Like many other things, transportation has changed during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Especially in larger cities where the use of mass transit has dropped significantly, people are ditching the subway and opting to take their bicycle. Many people, like my own husband, have purchased a bike for the first time in their adult lives (John got his for recreation, but still!). According to the L.A. Times, urban area ridership is up 21% and rail-trails ridership is up 110% from the same period last year. Cities are beginning to change their landscape in favor of bicyclists. New York City has opened 100 miles of roadway to pedestrians and cyclists. Oakland, California has shut down 10% of streets and Seattle has permanently shut down 20 miles of roads in favor of cyclists.
Wow! Bicycles have been around forever. Why this sudden trend toward the simpler ways of life? Well, I think it’s obvious that no one wants to hop on a bus and ride to work with 50 strangers, masked or not, with Covid-19 seemingly looming on every surface. I think people are craving the good ol’ outdoors. Though I cannot personally imagine riding a bike to work in this Alabama summer heat.
This brings me to the client spotlight. I represented JBI.Bike as the Landlord in an office lease a couple of years ago. They supply bicycles, their components & accessories around the globe with 11 warehouses, one in Birmingham since the 1970s after JBI acquired Dixie Cycles (incorporated 1952). From Birmingham, JBI.Bike supports roughly 450 independent bicycle dealers from Eastern Louisiana, across the state of Alabama and parts of Georgia, to the Florida panhandle. I reached out to my contact for some additional information about the company’s experience during Covid-19 to find out if the bicycle business has really boomed as much as I’ve been reading.
A company representative confirmed that they have experienced a huge boom selling 3-6 months of inventory in any one of the previous few months!
When asked whether they project this trend toward cycling to continue, the company representative said “Absolutely! Not only does JBI feel the bicycle will be more popular as a form of recreation (through the many avenues, road, gravel, mountain, etc.), but also, as a more popular form of commuting in the sense that the bicycle is just as private a vehicle as a car might be. That distance and privacy is valued now, more than ever, for better or for worse. “
Though sales are booming, the industry has still had struggles during the Pandemic- mostly operational and inventory issues. The constraints on the supply chain forced JBI to re-think many elements of both purchasing and sales. The company representative said that their success during this time was not by accident – the company maintains an extraordinarily healthy, forward-thinking, and deep inventory. Though with inventory dwindling, now, JBI has increased production and purchasing in their effort to meet full demand, adjusted, in the coming weeks and months. “We feel strongly that our reaction to these challenges will only and has already made us stronger.” JBI has managed the crisis without applying for government assistance or having laid off a single employee nationwide and with no plans so to do.
If you’ve been thinking about purchasing a bicycle, you might want to go ahead and pull the trigger. The same representative suggests that a retail customer might wait 3-6 months for a bicycle that is not in stock in their local store at this point. By then it may be comfortable enough outside to enjoy the ride!
References:
Bike Sales get a big boost in perfect storm of demand, COVID-19 Recovery and Ebike Maturity
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billroberson/2020/05/29/bike-sales-get-a-big-boost-in-perfect-storm-of-demand-covid-19-recovery-and-ebike-maturity/#63a6df99f919
Thinking of buying a bike? Get ready for a very long wait https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/nyregion/bike-shortage-coronavirus.html
Bicycles have enjoyed a boom during the pandemic. Will it last as car traffic resumes?
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-25/bicycle-business-is-exploding-during-covid-19-will-it-last
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