https://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2025/01/30/parent-company-discontinuing-genuine-innovationsI know this isnt a mountain bike company per se but this speaks directly to the topics of this thread. This quote stood out quite a bit...
I know this isnt a mountain bike company per se but this speaks directly to the topics of this thread.
This quote stood out quite a bit to me: "An Illinois Tool Works (ITW) spokesperson confirmed the decision to BRAIN. A JBI spokesperson told BRAIN ITW will concentrate instead on automotive products. Slime and Fix A Flat are included under ITW's Tire Repair group."
Genuine Innovations going away while Slime stays in business is a cruel joke. Genuine Innovations made things that worked (inflators, tire plugs, etc). Slime tubes just make a mess.
If this is ongoing I wonder if Trek will start warehousing in Canada or partner with a company that's warehousing in Canada. Their stuff isn't "Made...
If this is ongoing I wonder if Trek will start warehousing in Canada or partner with a company that's warehousing in Canada. Their stuff isn't "Made in USA" anymore, at best they're painted there (P1), Trek's shown strong supply chain management over COVID so I'm sure they could figure something out. Whether or not they bother is another question - a Trek suit once told me in ~2018 they sell more bikes dollar for dollar on the Trek credit card than all of the Canadian market.
Trek is telling the Canadian dealers to stock pile before the tariffs hit. Probably not a good idea considering the general public will be boycotting US...
Trek is telling the Canadian dealers to stock pile before the tariffs hit. Probably not a good idea considering the general public will be boycotting US brands and the pandemic inventory mess is still pretty fresh.
That sounds like a stitch up waiting to happen - the whole model of making dealers load up on stock one way or another never seemed to work in my opinion. So when the new models come out, if customers actually want to buy them (at new pricing) the shops will be stuck with dead stock or not able to buy the new models, or worse the tarriffs get walked back! I hope the dealers don't take that advice
If this is ongoing I wonder if Trek will start warehousing in Canada or partner with a company that's warehousing in Canada. Their stuff isn't "Made...
If this is ongoing I wonder if Trek will start warehousing in Canada or partner with a company that's warehousing in Canada. Their stuff isn't "Made in USA" anymore, at best they're painted there (P1), Trek's shown strong supply chain management over COVID so I'm sure they could figure something out. Whether or not they bother is another question - a Trek suit once told me in ~2018 they sell more bikes dollar for dollar on the Trek credit card than all of the Canadian market.
Trek is telling the Canadian dealers to stock pile before the tariffs hit. Probably not a good idea considering the general public will be boycotting US...
Trek is telling the Canadian dealers to stock pile before the tariffs hit. Probably not a good idea considering the general public will be boycotting US brands and the pandemic inventory mess is still pretty fresh.
That sounds like a stitch up waiting to happen - the whole model of making dealers load up on stock one way or another never seemed...
That sounds like a stitch up waiting to happen - the whole model of making dealers load up on stock one way or another never seemed to work in my opinion. So when the new models come out, if customers actually want to buy them (at new pricing) the shops will be stuck with dead stock or not able to buy the new models, or worse the tarriffs get walked back! I hope the dealers don't take that advice
It's all about inventory management. The shop I was at did significant "in-house" warehousing (in quotes because about half was at a separate facility) and managed COVID extremely well while everybody else was floundering. We were getting calls from all over North America for stuff we had in stock, at one point we had something like 10 of a particular full suspension model while they were weaponized unobtanium everywhere else. It's not like this was a COVID only decision either, the model at this shop was that if people got to touch the bike, they'd be more likely to buy the bike.
It's ultimately a business management decision. Obviously different models work well for other places. This shop was supposed to be the friendly, approachable barn-like bike shop instead of the stained wood, leather aproned and well-kept moustache "bespoke" shop you also see nowawdays. But when you have 180 day terms to sell bikes, you can inventory quite a bit before running into problems. Do that over ups and downs for nearly 4 decades, and you can make it work. Further, lots of shops don't have capital to make such a model work too, so that's going to be a hurdle in many cases.
It's interesting to note though that when I asked the manager about the Trek thing they said "yeah we think we've done all our buying for the year for Trek already, not sure what else we want this year", so it does sound like they're taking less stock from Trek generally than other years.
Specialized just closed their Canadian offices and I'm not sure if they'll be shipping from the US or if they kept the warehouse open. Trek ships...
Specialized just closed their Canadian offices and I'm not sure if they'll be shipping from the US or if they kept the warehouse open. Trek ships from 3 US warehouses to Canada.
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who...
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
That super duper sucks. Sorry man. Do you get two weeks or a severance package, or just "bye" in email form?
interesting pull from the bomb hole podcast (snowboarding) about patagonia's zero profit model. in the full episode they discuss some of the same things we've been...
interesting pull from the bomb hole podcast (snowboarding) about patagonia's zero profit model. in the full episode they discuss some of the same things we've been talking about here (brands being bought, sold, licensed etc).
Good pull. In this thread, we seemingly stumbled on an idea that should be obvious; certain founders want to optimize for profit (I'd say most), while certain founders want to optimize for mission. If you are in the latter category, by default private equity or some kind of strategic financial buyer is often a mismatch and will perhaps push your business the wrong direction. Every now and then maximizing for profit also maximizes for mission, but we obviously can't bet on that.
While I could poke a lot of holes in Patagonia's execution of mission, I can't poke holes in Yvon's willingness to put his money where is mouth is. He is punk AF in this way, and I really look up to him.
It is fun to look around and try and figure out who is maximizing for what. Its a very fun lens to apply to business as a whole.
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who...
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
That super duper sucks. Sorry man. Do you get two weeks or a severance package, or just "bye" in email form?
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to one of our HR people with any questions. We’ve got three days to get our personal stuff out of the building, and they’re thankfully paying us through the month of February so all of us have a fighting chance to possibly find work.
There was no warning, no communication from anyone high up enough in the company that could make a decision like this, and little to no remorse for booting six people out on a random Tuesday. Not to mention the employees of the seven other locations they closed.
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who...
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to...
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to one of our HR people with any questions. We’ve got three days to get our personal stuff out of the building, and they’re thankfully paying us through the month of February so all of us have a fighting chance to possibly find work.
There was no warning, no communication from anyone high up enough in the company that could make a decision like this, and little to no remorse for booting six people out on a random Tuesday. Not to mention the employees of the seven other locations they closed.
I'm so sorry, what a crappy thing to go through ☹️
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who...
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
We did a variety of things. Direct to rider test rides and sales, service, online order fulfillment, and event support. Basically a hybrid of a regular bike shop and a shipping warehouse.
First: Tayrob that's some nasty news to get on a Tuesday morning
Hope you'll get through it ! (makes you realise how lucky one can be to get a decent and stable job but also that nothing's granted. Seems quite brutal on the other side of the pond too...)
Second: What's the current health of FOX Racing Shox ? They seemed to have vastly reduce their involvement on the DH scene lately (Gwin racing, IFR, Commencal Muc-Off, now Mondraker also (Or I have not understood well this one ?))... Some heavy hitters have switched to the competition in the past 2 years, don't you think ?
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who...
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to...
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to one of our HR people with any questions. We’ve got three days to get our personal stuff out of the building, and they’re thankfully paying us through the month of February so all of us have a fighting chance to possibly find work.
There was no warning, no communication from anyone high up enough in the company that could make a decision like this, and little to no remorse for booting six people out on a random Tuesday. Not to mention the employees of the seven other locations they closed.
first off, condolences. shitty way to be let go. glad to hear you at least got some severance.
second - trying to read the tea leaves of what it means the spesh is pulling back / giving up on d2c after only a couple years.
Hey ! First: Tayrob that's some nasty news to get on a Tuesday morning :( Hope you'll get through it ! (makes you realise how lucky one...
Hey !
First: Tayrob that's some nasty news to get on a Tuesday morning
Hope you'll get through it ! (makes you realise how lucky one can be to get a decent and stable job but also that nothing's granted. Seems quite brutal on the other side of the pond too...)
Second: What's the current health of FOX Racing Shox ? They seemed to have vastly reduce their involvement on the DH scene lately (Gwin racing, IFR, Commencal Muc-Off, now Mondraker also (Or I have not understood well this one ?))... Some heavy hitters have switched to the competition in the past 2 years, don't you think ?
I won't pretend to know what any of it means, I know everyone will be way down compared to a couple of years ago so I'm not sure how you would interpret it, especially when SRAM isn't public in the same way.
I'm not super surprised they are supporting less teams - in reality I'm not sure how much return on investment you would get since there is really only 2 brands that dominate the market. There's not a whole lot of risk that Giant will spec something like Ohlins on their entry level Trance bikes just because they are present on more WC teams.
Hey ! First: Tayrob that's some nasty news to get on a Tuesday morning :( Hope you'll get through it ! (makes you realise how lucky one...
Hey !
First: Tayrob that's some nasty news to get on a Tuesday morning
Hope you'll get through it ! (makes you realise how lucky one can be to get a decent and stable job but also that nothing's granted. Seems quite brutal on the other side of the pond too...)
Second: What's the current health of FOX Racing Shox ? They seemed to have vastly reduce their involvement on the DH scene lately (Gwin racing, IFR, Commencal Muc-Off, now Mondraker also (Or I have not understood well this one ?))... Some heavy hitters have switched to the competition in the past 2 years, don't you think ?
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like TayRob can throw up their resume. Probably too low of a volume, and I know other sites exist for this? I like to think the color one can garner via forums like this adds a little special something, but maybe I'm wrong.
As to this question, Fox seems completely healthy. I did a pretty thorough analysis a few quarters back, but nothing stood out as being problematic. They seem to have really good management and have steered the company well since IPO. I know, I know "but the Float X2 warranty problem". Meh. That's part of running a business, and they did fix the problem.
If anyone cares I can do a full breakdown of the company, where they are at, and any interesting tidbits, but I think its pretty boilerplate/boring/well run company fodder. EG, the opposite of Pierer Mobility.
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like...
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like TayRob can throw up their resume. Probably too low of a volume, and I know other sites exist for this? I like to think the color one can garner via forums like this adds a little special something, but maybe I'm wrong.
As to this question, Fox seems completely healthy. I did a pretty thorough analysis a few quarters back, but nothing stood out as being problematic. They seem to have really good management and have steered the company well since IPO. I know, I know "but the Float X2 warranty problem". Meh. That's part of running a business, and they did fix the problem.
If anyone cares I can do a full breakdown of the company, where they are at, and any interesting tidbits, but I think its pretty boilerplate/boring/well run company fodder. EG, the opposite of Pierer Mobility.
I'd be interested in that analysis, both on it's own and in contrast to some of the brands that are on a less stable footing right now...
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to...
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to one of our HR people with any questions. We’ve got three days to get our personal stuff out of the building, and they’re thankfully paying us through the month of February so all of us have a fighting chance to possibly find work.
There was no warning, no communication from anyone high up enough in the company that could make a decision like this, and little to no remorse for booting six people out on a random Tuesday. Not to mention the employees of the seven other locations they closed.
first off, condolences. shitty way to be let go. glad to hear you at least got some severance.second - trying to read the tea leaves of...
first off, condolences. shitty way to be let go. glad to hear you at least got some severance.
second - trying to read the tea leaves of what it means the spesh is pulling back / giving up on d2c after only a couple years.
From what I can gather, almost all D2C and online fulfillment will eventually be consolidated into that massive warehouse in SLC they picked up roughly a year or so ago. Along with many other things like all warranties, wheel/suspension services, and their internal schooling.
As for all the well wishes…thank you. I’ve been turning wrenches for almost 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me. I’ve already poked my head around locally and pinged some friends and things don’t look horribly bleak, so I got that going for me…which is nice.
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who...
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to...
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to one of our HR people with any questions. We’ve got three days to get our personal stuff out of the building, and they’re thankfully paying us through the month of February so all of us have a fighting chance to possibly find work.
There was no warning, no communication from anyone high up enough in the company that could make a decision like this, and little to no remorse for booting six people out on a random Tuesday. Not to mention the employees of the seven other locations they closed.
Sorry... it always sucks. I don't believe in the silver lining bullshit stuff, but things will get better.
The only thing that sucks worse than working for a PE is working for a publicly traded company, we're reduced to numbers in quarterly SEC reports.
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like...
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like TayRob can throw up their resume. Probably too low of a volume, and I know other sites exist for this? I like to think the color one can garner via forums like this adds a little special something, but maybe I'm wrong.
As to this question, Fox seems completely healthy. I did a pretty thorough analysis a few quarters back, but nothing stood out as being problematic. They seem to have really good management and have steered the company well since IPO. I know, I know "but the Float X2 warranty problem". Meh. That's part of running a business, and they did fix the problem.
If anyone cares I can do a full breakdown of the company, where they are at, and any interesting tidbits, but I think its pretty boilerplate/boring/well run company fodder. EG, the opposite of Pierer Mobility.
I'd be interested in that analysis, both on it's own and in contrast to some of the brands that are on a less stable footing right...
I'd be interested in that analysis, both on it's own and in contrast to some of the brands that are on a less stable footing right now...
Link to blog post (too long to post here). I did this really fast and will clean it up in the morning. Long story short, Fox is in worse shape than I thought, but I do not believe they'll be the next Pierer Mobility or similar. In fact, this appears to be a case study in good management, with a team making adjustments as the underlying market dynamics move and shift.
As a side point, I wanted to contrast the company against others in the space or what we might call "good" but there really wasn't anything appropriate.
I'm confident they'll be around well into the future but am am not a buyer of the stock for a handful of reasons including broad consumer weakness, elasticity of their product mix and tariffs.
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to...
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to one of our HR people with any questions. We’ve got three days to get our personal stuff out of the building, and they’re thankfully paying us through the month of February so all of us have a fighting chance to possibly find work.
There was no warning, no communication from anyone high up enough in the company that could make a decision like this, and little to no remorse for booting six people out on a random Tuesday. Not to mention the employees of the seven other locations they closed.
From what I can gather, almost all D2C and online fulfillment will eventually be consolidated into that massive warehouse in SLC they picked up roughly a...
From what I can gather, almost all D2C and online fulfillment will eventually be consolidated into that massive warehouse in SLC they picked up roughly a year or so ago. Along with many other things like all warranties, wheel/suspension services, and their internal schooling.
As for all the well wishes…thank you. I’ve been turning wrenches for almost 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me. I’ve already poked my head around locally and pinged some friends and things don’t look horribly bleak, so I got that going for me…which is nice.
There was a mas exodus of competent staff to greener pastures/alternative industries over COVID because it was probably the worst time our lifetime to be a bike shop employee (in the sense that this is a 'lifestyle' industry and most competent people could be making more using their competencies elsewhere and COVID sucked 95% of the fun and perks away). While the industry is still 'down', I'd have to think an experienced wrench could get picked up without too much issues these days in anticipation of service and general spring recovery. In my locale almost all the seasoned vets are now doing something else. I'm sure you'll manage to find something and hopefully in a week or two so you can enjoy some enforced paid time off before starting somewhere new.
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like...
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like TayRob can throw up their resume. Probably too low of a volume, and I know other sites exist for this? I like to think the color one can garner via forums like this adds a little special something, but maybe I'm wrong.
As to this question, Fox seems completely healthy. I did a pretty thorough analysis a few quarters back, but nothing stood out as being problematic. They seem to have really good management and have steered the company well since IPO. I know, I know "but the Float X2 warranty problem". Meh. That's part of running a business, and they did fix the problem.
If anyone cares I can do a full breakdown of the company, where they are at, and any interesting tidbits, but I think its pretty boilerplate/boring/well run company fodder. EG, the opposite of Pierer Mobility.
Link to blog post (too long to post here). I did this really fast and will clean it up in the morning. Long story short, Fox...
Link to blog post (too long to post here). I did this really fast and will clean it up in the morning. Long story short, Fox is in worse shape than I thought, but I do not believe they'll be the next Pierer Mobility or similar. In fact, this appears to be a case study in good management, with a team making adjustments as the underlying market dynamics move and shift.
As a side point, I wanted to contrast the company against others in the space or what we might call "good" but there really wasn't anything appropriate.
I'm confident they'll be around well into the future but am am not a buyer of the stock for a handful of reasons including broad consumer weakness, elasticity of their product mix and tariffs.
Hope that helps!
Finally found time to give the post the attention it deserved, thank you for taking the time to research and write it.
Are the two items below why profits dropped almost 100% (from $116.8M to $6.7M y/y)? That seems like a crazy decline...
Powersports and automotive saw a pullback in top line; automotive appears to be a problem child atm. The company is eating some charges related to some restructuring/other matters that is hurting (but not completely killing) profitability.
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like...
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like TayRob can throw up their resume. Probably too low of a volume, and I know other sites exist for this? I like to think the color one can garner via forums like this adds a little special something, but maybe I'm wrong.
As to this question, Fox seems completely healthy. I did a pretty thorough analysis a few quarters back, but nothing stood out as being problematic. They seem to have really good management and have steered the company well since IPO. I know, I know "but the Float X2 warranty problem". Meh. That's part of running a business, and they did fix the problem.
If anyone cares I can do a full breakdown of the company, where they are at, and any interesting tidbits, but I think its pretty boilerplate/boring/well run company fodder. EG, the opposite of Pierer Mobility.
Link to blog post (too long to post here). I did this really fast and will clean it up in the morning. Long story short, Fox...
Link to blog post (too long to post here). I did this really fast and will clean it up in the morning. Long story short, Fox is in worse shape than I thought, but I do not believe they'll be the next Pierer Mobility or similar. In fact, this appears to be a case study in good management, with a team making adjustments as the underlying market dynamics move and shift.
As a side point, I wanted to contrast the company against others in the space or what we might call "good" but there really wasn't anything appropriate.
I'm confident they'll be around well into the future but am am not a buyer of the stock for a handful of reasons including broad consumer weakness, elasticity of their product mix and tariffs.
I've never purchased anything from them, but when I was younger and dreamed about custom building a really nice new MTB, I always enjoyed experimenting on their website. My dream is to basically be what they (and others like Fanatik) are - someone who helps people build cool/custom bikes for a living. Definitely a bummer to see places like that not make it.
Finally found time to give the post the attention it deserved, thank you for taking the time to research and write it.Are the two items below...
Finally found time to give the post the attention it deserved, thank you for taking the time to research and write it.
Are the two items below why profits dropped almost 100% (from $116.8M to $6.7M y/y)? That seems like a crazy decline...
Powersports and automotive saw a pullback in top line; automotive appears to be a problem child atm. The company is eating some charges related to some restructuring/other matters that is hurting (but not completely killing) profitability.
This is correct. We’ll get more clarity when they report FY earnings in a few weeks, but restructuring-related charges have impacted profitability significantly. However, since these are one-time expenses, they’re not as concerning as they might seem.
Wall Street typically overlooks one-time events—whether positive or negative—unless they’re significant enough to threaten the company’s viability. After all, in theory, a company’s stock price reflects the net present value of all future cash flows discounted to today.
That said, the stock has taken a substantial hit over the past year (or really 2). I unpacked the main drivers to this in my blog post, but the TL;DR is the company is not as strong as it once was. The main catalyst for this really isn't COVID or mismanagement of inventory however. Its higher rates, softening consumer spending, and (from what I can tell) a tough automotive market.
not sure why insta embed isn't working, so here's screenshot and text of caption. bummer for staff there : ( the "outdoor vertical experts" paragraph is gross.
caption - The parent company of @outsidemagazine has laid off 20 members of the magazine’s editorial and business staffs, leaving doubt about the ongoing viability of the publication in print and online. The news came in a companywide email last Thursday from CEO Robin Thurston announcing the purchase of Inntopia, travel booking software used by Vail, Alterra Mountain Company, and others. Employees affected by the mass firing said one print editor and three online editors remain. Those who lost their jobs include longtime top editor Chris Keyes, thirty-year veteran and head of sustainability Kristin Hostetter, and brand director Mary Turner.
Robin Thurston did not respond directly to a request for comment, but a member of Outside’s external public relations firm emailed this statement:
“With the acquisition of Inntopia, we decided to restructure some of our editorial team to allow our outdoor vertical experts to own their categories across the entire platform. Focusing on categories like Snow, Cycling, Hiking + Camping, Wellness, MTB, Tri/Run, Climbing, and Food + Fitness enables our content creators to contribute their expertise across our portfolio and grow critical areas of audience engagement like video, mapping, and our activity feed platform. Our editorial team across all of the Outside Inc. brands remains one of our largest groups of full-time employees, in addition to freelancers and contributors who support our beloved content and storytelling. Last week’s layoffs impacted 20 individuals across the Editorial, Product, Marketing, Sales, and Finance teams, eight of which were local to Colorado.”
Thurston did comment to A Media Operator, which covers online publishing. He said, “Many people come to our properties, they want to know where to go, right? They want to know what to do. If we write a story about the top five ski resorts in North America, we don’t guide you after that into the travel booking. We just kind of say, ‘Hey, here’s some great information from a travel writer, good luck on your own, go find how to book that. Go find the ski instructor. Go figure out how to buy tickets.’”
Backed by venture capital, Thurston’s Pocket Media bought three divisions from Active Interest Media in 2020 (including Backpacker, SKI, Climbing, and other titles) and then purchased Outside from longtime owner Larry Burke in 2021. It also bought Pinkbike, Gaia mapping service, and numerous outdoor-recreation publications. Since then, it has funneled editorial content into subscription-based Outside+ and gone through two previous rounds of major layoffs.
This recent round of layoffs has left employees reeling. Those we spoke to were granted anonymity to speak candidly. Many are negotiating their severance; the one offered by the company was “weak,” said one.
Positions that were eliminated include the vice president and general manager of Outdoors, the VP of data and analytics, senior brand director, editor in chief, head of sustainability, managing editor, three senior editors, two associate editors, assistant editor, senior photo editor, and group creative director. Other business side layoffs include the director of sales operations, director of SEO, associate director, technical ad ops, social media analyst, and digital production senior manager.
Genuine Innovations going away while Slime stays in business is a cruel joke. Genuine Innovations made things that worked (inflators, tire plugs, etc). Slime tubes just make a mess.
That sounds like a stitch up waiting to happen - the whole model of making dealers load up on stock one way or another never seemed to work in my opinion. So when the new models come out, if customers actually want to buy them (at new pricing) the shops will be stuck with dead stock or not able to buy the new models, or worse the tarriffs get walked back! I hope the dealers don't take that advice
It's all about inventory management. The shop I was at did significant "in-house" warehousing (in quotes because about half was at a separate facility) and managed COVID extremely well while everybody else was floundering. We were getting calls from all over North America for stuff we had in stock, at one point we had something like 10 of a particular full suspension model while they were weaponized unobtanium everywhere else. It's not like this was a COVID only decision either, the model at this shop was that if people got to touch the bike, they'd be more likely to buy the bike.
It's ultimately a business management decision. Obviously different models work well for other places. This shop was supposed to be the friendly, approachable barn-like bike shop instead of the stained wood, leather aproned and well-kept moustache "bespoke" shop you also see nowawdays. But when you have 180 day terms to sell bikes, you can inventory quite a bit before running into problems. Do that over ups and downs for nearly 4 decades, and you can make it work. Further, lots of shops don't have capital to make such a model work too, so that's going to be a hurdle in many cases.
It's interesting to note though that when I asked the manager about the Trek thing they said "yeah we think we've done all our buying for the year for Trek already, not sure what else we want this year", so it does sound like they're taking less stock from Trek generally than other years.
They also quietly closed all of their US direct to consumer “fulfiment centers” as of 9am this morning. Source: I was one of the employees who woke up to not having a job.
That super duper sucks. Sorry man. Do you get two weeks or a severance package, or just "bye" in email form?
Oh man. That's grim.
Good pull. In this thread, we seemingly stumbled on an idea that should be obvious; certain founders want to optimize for profit (I'd say most), while certain founders want to optimize for mission. If you are in the latter category, by default private equity or some kind of strategic financial buyer is often a mismatch and will perhaps push your business the wrong direction. Every now and then maximizing for profit also maximizes for mission, but we obviously can't bet on that.
While I could poke a lot of holes in Patagonia's execution of mission, I can't poke holes in Yvon's willingness to put his money where is mouth is. He is punk AF in this way, and I really look up to him.
It is fun to look around and try and figure out who is maximizing for what. Its a very fun lens to apply to business as a whole.
I got a 9am text message from our regional manger saying to give him a call, he said we were shut down, and to refer to one of our HR people with any questions. We’ve got three days to get our personal stuff out of the building, and they’re thankfully paying us through the month of February so all of us have a fighting chance to possibly find work.
There was no warning, no communication from anyone high up enough in the company that could make a decision like this, and little to no remorse for booting six people out on a random Tuesday. Not to mention the employees of the seven other locations they closed.
what did these centers do? pickup location?
I'm so sorry, what a crappy thing to go through ☹️
We did a variety of things. Direct to rider test rides and sales, service, online order fulfillment, and event support. Basically a hybrid of a regular bike shop and a shipping warehouse.
Hey !
First: Tayrob that's some nasty news to get on a Tuesday morning
Hope you'll get through it ! (makes you realise how lucky one can be to get a decent and stable job but also that nothing's granted. Seems quite brutal on the other side of the pond too...)
Second: What's the current health of FOX Racing Shox ? They seemed to have vastly reduce their involvement on the DH scene lately (Gwin racing, IFR, Commencal Muc-Off, now Mondraker also (Or I have not understood well this one ?))... Some heavy hitters have switched to the competition in the past 2 years, don't you think ?
first off, condolences. shitty way to be let go. glad to hear you at least got some severance.
second - trying to read the tea leaves of what it means the spesh is pulling back / giving up on d2c after only a couple years.
@TayRob bummer to hear. that sucks.
This data here might have some insights, they are a publicly traded company - https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FOXF/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMCywAivwipfhybXTlDUBdBWPQIalBGWz6Z2ZSESBEq9eM6_QrXV6dratch_BwatygY3Y5xRf3eSLGLIsOcsPx7ksbrS-bSTKGRdX2BurTqKc22o1X8OK1rknw-JcMlYmrwJ-XDJtj39oHQRDOCt4AITUvISnmIZyusH9paTQuRV
I won't pretend to know what any of it means, I know everyone will be way down compared to a couple of years ago so I'm not sure how you would interpret it, especially when SRAM isn't public in the same way.
Or read through their investors page - https://investor.ridefox.com/press-releases/news-details/2024/Fox-Factory-Holding-Corp.-Reports-Third-Quarter-Fiscal-2024-Financial-Results/default.aspx
I'm not super surprised they are supporting less teams - in reality I'm not sure how much return on investment you would get since there is really only 2 brands that dominate the market. There's not a whole lot of risk that Giant will spec something like Ohlins on their entry level Trance bikes just because they are present on more WC teams.
@TayRob sorry about the bad news. Been (am) there! Maybe we should start a bike industry job thread where we post up positions and people like TayRob can throw up their resume. Probably too low of a volume, and I know other sites exist for this? I like to think the color one can garner via forums like this adds a little special something, but maybe I'm wrong.
As to this question, Fox seems completely healthy. I did a pretty thorough analysis a few quarters back, but nothing stood out as being problematic. They seem to have really good management and have steered the company well since IPO. I know, I know "but the Float X2 warranty problem". Meh. That's part of running a business, and they did fix the problem.
If anyone cares I can do a full breakdown of the company, where they are at, and any interesting tidbits, but I think its pretty boilerplate/boring/well run company fodder. EG, the opposite of Pierer Mobility.
I'd be interested in that analysis, both on it's own and in contrast to some of the brands that are on a less stable footing right now...
From what I can gather, almost all D2C and online fulfillment will eventually be consolidated into that massive warehouse in SLC they picked up roughly a year or so ago. Along with many other things like all warranties, wheel/suspension services, and their internal schooling.
As for all the well wishes…thank you. I’ve been turning wrenches for almost 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me. I’ve already poked my head around locally and pinged some friends and things don’t look horribly bleak, so I got that going for me…which is nice.
Sorry... it always sucks. I don't believe in the silver lining bullshit stuff, but things will get better.
The only thing that sucks worse than working for a PE is working for a publicly traded company, we're reduced to numbers in quarterly SEC reports.
Link to blog post (too long to post here). I did this really fast and will clean it up in the morning. Long story short, Fox is in worse shape than I thought, but I do not believe they'll be the next Pierer Mobility or similar. In fact, this appears to be a case study in good management, with a team making adjustments as the underlying market dynamics move and shift.
As a side point, I wanted to contrast the company against others in the space or what we might call "good" but there really wasn't anything appropriate.
I'm confident they'll be around well into the future but am am not a buyer of the stock for a handful of reasons including broad consumer weakness, elasticity of their product mix and tariffs.
Hope that helps!
There was a mas exodus of competent staff to greener pastures/alternative industries over COVID because it was probably the worst time our lifetime to be a bike shop employee (in the sense that this is a 'lifestyle' industry and most competent people could be making more using their competencies elsewhere and COVID sucked 95% of the fun and perks away). While the industry is still 'down', I'd have to think an experienced wrench could get picked up without too much issues these days in anticipation of service and general spring recovery. In my locale almost all the seasoned vets are now doing something else. I'm sure you'll manage to find something and hopefully in a week or two so you can enjoy some enforced paid time off before starting somewhere new.
Finally found time to give the post the attention it deserved, thank you for taking the time to research and write it.
Are the two items below why profits dropped almost 100% (from $116.8M to $6.7M y/y)? That seems like a crazy decline...
Powersports and automotive saw a pullback in top line; automotive appears to be a problem child atm.
The company is eating some charges related to some restructuring/other matters that is hurting (but not completely killing) profitability.
Good read as always Jeff 👍
Ta
It looks like Wrench Science is closing their doors - https://www.bicycleretailer.com/retail-news/2025/02/08/suppliers-wary-wrench-science-informs-them-closure
I've never purchased anything from them, but when I was younger and dreamed about custom building a really nice new MTB, I always enjoyed experimenting on their website. My dream is to basically be what they (and others like Fanatik) are - someone who helps people build cool/custom bikes for a living. Definitely a bummer to see places like that not make it.
This is correct. We’ll get more clarity when they report FY earnings in a few weeks, but restructuring-related charges have impacted profitability significantly. However, since these are one-time expenses, they’re not as concerning as they might seem.
Wall Street typically overlooks one-time events—whether positive or negative—unless they’re significant enough to threaten the company’s viability. After all, in theory, a company’s stock price reflects the net present value of all future cash flows discounted to today.
That said, the stock has taken a substantial hit over the past year (or really 2). I unpacked the main drivers to this in my blog post, but the TL;DR is the company is not as strong as it once was. The main catalyst for this really isn't COVID or mismanagement of inventory however. Its higher rates, softening consumer spending, and (from what I can tell) a tough automotive market.
Lets see what Q4 brings!
More layoffs at Outside, coinciding w/ the purchase of https://www.bicycleretailer.com/announcements/2025/02/06/outside-intera…
not sure why insta embed isn't working, so here's screenshot and text of caption. bummer for staff there : ( the "outdoor vertical experts" paragraph is gross.
caption - The parent company of @outsidemagazine has laid off 20 members of the magazine’s editorial and business staffs, leaving doubt about the ongoing viability of the publication in print and online. The news came in a companywide email last Thursday from CEO Robin Thurston announcing the purchase of Inntopia, travel booking software used by Vail, Alterra Mountain Company, and others. Employees affected by the mass firing said one print editor and three online editors remain. Those who lost their jobs include longtime top editor Chris Keyes, thirty-year veteran and head of sustainability Kristin Hostetter, and brand director Mary Turner.
Robin Thurston did not respond directly to a request for comment, but a member of Outside’s external public relations firm emailed this statement:
“With the acquisition of Inntopia, we decided to restructure some of our editorial team to allow our outdoor vertical experts to own their categories across the entire platform. Focusing on categories like Snow, Cycling, Hiking + Camping, Wellness, MTB, Tri/Run, Climbing, and Food + Fitness enables our content creators to contribute their expertise across our portfolio and grow critical areas of audience engagement like video, mapping, and our activity feed platform. Our editorial team across all of the Outside Inc. brands remains one of our largest groups of full-time employees, in addition to freelancers and contributors who support our beloved content and storytelling. Last week’s layoffs impacted 20 individuals across the Editorial, Product, Marketing, Sales, and Finance teams, eight of which were local to Colorado.”
Thurston did comment to A Media Operator, which covers online publishing. He said, “Many people come to our properties, they want to know where to go, right? They want to know what to do. If we write a story about the top five ski resorts in North America, we don’t guide you after that into the travel booking. We just kind of say, ‘Hey, here’s some great information from a travel writer, good luck on your own, go find how to book that. Go find the ski instructor. Go figure out how to buy tickets.’”
Backed by venture capital, Thurston’s Pocket Media bought three divisions from Active Interest Media in 2020 (including Backpacker, SKI, Climbing, and other titles) and then purchased Outside from longtime owner Larry Burke in 2021. It also bought Pinkbike, Gaia mapping service, and numerous outdoor-recreation publications. Since then, it has funneled editorial content into subscription-based Outside+ and gone through two previous rounds of major layoffs.
This recent round of layoffs has left employees reeling. Those we spoke to were granted anonymity to speak candidly. Many are negotiating their severance; the one offered by the company was “weak,” said one.
Positions that were eliminated include the vice president and general manager of Outdoors, the VP of data and analytics, senior brand director, editor in chief, head of sustainability, managing editor, three senior editors, two associate editors, assistant editor, senior photo editor, and group creative director. Other business side layoffs include the director of sales operations, director of SEO, associate director, technical ad ops, social media analyst, and digital production senior manager.
I wonder how long we will be left on the grandfathered cheaper Trailforks subscription...
100% just officially announced they will be discontinuing their Helmet and Protectives lines.... in a letter sent to their dealers this AM
Shimano released earnings today and continues to churn along "doing just fine". No surprise. https://www.bicycleretailer.com/international/2025/02/12/shimano-2024-s…
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