rex615

Love this stuff, also the bit about "This dog for sale".

Cheers

Mumonkan

Scrodzilla

Yeah, that's our neighbor's dog China. She hangs out in the sun outside our shop all day long.

A cool little fact about her is that she once belonged to Megan Fox and was once on the cover of People Magazine (but she's sensitive about her celebrity past).

Mumonkan

thats how you know fox is an awful human. who would give her up?

Scrodzilla

The story is that Chad (her new owner) was once married to a girl who was friends with Megan Fox. China apparently killed a pet bird that was given to Megan by Mickey Rourke (this kind of **** can only happen in LA), so China was given to her friend. Then Chad and his wife got divorced, he took China and moved to San Diego, where she lives the life of a normal dog.

Regulatori

Love the new site. You would think with so many tech nerds out there, building a clean/uncluttered website would be expected.

Easy navigation, items really stand out against the white background, no having to dig for information....everything just seems intuitive.

Only thing I would change is the three smaller sections (wheel building/tools/clearance) might be overlooked because they hide below the featured product section. Maybe just keep the smaller frames but move them up with the other sections/above the feature product section. That's all I can think of....top notch though.

You're absolutely killing me using those Suzie Pro Max GOLD hub set as your NOS picture. The Goldfinger Bond song started up in my head. Muuuuuuuuuuuust resist.

hamfoh

I'm on page 1 and page 418. I need to bookmark this place again and make it a regular!

First off, congrats on the new site and the continued success. I just spent half an hour on your site and I'm impressed, you have just about anything someone on this forum would want. I haven't had the time to get on my e-commerce game the way you have (even your early all black website days), and I'm truly envious.

If these are too personal, just ignore. *begins interview*

My first question is in regards to the site and its now massive inventory. Do you really have every item on your site on hand on a day to day basis? I know being in Cali you can probably get most things in 1 day as standard shipping, and you're close to BTI and QBP distribution centers, which has to be great, and could afford you the option of waiting to order something, until an order is placed, but I saw so many things I know are continuously low stock I wondered if you just had a sizable place for storage you used instead? I remember when you were in MA, that some 725 color/size combos would have a disclaimer that they may need to be ordered, I don't see that around anymore

For shipping larger items, bikes, frames, etc. Do you actually unpack these and show them on the floor and then repack them when sold online? It seems like a PITA so try to keep some in the back already boxed by distributors, but that's not always an option with my <1500sq feet. You guys were online before in store so I imagine you guys have packing and boxing down to a science.

Are you using a POS to track inventory? We've been using square from our inception, and the last shop we were at did lightspeed. They seem more or less the same now. I like the data square gives me on the backend so haven't found a reason to mess with anything else. There's an old shop close to us that's inventory system is "make sure more money comes in than goes out" and it works for them. Always curious how other Small business owners handle it.

Ever had the thought to venture into geared bikes in the shop?

What % of the shop would you say is online versus in store?

How do you guys handle after hours security? I see you have a glass door and big windows. We have the same, we had two break ins with bricks through the door. We put (fashionable?) burglar bars (ugh) on the glass after that, but then our door was kicked in multiple times - so now a night doesn't go by where I'm not checking the camera at 3-4-5am it seems. Your door swings out based on the photos so you have that leg up, but is there anything else you've invested in (besides a basic alarm) that's cost efficient?

*ends interview*

Regulatori

For stuff like that, shoot him an email from his website, Barbara Walters. I think he's cool with us talking about the site at the moment because of the update but he typically likes to keep the business side out of this thread. This is more for general info stuff.

seau grateau

Pump your brakes, kid. That man is a national treasure.

hamfoh

Either way, it's here now. If he wants to respond he can do so with a pm, publicly or not at all.

Regulatori

Sorry if that came across dickish, not my intention.

Why not delete the post and just send him an email to his shop's email?

My *gut* feeling is you'll at least have a chance getting a reply that way....this way...0%

(This is coming from a guy that can annoy the hell out of him...if he replies to 50% of my idiotic questions, I call it a win).

Phil_gretz

^ agree. Delete the post. Not appropriate questions for a web forum. Period.

SpeshulEd 

I totally dig the questions. As a person that works in analytics/sales, I enjoy reading about successful businesses.

Bike shops seem to be a dying breed, but some stand out and thrive...it's definitely interesting to read/hear about what they're doing to set themselves apart from the rest.

Nagrom_

It's not appropriate to ask Scrod questions in the ask Scrod thread. Huh.



I have a question Scrod. How do you grow a beard thicker than the skin of your cohorts?

Scrodzilla

I think they're all valid questions from one shop owner to another but I do agree it's little too involved for a forum.

The shop has come a very long way since we first started and the vast majority of the way we do things was figured out and/or perfected by us, usually through old-fashioned trial and error. Everyone does things differently and I'm sure you can figure out what works best for your shop.

To answer one question, though, there's no reason or need for us to sell anything but track and fixed gear stuff. There are enough shops selling road & mountain bikes already and we've got this **** dialed. Everyone who has set foot in the shop always compliments us for the insane amount of products we keep in stock at all times, so I guess that question is answered too.

Scrodzilla

By eating the beards of my enemies.

SpeshulEd 

Be careful, you have competition!

steve-in-kville 

hahaha!!

hamfoh

Ask Scrod thread: most serious place on the internet. Not appropriate they say!

I appreciate the response Scrod, and all the people who confused my questions to you as questions to them.

For the record: I wasn't asking him to divulge industry secrets, maybe the 1 day shipping thing was a bit too involved. You can basically talk to any rep that visits regularly and they'll tell you anything you want to know about shops on their stops, some aren't regional either so I've heard stories about RG without ever stepping a foot in San Diego. I do understand it being too involved for a thread like this though.

Either way, trial and error is definitely the best way of learning most things and it's not that I'm looking to copy anything from Scrod, I'm just generally curious as we both operate in the same type of business, in a similar amount of sq footage, just thousands of miles apart. Next time I'm in California I'll have to make time for SD to shoot the **** and check out the shop. I'm happy for you and that you've been able to make just doing the fgss really well a viable business in a place that has sunshine 365 days a year. Livin' the dream!

IFPCL

Ham I have a question for you: what is your buddy's back routine? cuz damn

50voltphantom

This is so key. SS/FG riders are under-served by the typical bike shop.

veganbikes

They took his beard!
dey terk his berd
derkaderrr

Leukybear 

Dear Scrod,

Would you be able to provide any input on how well the new cinelli work frameset handles rust from observations at the shop?

From what I've read up on about the frameset, it was basically designed to rust to give each their unique patina. Painted with a minimal clearcoat protection which doesn't do much in regards to moisture to speed up the process.

50voltphantom

I'm truly excited for 5-10 years from now when people are blasting and powdercoating those frames and putting new Cinelli decals on them. I like to think at least a couple people will come up with some interesting color schemes.

Scrodzilla

A friend of mine from back on the East Coast bought one right when they first came out and rides it nearly every day in all kinds of weather without any signs of rust or "patina" yet.

I think Cinelli just put that disclaimer on there because for the same reason lawnmowers come with a giant sticker instructing to keep your hands out of them - because people are dumb. They most likely just don't want to deal with everyone trying to get replacements if their raw steel frames eventually start turning colors.