Vulpine, gone.

bendertherobot

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/vulpin ... ion/021223

arthur_scrimshaw

And only two weeks before that put this out

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/vulpin ... ign/021119 and announced they had raised £141000 from the crowdfunding that day, I'd be feeling pretty pissed off if I was one of those funders.

luv2ride

Yeah, just seen that. Many on here won't be surprised as they were clearly struggling. I still like some of their kit that I use regularly, was decent enough but way overpriced at RRP.

Feel sorry for the staff involved if it folds completely. On the other hand I'll be looking out for a bargain rain jacket in Dutch orange :oops:

ugo.santalucia

There is probably only so much room at the top... and way too many players... with Rapha, Assos selling only top dollar and most other brands having a range of top end stuff, they were probably struggling.

gweeds

I was their first ever customer and met Nick just a few months before they launched. We've become good friends. I'm heartbroken for them all. He worked his absolute backside off to try and make it. Just gutted.

meanredspider

I tried an order with Vulpine a year or two back and was underwhelmed with the quality of what turned up and the whole lot went back.

sloppyschleckonds

meanredspider wrote:

I tried an order with Vulpine a year or two back and was underwhelmed with the quality of what turned up and the whole lot went back.

#CSB

meanredspider

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

I tried an order with Vulpine a year or two back and was underwhelmed with the quality of what turned up and the whole lot went back.

#CSB

Why thank you!

daniel_b

Shame :-(

FatTed

Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:

And only two weeks before that put this out

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/vulpin ... ign/021119 and announced they had raised £141000 from the crowdfunding that day, I'd be feeling pretty pissed off if I was one of those funders.

No one lost any money, The money is only collected if the Funding is successful.

rusty_nail

It's a shame as I really like the brand and the Hoy range. Whenever I did their surveys I always suggested having lower RRPs year-round. Their model of high prices which were then discounted 60% or more twice a year was crazy.

Man Of Lard

They seemed (to me) to have a sale on almost as frequently as OakFurnitureLand (the new Allied Carpets of promotions). That suggests that they knew they couldn't sell at their desired price point, that doesn't matter if you can at least break even. This news implies that they weren't doing that.

pastryboy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

There is probably only so much room at the top... and way too many players... .

This. So manycompanies selling 90 quid+ jerseys. The market cant be that big for them, most peoplei see are in the likes of altura.

slowmart

It's a volume game, the more you have made the less the unit cost. Fast moving stock and short lead-time for production is critical. Constant discounts with a new premium brand increases the headwinds for the longterm by diluting your brand and the perceived value that the customer is experiencing.

I went to see a clothing manufacturer who had knocked his trade sales on the head and sold only to the public via a website. I asked him how he maintained his margin without the volume that trade sales leverage at which point he got shirty and I put him on pro forma. Amazingly we didn't do business.

I don't know Nick but I doff my cap in respect to him in following his dream and no doubt for putting substantial personal funds and assets up to get the business moving.

meanredspider

Man Of Lard wrote:

They seemed (to me) to have a sale on almost as frequently as OakFurnitureLand (the new Allied Carpets of promotions). That suggests that they knew they couldn't sell at their desired price point, that doesn't matter if you can at least break even. This news implies that they weren't doing that.

And, judging by the comments on Commuting Chat, even if you ordered in one of their sales, you'd wait an eternity to get your stuff. I think by this point the writing was on the wall.

I've every respect for people that start and run their own businesses. I've done it and both my brothers have and do and it's very tough. Personally, I could never quite figure out what Vulpine wanted to be. If you compare/contrast with a Rapha (for instance) it's very clear and always has been what they were trying to be (buy into it or not).

kingrollo

Shame when any business goes bust.

That said I brought a jacket from them earlier this year which was described as waterproof - its probably the most un waterproof jacket I have ever owned ! - the clunky website didn't inspire confidence either.

Sure planet x will be interested in buying up the brand !

awavey

meanredspider wrote:

Man Of Lard wrote:

They seemed (to me) to have a sale on almost as frequently as OakFurnitureLand (the new Allied Carpets of promotions). That suggests that they knew they couldn't sell at their desired price point, that doesn't matter if you can at least break even. This news implies that they weren't doing that.

And, judging by the comments on Commuting Chat, even if you ordered in one of their sales, you'd wait an eternity to get your stuff. I think by this point the writing was on the wall.

I've every respect for people that start and run their own businesses. I've done it and both my brothers have and do and it's very tough. Personally, I could never quite figure out what Vulpine wanted to be. If you compare/contrast with a Rapha (for instance) it's very clear and always has been what they were trying to be (buy into it or not).

the thing is Im actually surprised by reading all those comments, and the ones on quality too, as I never had any issues with the quality or delivery times when I used them, and if i had returns/swaps for sizes they were turned around reasonably quickly I felt given the size of the company

but and its a big but I guess and probably is part of the reason they are where they are if others felt like me, actually I havent ordered anything from them in the past two years, because none of the stuff they were producing I particularly felt I wanted, and on the rare occasions there were, some of the coats/jackets looked ideal for the times you dont want turn up to the pub to meet friends looking like youve just left the gym, the price was astronomically high, if you end up wearing a jacket that costs more than the bike you are riding on, theres something gone awry.

the thing is what is the value of the brand for any potential buyers/vulture capitalists (sic), as it doesnt feel alot sadly.

ugo.santalucia

awavey wrote:

the thing is what is the value of the brand for any potential buyers/vulture capitalists (sic), as it doesnt feel alot sadly.

There is no value in the brand... 95% of cyclists out there have never heard of Vulpine, me included

cougie

Only bought one bit of Vulpine in a sale. Wasn't fit for purpose let alone the original price point. I guess their target market is well off city boys. There's just not enough of them.

flasher

Weren't they initially tied up with Evans and Hoy, think that may have put me off tbh.

daniel_b

I tried to order from them in one of their flash sales, was it last year?

Only one item out of 6 turned up, and I had to chase for a refund, despite waiting the 3 weeks they had advised.

Most recently I ordered some jeans, reduced from one hundred and something silly, to £50.
Perfectly happy with them for that amount, potentially worth £70 on a good day.
Sorry to see a UK business fold, especially one that's cycle related.

imafatman

Never heard of them. Quick look on their website reveals a bunch of normal looking clothes being pitched at cyclists. Not sure what niche that is trying to fill? Like the casual yet serious cyclist who wants to mooch around tound on their bike in normal looking clothes, but wants to wear special cycling clothes that only look like normal clothes?

tried to fill a gap that doesn't exist if you ask me.

sloppyschleckonds

imafatman wrote:

tried to fill a gap that doesn't exist if you ask me.

Went from nothing to a £5m a year business in 5 years, thats some gap

imafatman

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Went from nothing to a £5m a year business in 5 years, thats some gap

Fair enough they must have sold a few bits so I'm obviously not one of their target customers. Technically they went from nothing to a £5m business and then back to nothing again

awavey

Flasher wrote:

Weren't they initially tied up with Evans and Hoy, think that may have put me off tbh.

no tbf their stuff they only sold via their online store and their occasional factory sales, the Hoy collaboration stuff which only kicked off in 2015ish, and they started out 2012ish so going for 5 years or so, ended up in Evans because Evans were selling Hoys bikes as well, though it was simpler to just get it via Vulpine as Evans never seemed to hold much of it in stock anyway.

matt_n-2

I only ordered from them once and had a pretty bad experience tbh.

Ordered a black softshell Randa and was initially sent an orange (yep really!) Fortress jersey minus the arm warmers.

I then had the fun and games of explaining that I had received a completely different jersey minus some items, I had a few email exchanges with them when they received my return and questioned why I was sending an orange Fortress back when I had ordered a black Randa.

They then told me that they had no more stock of the Randa and would I like a refund, so I agreed.

Then the next day a black Randa turns up!

I was really disappointed with the fit and material, the arms were massive in circumfrence, I ordered a large which fitted across the chest well but the arms were like wind socks and whilst I'm not Arnie, I'm not stick thin either.

The material was nothing like softshell either, quite rigid and hardshell like imo.

It went back and I got my money back, but a bizarre experience!

bernithebiker

Simply far too many brands jostling for position in the (too small) high end cycle clothes market.

To pay over £100 for shorts and £200 for jackets, they need to be really special, and most are not.

bendertherobot

It's not just position. It's stock lines. Rapha took an awful long time to get to the number of items they now sell. Vulpine seemed to have masses of things. That requires stock and dilutes demands for certain items.

philbar72

ugo.santalucia wrote:

awavey wrote:

the thing is what is the value of the brand for any potential buyers/vulture capitalists (sic), as it doesnt feel alot sadly.

There is no value in the brand... 95% of cyclists out there have never heard of Vulpine, me included

this... I know of other people that use it but really, it was in an overcrowded market, and I'd heard people complain about the quality. so I wouldn't buy it especially as a lot of decent budget kit is out there.

kingrollo

I brought the randa jacket for £50 just after christmas. OK - but nothing to go wild about. - Its isn't waterpoof either.

rick_chasey

bendertherobot wrote:

It's not just position. It's stock lines. Rapha took an awful long time to get to the number of items they now sell. Vulpine seemed to have masses of things. That requires stock and dilutes demands for certain items.

arguably there are still too many...

I'm increasingly bamboozled by the choice.