Ribble showroom at the Mailbox

ugo.santalucia

Passed through the Mailbox in Birmingham yesterday to find there is a Ribble showroom.

It all seemed very weird to me... it's the kind of outlet you would expect Tesla or Lamborghini would have, with pristine white spaces and a very limited number of bikes on display. Nothing else, so not a real bike shop... what's the point?

Are Ribble trying to get a slice of the very high end of the market? Why not opening a real bike shop in a street where people can actually get to on a bike?

frgazza

Went there myself to get an inner tube not long after it first opened and was intrigued to be told they don't sell them. Odd!

Gary

ugo.santalucia

frgazza wrote:

Went there myself to get an inner tube not long after it first opened and was intrigued to be told they don't sell them. Odd!

Gary

I am not even sure they sell bikes... you can probably get measured, order one and get it from Ribble... maybe you can go as far as collect it in the shop.

It resembles those Apple concept stores popping up on every high street, except the latter are packed 24/7, whereas the former seems deserted. Wrong spot, me thinks

wongataa

ugo.santalucia wrote:

frgazza wrote:

I am not even sure they sell bikes... you can probably get measured, order one and get it from Ribble... maybe you can go as far as collect it in the shop.

Being able to order a bike sounds like selling bikes to me. You can pick up bikes you have ordered there too.

They do have an examples of there entire range I think. It is nice being able to see their bikes in the flesh if you are think of buying one.

fenix

They had one set up when the Athletics was in Birmingham - not sure if its always there or just on occasions.

ugo.santalucia

wongataa wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

frgazza wrote:

I am not even sure they sell bikes... you can probably get measured, order one and get it from Ribble... maybe you can go as far as collect it in the shop.

Being able to order a bike sounds like selling bikes to me. You can pick up bikes you have ordered there too.

They do have an examples of there entire range I think. It is nice being able to see their bikes in the flesh if you are think of buying one.

I browsed around, but I did not find it a particularly exciting place to be... very few bikes, displayed as if they were canvasses in a museum... all a bit OTT... by contrast the Evans outlet off New Street is much, much nicer.

Bike shops are busy and chaotic, with a lot of stuff to look at... they are not showrooms with 20 bikes... it doesn't work like that 'mfraid

gabriel959

ugo.santalucia wrote:

wongataa wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

frgazza wrote:

I am not even sure they sell bikes... you can probably get measured, order one and get it from Ribble... maybe you can go as far as collect it in the shop.

Being able to order a bike sounds like selling bikes to me. You can pick up bikes you have ordered there too.

They do have an examples of there entire range I think. It is nice being able to see their bikes in the flesh if you are think of buying one.

I browsed around, but I did not find it a particularly exciting place to be... very few bikes, displayed as if they were canvasses in a museum... all a bit OTT... by contrast the Evans outlet off New Street is much, much nicer.

Bike shops are busy and chaotic, with a lot of stuff to look at... they are not showrooms with 20 bikes... it doesn't work like that 'mfraid

I agree to an extent, I have been a couple of times to the Canyon 'bike shop' in Koblenz, it is very similar to what you describe, in fact it is a museum as they have got some of the bikes used to win Grand Tours, World Champs and Monuments and then there is the showroom. When I was there (for about 30 min each time) there were a few people that parted with a few thousand euros, all that said, I needed a floor pump one time and they had one around the back that I could use to pump my Cannondale's tyres!

wongataa

ugo.santalucia wrote:

wongataa wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

frgazza wrote:

I am not even sure they sell bikes... you can probably get measured, order one and get it from Ribble... maybe you can go as far as collect it in the shop.

Being able to order a bike sounds like selling bikes to me. You can pick up bikes you have ordered there too.

They do have an examples of there entire range I think. It is nice being able to see their bikes in the flesh if you are think of buying one.

I browsed around, but I did not find it a particularly exciting place to be... very few bikes, displayed as if they were canvasses in a museum... all a bit OTT... by contrast the Evans outlet off New Street is much, much nicer.

Bike shops are busy and chaotic, with a lot of stuff to look at... they are not showrooms with 20 bikes... it doesn't work like that 'mfraid

The Ribble shop is basically a Ribble version of a car showroom. It just shows the products (bikes) offered by the showroom brand (Ribble). It isn't a regular bike shop that stock several brands of bikes and bike accessories/parts/clothing. For a regular bike shop in Birmingham you go to Evans/Cycle Republic/etc.

ugo.santalucia

wongataa wrote:

The Ribble shop is basically a Ribble version of a car showroom. It just shows the products (bikes) offered by the showroom brand (Ribble). It isn't a regular bike shop that stock several brands of bikes and bike accessories/parts/clothing. For a regular bike shop in Birmingham you go to Evans/Cycle Republic/etc.

I understand what they want to do there, but it doesn't work... it's deserted and frankly unattractive.

fenix

Maybe theyve a cheap deal there just to fill the space ? Empty Units aren't good for anyone.

si.brown

They had a similar store in Cardiff for a few months, was meant to be 3 but apparently they sold so many bikes they extended it to 6. My guess would be they got bargain rent on an empty unit. I suppose it made the brand visible to people who otherwise might not have heard of them?

Moonbiker

Your just not the right kind of cuctomer they are trying to attract with that style of markrting :roll:

The type with a load of money and not much cycling knowlegde but likes the "lifestyle image" of cycling or some such marketing buzzword etc

chris_bass

Moonbiker wrote:

Your just not the right kind of cuctomer they are trying to attract with that style of markrting :roll:

The type with a load of money and not much cycling knowlegde but likes the "lifestyle image" of cycling or some such marketing buzzword etc

yeah i agree, I think they are after the customers who don't necessarily know much about cycling, want to keep fit and have enough money that throwing upwards of £1,500 at a bike is no big deal even if they won't use it more than a couple of times. The mailbox is probably the place for that!

navrig2

This

Fenix wrote:

Maybe theyve a cheap deal there just to fill the space ? Empty Units aren't good for anyone.

and this

si.brown wrote:

My guess would be they got bargain rent on an empty unit. I suppose it made the brand visible to people who otherwise might not have heard of them?

They wouldn't have to sell many to cover the rent and any wages for part-time "manning". Once base costs are covered the exposure and marketing are free.

It's not hard to make brand new and shiny bikes look good with some decent stands and lighting.

cq20

The store in Cardiff had a sign on it on this week (28 June 17) saying that it was reopening on the lower level in the St Davids centre (by the end of the week, IIRC).

buckmulligan

Sure, these days most shopping centres that I go to have a unit acting as a mini car showroom; I don't expect they make many sales out of them, but they run them effectively as a big interactive billboard. Ramming it full of racks of clothing and shelves of "nutrition" like every other bike shop is going to completely detract from what they're trying to do; promote their bikes!

For someone who lives in the area and is interested in buying a Ribble bike it's probably a good place to go and have a poke around some of their models, especially seeing as they don't get much real-life exposure in other bricks-and-mortar stores.