However, on an earlier Facebook posting there was this anecdote: "We had been seeing strong growth in the women’s market but it’s dropped dramatically in the past 12 months."
The shop’s website states: "On Saturday 10th February Behind The Bikeshed will be closing its doors for the last time.
"For the week that remains we will be clearing all stock including our 2018 bikes together with some of our bike stands and hangers.
"We would like to thank all our customers for their support over the time we have owned the business and hope that you will all continue to enjoy our great sport."
Behind the Bike Shed sponsored a local race series of the same name. The shop’s closure "will not affect our racing and all events will go ahead as published," said the event’s Facebook page.
The closure of Behind the Bike Shed is the latest is a long – and growing – list of recent closures. Late last year BikeBiz showed that the current rate of closures versus bike shop openings is the worst it has been since the 1960s.
High-profile closures in the last week include Wellingborough Cycles and the Specialized Concept Store in Birmingham.
