Local Bike Shop Day 2020 postponed following retailer vote
Posted on in Business News, Cycles News
being informed by the Prime Minister that any unessential shops must close for the safety of people across the UK, following the outbreak of COVID-19.
However, due to the key role that cycling retailers play in the transportation of essential workers, bicycle shops were deemed as a "notable exception" and permitted to stay open.
During these times, bicycles offer a solution to many problems currently being faced by isolating Brits across the UK; a safe mode of transport, a way of keeping fit, a way to get fresh air, all whilst enabling the cyclist to maintain a 2 metre distance from others and have minimal contact with surfaces and objects.
Taking into consideration the key role that bike shops will be playing during these difficult times, and with public safety being of the utmost importance, it is with great sadness that the ACT are announcing the postponement of Local Bike Shop Day 2020.
Local Bike Shop Day was originally set to take place on Saturday the 2nd of May. This decision was not taken lightly, and since it is a day encompassing the whole trade, the final judgement was given to the bike shops that had signup to take part. The ACT surveyed all participating shops last week.
Out of all the respondents the overwhelming majority - over 90% - voted in favour of postponing. Furthermore, other key partners who were supporting Local Bike Shop Day, including Cyclescheme, Insync, Freewheel and Cycling UK were all in agreement that postponement was the right thing to do.
The information obtained through the survey also provided some guidance as to when Local Bike Shop Day should be deferred to. From the results there is a clear month the respondents have in mind; however the finer details need to be agreed upon with all engaged parties before a date is set.
Following suggestions from retailers and suppliers, there may still be some scope for a Virtual Local Bike Shop Day on the originally planned date of the 2nd May. If you have any suggestions how this could work in your shop, please let us know info@theact.org.uk.
More information on the new date and the virtual bike shop day to follow.
In the meantime the ACT have published the latest information and advice tailored specifically for specialist cycle retailers at cycleassociation.uk/covid-19.
The resources section contains specific advice for retailers choosing to remain open and operational advice for mobile mechanics has also been issued.
Reader Comments (3)
Hi there, please can you provide some clarity on Wednesday comment? The original plan was to have LBSD on the Saturday 2nd May.
Over 90% of respondents said they wanted the day postponed till later in the year and 56% said they would consider a virtual LBSD on the original Sat 2nd May.
It is hard for us to state the volumes of IBDs trading in this current climate as not all shops inform us if they are closing or not, however we are working on this with a consumer facing platform so consumers will know which shops are still trading, we will announce this when it is ready.
Tabitha ActSmart, 2 Apr 2020
Hi. I have a Dawes Super Galaxy that is in need of a service for the summer. The bike shop of choice would be Broadgate Cycles in Penworthham, Preston. Therefore I should be grateful to be informed when this shop will be available to carry out the survey. Regards, Tom.
Tom Ashcroft, 6 Apr 2020
To be honest LBSD has never been significant as Wednesdays is the halfway closing day in the area. Weekends would be much better to create a wider reach with some commercial benefits. Having read the article there is very little by way of the statistics. Also what is the percentage of IBDs that are still able to trade or are trading at this point in time?
Daan van Belzen, 1 Apr 2020