NumbersGuy

So, the owners of this local bike chain decided to sell to Trek, likely due to the business not being all that profitable to them (you know, the purpose of being in business). They happily taking took the money from Trek and moved on. Perhaps they could have sold to a local and kept i from going corporate, maybe there were no other buyers or Trek offered a much larger sum. You continue to hold them in high esteem.

Trek purchased a chain of bike shops and has shifted the focus to Trek products and not products made by their competition to turn the business into something profitable enough to remain viable moving forward. You hold them in low esteem.

I'm not a big fan of Trek's approach to bike shops, but I'd rather there be a Trek bike store than no bike store at all. Trek and Specialized aren't forcing these independent shop owners out. The owners are struggling and looking for a way out of the business. They're happy to get paid for their business by the big evil corporations but get presented as victims by the cycling population.

The shareholders of big corporations (including all of us with any sort of retirement or investment accounts) demand increased revenue and profits so the value of our shares increase and we get more dividends so we can retire sooner, buy more things, etc. This causes the big corporate bike brands to transition the stores they buy to focus on selling their goods so they can meet those demands.

Why is it that nearly nobody acknowledges that we the citizens are demanding conflicting things for our own benefits. Corporate greed is just another variation on the individual greed that permeates our society. We want it all and want someone or everyone else to be willing to give up something so that we can have more of what we want.

End of rant...