BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Bike imports are up significantly in recent months, according to U.S. Department of Commerce figures released Wednesday. But importers are still struggling to make up for reduced shipments earlier in the year combined with unprecedented demand from retailers and consumers.
The upshot is that suppliers and retailers are living shipment-to-shipment; even as bikes arrive at levels a bit higher than in recent years, no one has real inventory to pull from.
"Now it's once a week — or sometimes, if we get lucky, twice a week — it's like Christmas. The truck pulls up and we're like, 'OK, it's going to be a good day, or a good weekend,'" said Michael Gacki, manager of the Bicycle Plus location in Coppell, Texas. "If I get 24 or 25 bikes, 21 of them are already spoken for. The others have a life expectancy of maybe three hours," he said.
Gacki said the four-store chain began ordering aggressively early this year, and at one point his location had over 100 bikes in boxes, as well as a packed showroom with about 50 bikes on the ceiling. But most of the store's inventory has been depleted since early May. The store is now taking $50 refundable deposits on bikes on order. "I'm telling people it will be 2-14 weeks, but it won't be any quicker. That's all we can say."
The import figures released Wednesday show year-to-date imports through June, the latest figures available, were up just 3.1% over the same period last year, in units.