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Pedal With Ease, Shift With Authority- From Retailer to Retailer w/Larry Black

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This episode’s guest is Larry Black, Founder of Mount Airy Bicycle and College Park Bicycle in Maryland. His shops have been fixtures for 42 years and he is a major proponent of cycling for everyone from toddler to pro. The shops are known for catering to special needs and obscure and unusual merchandise. The shops host special events, support charities, and were recently featured as one of 7 businesses in an annual magazine. This must-listen conversation provides a fantastic retailer-to-retailer guide.

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Pedal With Ease, Shift With Authority- From Retailer to Retailer w/Larry Black

Tue, 7/20

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

bike, bicycle, larry, store, day, customer, people, retailers, buy, employees, years, shop, put, person, great, ride, pay, schwinn, business, sell

SPEAKERS

Heather Mason, Larry Black, NBDA

NBDA   00:10

You are listening to bicycle retail radio brought to you by the National bicycle Dealers Association.

Heather Mason  00:16

Welcome to another episode of bicycle refill radio brought to you by the NBA. This is President Heather Mason. Thank you for listening. If you’re a first time listener, be sure to check out the previous episodes, please leave a review. Today’s guest is Larry black, founder of Mount Airy bicycle and College Park bicycle in Maryland. His shops have been fixtures for 42 years. He is a major proponent of cycling from everyone from toddler to Pro. The shops are known for catering to special needs and obscure and unusual merchandise. The shops post special events, parodies and recently featured as one of seven businesses and an annual magazine. I have a feeling this will prove to be a great you’ve heard it from the retailer conversation and we’re going to dive into specific things from Larry for tips for you to make your business more profitable and successful. Especially thanks to mint socks for their support of the MBA. The freshly minted socks are giving away socks for the months of July and June to retailers for their bicycle retailer excellence check out mint socks at freshly minted calm. Welcome, Larry. Thanks for joining us. Thank you Welcome. Glad to have you here. I’m so excited about today you are a staple on our Monday member mingle calls. Everyone seems to know you. So I think before we get into the conversation, I just like to give our listeners some background on how you got into the industry.

Larry Black  01:39

I’m giving it to you. Okay. Can you give it to me? Before I wrote all this down, gee, where those notes go. Anyway, here’s what I remember when you write things down. Even if you lose it, you remember it. They say remember most of what we write down and most of us we teach I was a wrench. I like motors. I was a little guy. Baseball didn’t work for me. So I turned to bicycles and got a 10 speed and 1961 by 1962. I tried put motors on bicycles. I got a job in a mower and bicycle store. I would volunteer there 1112 and I would try to pilfer motors off of mowers and put them on a bike because that was very small. So this motor was a way for me to I guess compensate. And then during high school in college, I went to high university to study photography, I would come back to that store for the summers. And when I lived in town, I’d work on Saturdays too. And I got interested in the bicycle part of it. We’d go downtown for dinner sometime with our parents and I just remember gawking in the window with these 10 speed bikes with a skinny seat that was I was 11 or 12 and enamored with those things that made me want to give up having to do the motor thing. So I got a 10 speed when I was 11 Schwinn varsity, I campaigned for that $66 it was at a motorcycle store in 1965. I started a little mini bike business motor mini bikes, lost a lot of money, didn’t know much about business subsidized myself but made a lot of people happy. And then I started working at the bicycle store fixing mowers full time got $1 and a quarter an hour was 115 degrees in the back shop sometimes. So that’s how I got used to this weather. So I worked there and in 1971 when the first bike boom came, I had a basically long job 72 and college closed came back to that store to work and I matriculated from the mower and chainsaw and tractor part because the people would come in these old guys in their 20s and 30s. And they would be riding road bikes. And I say well, they can afford cars and motorcycles they’re riding bicycles must be something to it. So I became a bike freak back then. Okay, we had a big safety pin and our bell bottom pants that was a rite of passage showed people that you were a cyclist, big diaper pin on the bell bottoms, tie the ponytail back and we’d ride single speed fixed gear bikes. That was a big first trend that was early 70s. It was a boom we’d get 300 twins in and we’d stay up sometimes all night and I ran the assembly line putting the twins together and worked for a couple more shops making them very wealthy working for very little. And in 1979 a burned out decrepid fecal matter all over the place laundromat at the University of Maryland came open my students I was teaching a Free University bike class there and my students said there’s a bike shop that should go into that laundromat. So one of my students who is Linda now my wife of 40 years and I borrowed a little bit of money 11 $100 for the first month threat and made a bike store out of it doing all the work ourselves pics hammers chisels and being a laundromat we had 440 volts and people were getting sparked and water was coming up all over the place. We hung a bed frame from the ceiling we were basically homeless bed frame from the ceiling. Our little Sheltie was our alarm system and we’d spend nights in the bike shop and no plumbing. We use paper cups and sometimes we go to a dorm to shower and University. We’re right next door to that. And we go to local eateries to wash up and do a little bit more. And that was the beginning of College Park bicycles, August 20 1979. That was the beginning. So what a fantastic and you met your wife and you opened a student in the Free University class and needed a little extra attention. And I thought that might be more personal attention and bike attention. But she had just bought a 10 speed bike and didn’t know how to make it work. And I knew how to make it work.

Heather Mason  05:31

Wow. I’m just thinking you’ve been in the industry for so long and your path is just I love the story. But now you have two locations. Can you give our listeners a little bit of idea of what those locations look like as far as size?

Larry Black  05:44

Yeah, in 1988, we moved up north Linda was a worked at Goddard, NASA and was a school teacher. And when our children started coming along in the late 80s, we decided having taught in that school system she thought a better education would be up in Howard County and the writing was much better riding people would come to Howard County for the riding it’s a great place to ride a bike still is so we moved up here I commuted to College Park Three years later, a little $500 a month store came up and he said why don’t you open a little store there work a couple days a week and that became Mount Airy bicycles. It got huge. The stores are both 3000 square feet, including the workshop we make a lot of use of the ceilings and the parking lots even before COVID we were known as the parking lot shop and rainy days we would pull the bikes under the overhang. A lot of people accused me of being what’s called studied carelessness. I didn’t put this in your notes study careless. This is when you wear the torn jeans, or the distressed furniture or you leave the barber shop and you mess your hair back up just to make a look and they consider the questionable organization here as a ploy to get people to go on a treasure hunt to find things. So they like it. They like walking in here because it’s like an old hardware store. It’s non sterile, okay, things are clean, we’re sanitized, but there’s just things hanging off the things hanging off and things. And so that’s the atmosphere in the store. There’s a couple aisles you can get through and you can usually find what you want. It takes a little bit longer than a conventional bike store but nobody ever accused this of being a business model.

Heather Mason  07:22

Yeah, Larry, I’m thinking I’m looking at you now on the video and I’m you’re definitely always most always in our Monday mingle so if anyone wants to see Larry stories in video in the Monday mingles it always seems like you are walking through just some amazing it’s like what’s behind you. I just want to go in and look myself what store you normally working out of Larry,

Larry Black  07:41

I work at Mount Airy, because I like it up here in the country. Much better. It’s 30 miles from the other place. We didn’t open here because it was a hot market. I opened here to escape to get a place where I could demonstrate bicycles and people that came here would come here for us, not people that happened to be walking by the urban area that has been College Park. They come here as a destination and because we do a lot of fringe items, special needs adaptive tandems, recumbents tricycles, something for everybody. It works out much better. There’s a unbusy church next door that chairs our parking lot. And they’re they’re very infrequently, so people can ride in a offstreet six acre parking lot. And the country roads here are terrific for riding bicycles. We’ve got 12 foot shoulders and 11 foot traffic lanes, thanks to my Bing, the paint guy with a pair of oakleys a few years ago when they put the stripe down. So we got wide shoulders, and I’m mostly at Mount Airy, every day, opening to closing and then I go to college park on Thursday nights and I’m there Sunday noon to five we’re not open Sunday up here. So I get to transfer items back and forth to get a little bit of flavor do a little bit of helicopter management change lightbulbs and toilet paper when I go there. You’re busy.

Heather Mason  08:58

I’m wondering about the brand’s Larry, you know, we talk about all the products you have and how people come to you almost to just see what’s happening in the shop. Have your brands changed over the years. Can you tell us a little bit about that

Larry Black  09:07

I was one of the first truck dealers bianculli dealers, I was the fourth specialized dealer in the world top first 10 canon Dales I’d like to say that there are only two brands represented in the store have been Bianca and Fuji which go back to the 1880s they claim that predate me and the bicycle business. And I have come to think that I’m more of a non cept than a concept store. Back in the day when I went to Schwinn school, they wanted you to be a Schwinn dealer that happened to carry other things. I want to be a dealer that happens to carry what I carry. Oh, we do have major brands to your currently it’s Cannondale Fuji track and five or six second and third tier brands, which we like and when something comes along that has supply, we’ll buy it we’ll make friends. We pay our bills on time. We’ve never, ever ever taken a Penny’s worth a loan from anybody, Linda pays All bills with anticipation of possible everything on time. Because the fees, the fees for being late with your taxes, being late with everything, all these fees just add up. And that cuts into the profit. So we make a lot of use of space brands can change. 15 years ago, one of the major brands that I used to carry said, You’ve got to carry this mix of models so that mix models doesn’t work for my people, and we have to do this deductively find out what my people want, and get them what they want, not sell them, what we need to buy from you. So it’s been nice knowing you for 33 years, and we’ll move on no problem. So brands, I like to think of ourselves as the brand, like a travel agent, a travel agent, I really don’t care if it’s united or American. As long as it’s not frontier spirit. I go with what the travel agent decides for me, I trust them. And I want people to trust us and know that we care.

Heather Mason  10:59

I love that analogy, Larry, and I’m just thinking your shop is so unique. Like I can’t wait to visit but did the concept of having you know, I guess at the time when you started I don’t know if you could foresee that you’d have two shops eventually. But what was the mission vision and was it having just such an array of products and fitting so many people’s needs are

Larry Black  11:16

when we first opened College Park this 79 College Park was a very burned out drug infested area and we were an unusual business selling hard goods. We had some mopeds that was popular back then they only lasted about two weeks because of this smell. My former employer who had underpaid me he knew that for many years actually came in did some of the demo work and supplied me with merchandise for the first year just gave me the stuff 10s of 1000s of dollars with the stuff that’s how much underpaid I was because I really wanted to keep his business going through hard times. There was a famous shop in DC. So we started with a mix of kh s bicycles. I really wanted one of the big four Fuji Cujo, Schwinn and Raleigh, there was the 11th commandment that if you’re not a certain chain store in Washington, you weren’t getting Fuji Schwinn really wanted our firstborn to do it right. And I really wanted to Schwinn name because it was and I thought the brand was everything. So we sold some Peugeot we sold some motiva Kane originals, and decay HS bicycles, cage has really helped us out. People said what is that and I have a lot of these other, never heard of brands, but people knew that I’d been in bikes so long that the brand didn’t matter. And I think HS they make all these other brands, including maybe Schwinn, we were one of the first giant dealers back in 91, when they had their show, we sold Ross bicycles made in the USA. So I gradually learned to figure that brand didn’t matter. People liked us for what we did, not what we carried.

Heather Mason  12:44

And then with your knowledge and being, you know, the mechanically inclined, you could just tell them what was a good bike and they trusted you. I mean, you come across this like just so authentic and people person that you can tell that you’re genuine and what you’re trying to do and help people just have more fun, right?

Larry Black  13:00

We’ve learned a lot about people to I my employees are just astounded, I can tell something about an employee, the way their car pulls into the parking lot, the way they steer in, and the way they get out of the car and walk and look at the bikes. And this is taken years, this is nothing, nothing you can learn from a course or a seminar, or even for me, it’s just a sixth sense. And some of these guys are getting it if you hang around with me long enough, you will get it and just learn and I’ve had a very good time being a judge, okay, and assimilating to that person. Okay, being that person, some of our former presidents talked a little different language, when they were in one part of their country or city then when they were in another, and our ability to speak different languages, to different people. And we do have people we have staffers, by the way, a different part of language, we do sign language, we do Spanish and Russian. So we try to work with people we like to be inclusive, okay with this, and we didn’t set out to be different. We set out to accommodate the people around us at the University of Maryland, it was college commuters 90% of the people that went to Maryland at the time. So it was 45,000 students were from New York, New Jersey and DC maybe it was a good school back when I was in high school, a D average you got into u m. And now you’ve got to be in your top 15 or 10%. So it’s become an upscale school, but the bikes they rode, they would come down with department store bicycles, and we’d have to learn to fix those and fix them quick and not insult the people with those bikes. So we our goal was to try to get them on working bikes, because we did a lot of free service for a certain period of time. We even do follow up work on our assemblies that are tuneups, but the mission was to, I like to say keep fun between people’s legs. That’s something I’m famous for doing. That was the mission not to it was no business model. We kept our bills paid thanks to Linda. She paid everything on time and that get us a reputation. Thank you paid the rent five days. ahead and still does. We try to accommodate this, we would do special things well first look fair at the campus, we would go up and exhibit bikes, we’d loan bikes to people. In fact, in the day at the King Kong bar, people wanted to go drinking and they didn’t want to drive their cars. So we rent them a bike for the drunken night, people didn’t want to wait in the driving window at the bank for a donut or something, we’d loaned them a bike to go to the driving window where they could go to the car lane. So different kinds of things that just come to me, not that I studied or read are some of the secrets of the longevity.

Heather Mason  15:32

I love that I’m thinking like, we can have this idea in our brain of what we want our business to be. But it’s really about meeting I had no idea.

Larry Black  15:39

I had no idea it would be what it is, how it is, or what it’s become Linda and I frequently argued we have one or two stores too many, okay. And we’re beginning to think to stores too many, but we’re liking it so much. And in spite of a lot of illness and sickness and supply chain problems. We’re having good times of our lives during this shortage, we’re able to adapt and make things work.

Heather Mason  16:01

So you had some great advice for retailers about, you know, taking anticipation when you can and paying your bills. Have you worked with business consultants along the way, Larry, have you and Linda sat down with anyone specifically to help you

Larry Black  16:13

just the advice of my late father who was a government economist, they say he was an economist, because he bought the economy size. And he used to say, run your inventory down, don’t overbuy pay on time, sell things, when you can take the opportunity, you can always buy more merchandise, you can’t buy the customer back. So if there’s an opportunity, and you make a decision subjectively, on making that sale, even if it’s something you may not agree is right, try to make it as right as possible and give them what they want. But his advice was the only advice that I’ve ever taken, there have been people that have come along that wanted to tell me how to do things. But unfortunately, I didn’t take any business courses in college at the personal finance. But I thought what would they possibly know about the bike because I really got turned over confused with carryover. And that was a huge mistake. And I still carry over if you look at these figures like Mike, Jacob bauska used to have all these nice figures and trek world had this about how much you should have in inventory turns, I never paid attention to that I have way too much. I don’t know anybody any money. So when I go out and look my customer in the eye, there’s no great need to push a sale that I don’t think is a good sale, I do want to make a living on it. I don’t want to discount I don’t want to, to me discounting is means you are lacking in a sales ability sales ability. So I don’t usually have that motive. But I try to go to the person who’s saying I want to make this if they say dance like no one’s watching, sing like no one’s listening. And I’ve added work like you don’t have to, and I don’t have to work. And that’s why this works. So well. If you work because you don’t have to work, then that makes the work more interesting.

Heather Mason  18:01

I think we need to like take that out and use that cool. I love that Larry and I understand what you’re saying like you own all the products in your store. You don’t need to discount it. You want to get the customer on the right item, and you’re having a good time and you’re hoping that let them have a good time to

Larry Black  18:16

come up with a lot of spur of the moment quotes and I’m famous for this. This is the get by this is the one I have. How long do you plan to enjoy this gym this bike? Well, 10 years I said, Well, here’s the one I have. And here’s the get by what is it? $200 difference? I said 10 years and I do a little Colombo and Gump all together. That’s my two persona that I’ve mixed. I said 10 years, that’s $20 a year you know, it’s about $1 and a quarter a month to own this better bike. I don’t say buy we don’t use the word buy or sell here we say own enjoy. And then I break it down and then I use competitors. I said Huh, is that your Humvee with the golf clubs in the parking lot? I said let’s see the difference in these two bikes is around a golf with a mixed drink and a cigar I said or dinner for for with bad wine. And I used I come up with competitors just to get people thinking I get called out on this sometimes, but I find it enjoyable. I like

Heather Mason  19:10

to make people think I love it. I’ve never been disappointed with spending a little bit of extra money. But at the heart at the end, we use the word investing that’s thing. At the time, it’s hard. But if you can, you know put it into something you can understand. I love that because you’re helping. I’ve never been disappointed with investing in the better product. And we like to spin things when you said too hard. My employees my Auric customer will come but that’s hard to do.

Larry Black  19:34

I said terrific. Hard that several steps above impossible. And I said I do hard things Monday through Friday. I do the impossible things on the weekends. And if you’d like a miracle, let’s make an appointment. So I spin it and I try to cheer people if my bike has a problem. The employees go like this and they say great. How did you get down to one things like that? Just wake them up. shake them up. They’re coming gloomy though smile.

Heather Mason  19:59

Get him smiling. Alright, so Larry, you talked a little bit about this past year and the supply a little bit and you said that you and Linda are doing good through it. So can you talk about, you know, the shop currently and how you’ve evolved over the past 15 months, you

Larry Black  20:12

know, you’re talking about related to the shortages in the pandemic and the what Jay doesn’t want to call the bike boom. I call it a surge. Maybe last March, Governor Hogan got on there and says, five o’clock, you’re shutting all your retail businesses down in Maryland. I got a call from Patrick, the mayor of College Park, maybe I called him and he is on Rails to Trails. He’s a big shot with Rails to Trails they headquartered in DC, I think he said, Larry, guess what I was talking to homeland I was talking to the governor’s on the blower all day, you’re in essential business. We’re open. So immediately, we got motivated, okay, we’ve always picked up delivered curbside, we’ve always done that. We just advertise that more. We just let people know through social or whatever, that we will come to your house, we will pick up we’ll have it ready same day, and make everything work for you. So other things that we really relished in is when the supply got short, I got motivated to start moving, I came up with a new word legacy bicycles. And I’ve got a little baggie that’s grown three times on my bulletin board at home to put one of my little four digit tags in and I have one of these had every bike I’m up to 4875 now, and each one of the bikes has a tag so I bought this in a huge bag just I’m gonna make a collage out of it. One day, the used bike started moving and I told people look when peace time comes, should peace time come you can upgrade to one of those modern bikes about which you asked. Very few of these people are coming back. They’re loving their legacy bike in the parking lot for a while look like it was 1979 all over again, just a lineup of beautiful classic Raleigh’s schwinns Ross, just classic bikes people got on him. We put comfortable seats, I have the bars. They were loving the bikes. And I was in my element. I kept going to the warehouse every day, bringing back a few more bikes. People were just happy to have something domestically produced that was designed as grant Peterson called usage last a lifetime. So that got us through we sanitize things here. The supply got short, I’d Rob Peter to pay Paul, if a bike had a derailleur on it that wouldn’t sell and even a new bike, I would take it off and keep that thing rolling. Just get the butts on the bikes.

Heather Mason  22:25

Yeah, keep it rolling. How about your staff? We’ve been talking a lot about you know, staff are hard to find staff are burnt out how how many employees do you have? And how do you keep them happy and they really like

Larry Black  22:35

my craziness here are what they like to call the study carelessness, but it’s not study they just comes we’ve got three full timers here at Mount Airy, including me I work to shop every day. I don’t take a day off. tomorrow at noon. I’ll be flying to the Dolomites for three weeks, and I’ll enjoy that we’re doing some mountain biking meeting our first grandchild and our three children and Linda and I get together every year or two. So this is our second year thing to do that. So I feel good about doing this knowing that I put in the sweat during the week. I don’t need a day off to groom the dog or get a haircut. Okay, I know if I want it. I can leave last Friday, my daughter calls and said come up to New Hampshire, I’m getting a house inspection. 30 hours I was on a plane came back the next day work the next day. So I can just do that. It’s not important that I be here every day. And I can operate it by remote control with the telephone now, so three full time three part time that each store plus or minus. They like the fact that they don’t get stuck in a routine. Back in the 70s when 300 Twins came on a semi that was not fun. That was just boring. That was like being pardon me but a checkout person at the grocery store. They can be friendly because they talked to people they but to put these kids in the back room would just say assemble these bikes. People are coming in to buy their varsities boring bikes. Okay, strong but boring and get them together. They like the fact that every day, we don’t know who or what is going to walk in the door. There’ll be a 1950s used bike that comes in and the young guys love to clean those up. They like to make them sparkle. They enjoy this. Okay, you got a kid out there. It’s 93 out there. Now he’s a Eagle Scout High School guy. No problem. We only turn the air on here when it’s 90 and above. That’s why we’re shorts. We get used to it because people have to go outside eventually into the real world anyway. So if you get them hovering, hunkering and climate control, then they’re not going to want to go outside and enjoy the bikes and what the product we sell is an outdoor product. And the other guys like the fact that we get challenges, right? one guy’s been working, it’s getting a little bit too much, seven hours diagnosing a trike and it’s frustrating all because the customer didn’t tell him that when she folded she cut a wire underneath. Okay, that wasn’t before that so things do get frustrating here what they like these challenges and they don’t like routine and they like the fact That we are different. They brim in the fact that we’re different. And most importantly, that my 18 year old kid out there, can walk up to a 70 something senior citizen, put them on the trike and just he’s got the grandson image. And the people love these people. And they have pride in doing that even this young kid been with us a year and a half consoler tried to a senior that’s, to me the kind of job I would have liked to had back then. Not go in the back room and put a sparkplug in the chainsaw. That was not fun. Yeah, you’re

Heather Mason  25:29

making an impact on someone’s life a true difference. fun job, right?

Larry Black  25:33

They love it. They like the variety of things and the variety of skills and jobs they do. One moment the kid will be sorting inner tubes, he’ll patch some we patch tubes here. And another moment, he’ll be selling a $7,000 trikes somebody variety change, like no repetitive stress disorder.

Heather Mason  25:51

Larry, I didn’t tell you that I was gonna ask you this question. But off the cuff here, because we’re just chatting. I’m thinking about it. How are you training your employees, I’ve heard from a lot of retailers recently, they’re looking for advice for training employees,

Larry Black  26:03

or what’s always on the job, I have a statement, I put in your questionnaire, hire for the attitude and train to the skill. I know it all comes in that knows everything that’s nice. But I get these people out of these training schools. And you really have to unlearn them in many aspects. They watch me there’s nothing in the store that anyone can do better than I can do except operate the computer terminal. I pretend like I’m doing something else. I said, I’ll go work on the guy’s bike, you write it up. And I’m very accurate when I do it. But it takes me twice as long to go through all those fields. And he’s younger people grew up with fields and sorting and all that. So I let them do that. And it’s kind of like an illiterate person pretending that they know how to do it, but they don’t want to do it and they want to do something else. So on the job and ah as they go on. The first thing I’ll do is I will try to delegate and I do the menial things too. I will I’m known to reach in a toilet with a scotch Brite and clean it out no glove. Okay, I have no problem doing that. Okay, so I’ll clean the toilets. Hopefully, I’ll let them use a glove and the stick brush. But I will do this. If I have to. I’ll change the light bulbs, I do a lot of things myself, we’ll get into that we do the cost cutting but I on the job. And each time I’ll give them some more menial sorties to his brand unknown tasks that he doesn’t have to come and ask questions. And I’ll gradually work them into more and more responsibility. And I show him how to do it. Then I asked for a demonstration like showing your customer how to use the quick release or shift the derailleur demonstrate follow up, ask for a demonstration that they can do it. And then refer them to YouTube if they need a lot of information that you can provide time. So on the job training, definitely I don’t send him to schools, we can sometimes do some tutorials like trek University and the guys like that. They get little splits for that.

Heather Mason  27:51

That’s fantastic advice. I’m just thinking, Okay, you’ve been in the business for so long. So I gave you like a little prep that I thought it’d be fun to do some of Larry’s best tips for our retailers listening and so if okay with you, I’m just going to jump into these questions and let you give some sage advice to some people I want you to prompt me on some of those things. If I bring that screen up, I’m gonna lose you. Okay, so first question for a retailer thinking about getting into the bike business. Do you have any advice?

Larry Black  28:17

I would make sure that they have a store experience people experience that gotta be a people person, okay, bedside manner, people person and work for somebody else for six months to a year work for somebody else in the similar business. Okay. There are people that when they call headhunters they look for people in business if I were going to do it, sometimes when I look for people, I think we’re off a little bit here, but what I look for people and I’m at a fast food place, there’s ducks and there’s eagles. If I see an eagle that’s the person that gets more people that I’m in two lines, one’s got the checkout person that’s an eagle and one is got the duck line Okay, that Eagle person is the type of person you want to hire. Now what was the question again,

Heather Mason  28:56

for someone thinking of

Larry Black  28:58

work for somebody else, if you can, whether it’s part time full time apprentice that have I’ve got volunteers that come in here we have a lot of volunteers friend of mine from I do wrench work overseas with a tandem group Santana tennis. I’ve been doing that for 30 years and a lot of people watch me work in the field. And a couple of them have flown in. One guy came all the way from Calgary. He says this is amazing. I need to learn more flew in from Calgary, spend a week here brought his trombone he played in the in the band, and he got more into that week here. Then the last 10 years he’s had working on bikes. So I would say volunteer somewhere. Maybe it’s one of these local Co Op things where people get donated bikes and fix them up for the needy. Those are great places to get skills come into this store. I’ll give you a sweat equity. I’ll give you a discount on parts and I take volunteers when I can get away with it. Young kids down to 10 or 12 sometimes can do a great job. Sometimes the parents throw up a flag but we have a lot of homeschool in this area. I tell people that we have a very good command of people skills, interpersonal relationships, math, and a good command of the language. And their kids will learn a lot hanging out here a couple hours a week as a work study. So if you get into business and surround yourself with winners, this is these motivator people say surround yourself with winners can do people resourceful people, not just people that go through the motions, leave the ducks back in the pond, get those Eagles around you.

Heather Mason  30:30

Okay. And Larry, you also mentioned to make sure your goal is not primarily motivated by money and profit. As Another thing to consider when you’re getting into the Vikings.

Larry Black  30:39

I came up with a p thing I know they have these p 20. groups. And I got two things from Zig Ziglar. Back in the day, he used to do speeches at bike events or something. He says if you help enough, other people get what they want, you’ll get everything you want in the life. And if you go there with that premise, and then I’ve come up with this P but he used to say goals had to be personal, positive and present. You can’t make a goal for the future. The past, you can’t make a goal for somebody else. Okay, you can’t make a negative goal, I’m going to stop eating ice cream. That’s a negative goal. You want to say I will eat healthy food. Now I’ve come up with some more peas that we like to put passion and pride over profit. And when you do that the profit just comes in buckets. Okay, we make money here, we don’t owe any money, we make money and we have a good time doing it, we share it we give a lot to charity. A lot of people offer a tip, okay, sometimes if they can sneak it in, the employee gets it the tip thing, sometimes they’ll keep tip it can be ulterior tipping an employee for moonlight or free work. And that’s one of the things that raises a flag with a tip, they’ll pay somebody if they’re very happy that they did something for free. And when people try to tip me, I tell them to take that money. Because I do a lot of just in the parking lot jobs, if something was just pumping air up and riding the bike 90% of the tuneups that come in here for $90 tune up, they need air in their tires, they need a blessing. So I give them the blessing near in their tires. And they throw a 10 or $20 Bill and I said, Look, somebody out there needs that money more than you or me, Go feel good about it and give it to even if it’s that person on the street corner, give that to somebody that needs it more than your and they appreciate that, because I certainly don’t need the 10 or 20 right now. Now donuts or beer come in? Well, that’s a different story.

NBDA   32:29

Bicycle retail radio is supported by our NBDA members, all our member benefits can be found at NBDA.com. Join the NBDA today.

Heather Mason  32:42

So I love this. And you know, Larry, I’m thinking not only for someone getting bite into the bicycle industry, but you know, we’ve been doing all these member networking events. And recently we did a Monday mingle with Tim from rockin road presented on paying your employees by commission, and we actually had a bike shop owner, fly up and visit his shop and learn from another retailer. And so I’m thinking like, we have to get out of this mindset that it’s all about us. And we have to just be more helpful to everyone. And even if you’re in the bicycle industry, go visit another bike shop and that owner right and learn from them right, and bite your tongue if they don’t do it your way. Yeah,

Larry Black  33:18

that’s true. Yeah. Remember, most of us are the world’s foremost authorities of our own opinions. That’s a great idea. It’s I visited so I make a point to visit places. And the ones I really like, are the study carelessness. There’s probably 10 that I know of in the country that are just brimming with confusion. And that makes me feel better about my place. One store I visited. Linda was with me it was in the east. And she says, you know, he could double his business, if he did one thing, ran a snow shovel down the aisle, because you literally had to walk over things to get in the aisle. So there’s certain degree of studied carelessness that is out of bounds. That place was one of them. But we can learn a lot from the others. I think that’s a great point. And another piece of advice we may get into this later, was by all means network with your other retailers. And I’ve been in the NBDA for a long time. I of course I recommend it. But up until I don’t know when you and Rachel and this new administration came in. I’ve been very cynical. I’ve been a downcast with it. I said what are they doing for me? I’ll pay my fees every year for the 15 or 20 people that are on the chat thing, but these mingled and I don’t do tweeting or talking or any of that I’ll go on Facebook if it’s an emergency, okay. And I do doesn’t mean I don’t do email. I had a free Oh with me at the leadership conference back in the 80s. Okay, and I was doing email and they thought I was taking notes. Okay, so I I’m way into the connection thing, but when you people took over the NBDA and did these mingles in these podcasts, radio things it says a whole new world and for anybody to get into it and not pay that upfront, they’re missing a big portion of what they could be. And of course, when they’re in, they help me when I teach a bike class. I’ve been doing that for 45 years. I learned things in these bike classes. I learned things from customers every day.

Heather Mason  35:16

Thanks. Yeah, it’s been so much fun to learn from other retailers. And we just throw out questions and we just have conversations. And I always come away with something and a new idea. So

Larry Black  35:26

you need to learn from other people’s mistakes, because you’d never ever have time to make them all yourself.

Heather Mason  35:31

Yeah. It’s been enlightening, for sure. All right, I got another question for you, Larry. For a retailer working with brands thinking about purchasing and managing inventory. I mean, right now, so many people are thinking about what am I doing for next year? Do you have any advice for retailers,

Larry Black  35:47

I liked it because of space limitations. That’s why main reason I do all my repairs in one day, in and out sometimes while you’re Wait, you can wait an hour to this space. I make so much use of space. And I have seven buildings down the road full of old bikes and boneyards. And things that I don’t know what my heirs are going to do with but I don’t like to overbuy and overstock years ago, bikes came by motor freight, and you can only buy those schwinns 100 or so at a time, then you PS started taking bicycles, it was great, you can order a bike and bring the bike district cycle supply was seven miles from our college part store. Yet they wanted me to stock 30 to 40 kabukiza at a time I said, Well, you’re right here, I can drive up and get the bike 15 minutes. So that ended that I don’t like to over buy a course. And I very poor at crystal ball and the future, which is why I don’t like pre season ordering, I’d rather pay a little more, okay, I don’t like exorbitant freight charges. So when I ordered my hand to mouth bike, sometimes it’s 10 1520 at a time, and this store will sell those 700 to 900 bikes and a good year, maybe 1000 and a great year. I’d like to get them in time. I don’t like him sitting around. And because we have so many great pre loved bikes, I don’t really want to stock what’s called a broad inventory. Okay, so And of course, only buy what you think you can move in a certain amount of time and pay for, okay, I used to hoard and collect bikes thinking, well, if I don’t sell that bike this year, it’s going to go up in value, and I was used to working in an inflationary time in the 70s 80s 90s inflationary, which means every year, the new bike would be up. And the bike I had from the previous year, the price would rise with the tide, which is what’s going on now a $70 1966. Raleigh is going for 250 to 300. Now, that doesn’t mean I made all that money. Because if that $70 back then were tied up in a better instrument, something that turned over and that goes back to the saying that much my my father, the longer you keep something, the more it costs. I’m finally getting out of this. It seems like I’m earning more triple and quadrupling the original price of the bike, but I’m not because I’ve had the money tied up all the time, which could have been in other things. Okay. So I say don’t overbuy I’m not a preseason person. And I don’t have a crystal ball by what you think you can sell and don’t just get what you like, I’ve been guilty of getting things I like and there’s certain things I don’t like it I don’t like selling air canisters I just the ethical thing for me. I don’t like co2, okay. Because it’s little things going to kill the planet. I just don’t think you need to buy air. Okay, I don’t buy water, I don’t buy air water comes out of the ground. It’s fresh air is free. I don’t want to pay for it. I don’t like these little chain cleaning machine. I have ways of doing my chain that I’d have to show you in person. So there are certain things I just won’t carry. And I don’t mind. I tell these guys, I don’t need the money bad enough to sell something. I don’t worry, okay. You can buy that stuff anywhere. That’s what my advice not to overstock not to just do what you like, and not just to get something because it’s different and new and don’t fall for the hype and the pitch of so many new things. Your turn.

Heather Mason  39:12

I love that advice. All right. Okay. Okay. Service shop and managing repairs. I’ll never forget one time we were on a Monday mingle. And you were mingling as you were taking a bike in and we were talking about, I guess like writing up like repairs, and you were like, Look, I noticed this right here like on the fly. So any advice for a retailer about the service shop and managing repair?

Larry Black  39:33

Yeah, um, take a look at the whole picture for a minute or two when the bike comes in, figure out what the bikes worth. I don’t like to do a $90 repair on a $60 bicycle and I will tell people listen like Colombo gum format. I don’t tell him it’s a cheap bike or a bad bike. I don’t do that. I said this bike. I tell them what it is. I said this is a $60 bike when it’s not on sale, and you’re better off saving what you’d put in To the street parent investing, and I told that to a man the other day on a Roadmaster 24 inch purple girl’s bike, what a shock. Just yesterday, I emailed and I said, should we donate this bike, I said it’s a $70 bicycle, it’s going to cost us to fix it. And that’s with hard work and very favorable labor rates. He said, Oh, I wanted for my girlfriend, he was 50 something, fix it, payment and pick it up yesterday, but to $20 bills on the table, it came to $104. And he did a lot of parts for and I vetted him two or three times to not do it. Okay. And I looked at the whole picture, I made that bike better than it’s ever been. And working at high investment of time and a low cost. He put $40 on he was deaf, okay. So I signed to him a little bit. And he put the $40 on the table started taking the bike. And then Paul knows a little bit of sign language. He said, here’s the ticket, and the guy, not too much money. So I said, What part of this is what it’s going to be did make you have missed, okay, and he was a happy go lucky guy. It wasn’t bad. He left paid for the bike and smile on his way out. So look at the whole picture, see what you have there. First, make sure you’re not getting into anything that’s going to open cans, and you have to keep calling that customer with what the insurance company calls a supplement. Okay, you want to try to catch things, I can smell a bent frame from far away. And I’m not afraid to go out and tell people that their frame is bad. And we have one that I use a computer now, but on the we still have some of the old Sutherland’s tickets. And on the back. It has the thing called an unsafe bike report. And I use that a lot. It’s official, I said the frame is bent. It could cause injury or death. Do you want us to fix it anyway, and I haven’t signed it. The main reason I use that unsafe bike report is to try to sell them a bike so that they see in writing that this bike is unfit and they have signed an acknowledgement and half the time, it will lead to a bike sale, but the service department we are in what’s called triage mode right now, this is how I can do so many. Sometimes you have to play God in these cases, but you have to be the judge of whether that bike is worth doing. And when I have an overwhelming amount of bikes, I do the easiest ones first. That gets more customers on the road faster. Clears bikes out of the way opens up to see and some things that are quick. You delegate to the kid out there okay, Aaron, the tires tighten up their pedals, take it for a ride. And three bikes today came in. They said this bike needs a lot of work we’re going to the beach, I said kind of short notice however, I don’t use but I use whoever I take it for a ride this and that’s one of the I said I’m very tolerant that then seats but this is riding on a metal pan, I put a $60 seat on for her on her 1977 three speed. I said look, you can’t get new bikes. Anyway, I said if I sold this by using my store, it’s $200 she felt good about her bike, didn’t have to put a tune up on it. I put the saddle on, I rode the bike around the parking lot showed her how to take care of the squeaky brakes. And that’s gone. That was seven minutes. Okay, $60 sale, or happy customer even charged her a little bit of labor for cutting to see close down something more complicated, you have to decide whether you want to turn that around now. Or taking it I usually take it in spend an hour on it, have them come back in two hours. So the perceived value if something takes seven minutes, and it’s just me hitting it with a hammer, I still take it out. I don’t want them sitting around watching over me. I will invite him back I have an open store. You can see what I do if you really want but by the time it takes to explain everything. Some of our employees just go to the computer, write up every cable every Ferro every wire and a little bit thing and that just takes time. In the three or four minutes. You watch me on that bike. I’ll have the bike done. Okay, I’ll put lube in the cables, I’ll sand down the rust. I’ll turn the bike over make them happy. I don’t if it’s what I call bling, or elective surgery, okay, I want to motorize my bicycle, blah, blah. I said your bike is functioning that’s better than most people out there. Let’s say the bling. And let’s save the elective work for the fall when my rates are lower, and I’m less grouchy and I can do a better job on your bike.

Heather Mason  44:12

So be the expert get them rolling don’t take in every bike if you don’t need to you know make them happy

Larry Black  44:19

to be so bicycle shaped object and it looks like it’s not worth it. You have to be discretion and do it friendly. Do it in a friendly way.

Heather Mason  44:26

Bicycle shaped object I like that BSL. Alright Larry, I got another one for you. This one’s really important as we’re looking at you know, some shops have less bikes to sell right now advice for controlling fixed expenses. So how can we control those fixed expenses as retailers?

Larry Black  44:44

I do as much as I can myself? Oh, we change our own lightbulbs. We clean our own floor. We clean our windows, we recycle a lot. Okay, we have a steel collector guy. He makes his money off our aluminum and we separate the steel and the aluminum. He comes by every month. usually given 20 bucks for gas, he’s kind of a charity case. He’s the Good Samaritan scrapper. And he comes by so he gets more in a pickup than night and getting the bike shop sometime. And he takes all my metals. So there’s things I don’t want to put in landfill every morsel of cardboard. In fact, Linda takes the white paper to a church recycling thing on white paper, brown paper and cardboard go in my big thing outside, I flatten the boxes, I save number of pickups. They say if it goes into trash, it’s no good from Larry, it’s no good to anybody for anything. And then we have artists that come and get parts. So I save on trash expenses, the landlord takes care of what little lawn we have here, we change our lightbulbs to their own floors, but our own fixtures in other costs, we had a rags service in College Park. Okay, so I told him how to get five wipes out of one rag the middle in the four corners. So you always have a fresh quarter in case you have to wipe something and they’ll go and they’ll take a nice fresh rag and reach into that’s 25 cents of every time you take a rag, they’ll reach into the bottom bracket with a nice fresh rag to clean all that grease that I say go into that can get that Dunkin Donuts bag that I would have kept anyway and wipe out the bottom bracket. I said go into that can and tear a quarter off of a box that’s your notepad and tweak it in the spokes. You don’t need a three part form for everything. So certain things that just seem obvious. When you spend money on things. It all adds up and cutting costs, paying the bills on time, paying the taxes on time avoid being a franchise owner if my opinion a good store were about 11 to 12%, which is unprecedented profit, that’s what I get as Corporation means end up before we pay our personal taxes. A good store though, will make seven to nine and if somebody figures a franchisee sometimes wants two to 6% to use their bags, their name and things like that you don’t need that be I like to say the more you try to be like somebody else, the less you’re going to be like yourself. Okay. I did try to join the art Well, no, I was drafted and I had medical things. So they turned me down that is being a company person and serving a good cause. But being a pawn in the franchise thing. I don’t know. That’s just my thing. For some people, yes. But for me, absolutely not. Otherwise I’d had that job that I was turned down for is the bike coordinator in DC being another government worker. So cost you got to keep them down. And we do a lot of tutors. I don’t waste any time just like we don’t waste money. We don’t waste any time. If it’s after 10 o’clock in the morning more opening and you’re on your way outside, you’ve got to have a bike in your hand maybe two. at five o’clock we close at six. If you’re coming in that door have a bike which that’s called a twofer. You’re going someplace have something which it network at home, what’s on the bottom stairs, it needs to go up what’s on the top stair needs to come down. Don’t waste a trip, you’re going up anyway take that with you take what’s on the top down, we do a lot of twofer sometimes I’ll have to transfer something to my other store in College Park. I’m not going to ups and I’ll ask customers anybody go into your College Park? How about a doughnut and soda? Take this down, put it in your car. So people work for us. And we do a lot of this networking, okay, if there’s somebody in town with a truck and chips in the back, I said I need some trees, do a little bit of a job for me, I’ll take care of your bike with a tune up, try to barter for things. Okay? And that’s how we do it. We just it’s loose. It has to be loose, it can’t be rigid. Okay.

Heather Mason  48:34

I like that. These are great tips. Thank you, Larry, this is really great stuff. Okay, I’m gonna move on there’s I have this question. And I think it came up in a mingle, and I want to right now. So you’re the owner, manager of a bicycle store and you’re at the store and you’re watching one of your employees, talking to a customer are trying to work with the customer to figure something out. And you’re noticing that your staff member is unable to handle the customer or the situation they’re going the wrong direction. How can you as the shop owner or employee or manager help that employee in that situation? Well, first of all,

Larry Black  49:10

they use the word expensive. This one’s the more expensive whenever I do a little coffee and they giggle and sometimes I hear everything that’s going on in here. And sometimes I’ve been known to chime in a little too much. I try not to undermine the person. And if a customer is out there, doing what we call having coffee with the customer coffee with the customer, I’m just be essing and we’re talking about other things, concerts, music, okay, that’s okay. That’s the more important I do that if somebody drives up with a dog, we like dogs here and we’ll talk dogs or something but you got to work them towards why they’re here and why you’re here. So I’ll do the copy or something. And sometimes if the coffee break is taking a little too long, we’ll call them on the phone. Brandon, you got a phone call. We get him in the back of the store. Oh, while he’s on the phone. Phone. Hey, did you notice this over here? I didn’t say can’t do that won’t. We try to turn it into positive instead of the camp and won’t say wow, have you seen? Have you? Did you? Oh, you know, we just got our kickstands. And if I see a bike without a kickstand, and I knew that the employee forgot to mention the kickstand, I said, Oh, we just got our kickstands. And so it doesn’t seem like a sale. Perhaps you were here before and you didn’t get the kickstand. I said, most people can use it, it might force you to put your bike somewhere where it doesn’t belong. But for the most part, it is a way to support cycling. I’ll throw a little bit of that in there. So I’ll do a turn over some time. And then I’ll casually and when I go out on the floor. I’ve got a dust rag in my hand. Okay, I got this from Harry Friedman years ago, that way, and there’s a thing called a U turn. I learned picked up some of this. I think that was a Joe marcou thing. But anyway, have a dust rag. And I’ll go out there. And I’ll just buy or air him up or move and casually talk to them. Okay, oh, hey, cool, like road bikes up, or whatever the opening line is, that way, the customer doesn’t say whoa, I got this guy all the way out of the back. And I feel really guilty because I’m just looking. Yeah, this way I’m dusting a bike. So he doesn’t feel he’s out here Dustin bikes Anyway, good. I’m not wasting his time. And we don’t really approach customers, because we’re always busy. And we’ll say, hey, any questions, give a shout. We’re here to help. And when they’re silent for a while, because this place it always people and they’re overwhelmed. And I can understand that. I’ll say, Hey, we’re suspicious of those that don’t ask questions because they might be spies. Or, okay, so if you need a said, I forgot more than some people know. And we try to work comedy into this thing because everybody needs humor. Okay, so when they do that, I’ll do this turnover, okay. And then you never and I’ve been guilty of this. Sometimes I’ve contradicted something, they said, Well, I, this has got a front motor, and I like a hub motor, things like that. Sometimes I’ve contradicted so you have to be careful not to paint yourself into that corner, or to especially undermine that person or reprimand them in front of people. I’ve done that over the years, I’ve done it discreetly, but not discreetly enough. So you learn by that. And sometimes very rarely will the and this is I appreciate this employee react back to me, they’ll get me in the back and tell me that I didn’t do it right. And I will tell them if they didn’t do it right, but not enough. I’ve not been known for overly amounts of stroking and love. But my love is a little tougher, but it’s good love. Okay, it’s the quality love I give these people because I care about them. And that’s I think you’ll get to that later about caring for your customers caring about them. There are eight reasons why people buy they what they do and from whom they buy it. merchandising displaces careless, okay, but you can find things, product knowledge. Okay, how you close the sale? Do you have a Lego place for the kids or the bathrooms clean customer service? What’s number one, I told you in my thing there knowing that you care about them that’s above customer service. Because my customer service has been known. Some people just don’t get it. Okay, they’re expected to be treated like maybe Disney. Okay? I can’t fake it. Okay, I get very real with people. But no, I leave knowing that we care. I want to leave them knowing that we care about them. That’s number one. And there are several motivation types that will agree covi and whateley. And all these people that know they need to know that you care.

Heather Mason  53:45

That’s great advice. And it’s true. I mean, people want to feel good about where they’re buying something. And when you’re dealing with a real person, you can tell that they care about you. I guess then my next question would be how are you engaging with your community? What are you doing outside the shop? We talked a little bit about donations. We talked a little bit about teaching customers how to service the bikes, what things do in your community?

Larry Black  54:06

Well, of course, the average business, not just the bike business must get approached hundreds of times a month for some kind of a handout. Okay. We do what’s called sweat equity, and in kind, okay, I just don’t pay money. It’s like teach a man to fish or give them a fish. Okay. We want to teach people how to fish. It got a very interesting one. One of my volunteers he now works here just retired from NPR. 67 guy loves this store. He was approached by the Maryland correctional facilities to donate bicycles for women, inmates that are becoming paroled. Give them a bike so when they get parole, they can go go to their job, I think great idea. However, if you want me to donate bikes, I need to take it to another level. I want to teach these people how to fix bikes and understand bikes and works on and the department did a lot of checking and found a way to train us both for a day to get behind the walls, what they call in house spring tools, there’s a lot of protocol and they got stalled from COVID. We’re going to go back to here, teach you how to fix bikes and give them the bike, let him fix the bike, have the bike when they get out. And we do this with other charitable organizations too. I do a lot of service work at local events. When I’m approached for a charity or money, it has to involve bicycles, because there’s so many out there it has to involve either a bike event, or giving a bike as the prize, not just money handout. I don’t do that. I got to draw it somewhere. So we do a lot of work of special needs. We do free wheelchair work for people. They like put a tire tube in. If you had a wheelchair, we’ll do that the community comes here and they they know that we do a lot of adaptive things. So we do that for wheelchairs major work we charge for. And then the local schools I’ve done talks at some of the schools anecdote, biggest mistake ever made. I had 100 and 51st true third graders on the floor at the Newmarket elementary school 20 years ago. Anybody here not learned to ride a bike yet? Oh, a few hands went up. few hands went up first grade, what’s at eight, six and up should run a bike by then few hands went up. So most of those hands that went up had mothers at home who called me that day? Did I embarrassed their child in front of the school? Oh, no. I said tell you what I’m going to do bring him in. I’m going to give him a lesson. Whether there’s a bad dad involved. I don’t care. Bring him in. I’m going to teach you how to ride a bike and all happily ever after you go buy into Jimmy Cohen. I’ll teach him how to ride a bike.

Heather Mason  56:42

best intentions had no. So anything you’re doing to keep up with the changing inventory and consumer needs right now.

Larry Black  56:51

I’m digging deeper and deeper and deeper into my used bike things I thought I’d never sell. I’m digging out and finding homes for making a nice sign. Hey 100% original survivor. It’s a good word survivor, legacy edition Ross bicycle Made in USA all the good features that I’m digging those stopping by yard sales and picking up bikes fixing them up. And I go to Florida a couple times a year I’ll FedEx a few bikes home from the senior communities and getting them up here and robbing Peter to pay Paul encouraging people to drive around looking at the ends of driveways for bikes for sale going on marketplace and all that buying bikes and bringing them to me mail ordering a bike bringing it to me, I’m getting over $100 for assemblies now. And I give a free follow up with that people are loving it. Wow. I can identify with this shop. They didn’t scold me for ordering this mic. Okay. When it’s wrong, I don’t like to say I told you so. But I told you so. And we’ll take sometimes we’ll take those in trade for something from us. And they like this. They like the dish shop did not need jerk and kick them out of here. Because they jumped the line and bought a bike somewhere else. Okay, when a trade comes in, I said you bite here? No. I said, Well, I’ll give you more for it as we’re trying to build customers. And I just surprise them. You got to kill them with kindness, surprise them, keep it humorous, okay, head up, not head down. And we try to get people to follow this creed. So that’s what we’re keeping up. We’re adapting to some of these shortages. Okay, and I don’t want to leave any customers hanging because the industry doesn’t have their part. I want to keep their butts on that seat. Clary rather what it takes even if it’s a part of one of my bikes, even if I have to loan them my bike, I loaned a guy a touring bike to take a trip to Boston, he comes back and says what a great trip. Can’t get bikes now. This is take my bike comes back and throws to see notes in my face. And I said, Why can’t you take it? Because I had the time of my life. Great bike bike came back better than ice, put new brake shoes on it.

Heather Mason  58:56

Something

Larry Black  58:57

forever. Yeah, people remember what they’re given. They don’t always remember to discount. But they remember what they’re giving you give somebody something rivendale gave me a bike 15 years ago for writing an article on the NVDA forum. rant sent me a bicycle for coming out against the industry. And when we get down to the thing, I’ll tell you some of the things I’m against.

Heather Mason  59:18

All right. Any advice that you other advice I haven’t asked you about that you want to pass on to retailers, from your experience over so many years.

Larry Black  59:26

Every day is a new opportunity. Go into that store, expecting something different to happen. Okay, go through your day. And if it looks like you’re having a tough day, as you drive or ride your bike to the store, it looks like you’re gonna have a tough day, a challenging day. Pretend you got everything done that day and that you’re actually driving home, pretend you’re on your way home and you accomplished most of those things on your list. And it’ll make that day go better and enjoy the job every day and the fact that if you didn’t get your ride in Okay, then you rode vicariously through those people you put on the road. Okay? That’s really good advice. All right,

Heather Mason  1:00:08

that’s cycling advice you’ve ever been given. I’ve been given or have given out that you ever have been given.

Larry Black  1:00:15

Oh, okay, that’s cycling advice, eat before you’re hungry. I think I came up with that one drink before you’re thirsty and get into the low gear before you get up the hill. And if you’re going to pass somebody in the sprint, back up a couple links. This is a great one I used to just pull out and head for the sprint with 100 yards to go I sucked that wheel as long as I could. But then Mike Walden, people will know who that is at a camp in Florida says backup to bike links. When you’re two or 300 meters away, then accelerate in behind them. And then gradually go around, don’t just pull out and go, okay. And the best advice I’ve given is pedal with ease and shift with authority that’s going to be on my epitaph. That means people that try to shift their bike under load are sometimes become pedestrians, okay, and I have to give that bike to people with $15,000. tandems and people with $90 hubby’s shift with authority, pedal with ease, not the opposite. Like I was advice, that’s good.

Heather Mason  1:01:19

That’s good friend, I don’t accelerating behind people anymore. I’m not gonna give that advice to customers. It’s good advice. I have a couple more questions like the industry. Is there anything you would like to see in our industry that isn’t here? Anything any changes,

Larry Black  1:01:33

simplify, simplify, like throwback, I like the past. Okay. I don’t like walking over to change a TV channel, I’ve gotten lazy. I’d like to see fewer models, less overlap, less forced innovation. Okay, fewer. We don’t need 700 different SK use from some of these big players. They’ve gotten away from huge catalogs. I like that I like the online thing. My shelves are devoid of paper. It’s great. But I’d like to see less hype. less people that come out with something laughing all the way to the bank in marketing. I never took marketing class. But I’ve heard through these motivation, people that in order to sell something you need, you got to sell fun, and you have to come up with something different. So they think they need it when something they have is already good. You got to be different high tops shoes versus low top shoes, miniskirt, maxi skirt, keep changing it just for the change of sake. And I’m thankful I’m not in the fashion industry. It’s like and definitely thankful I’m not in the food industry because I’d want to carry over food and I would sell spoiled food. That’s 20 years old, just like my bikes. So I would say less than this hype and forced innovation and just realistic and I’ve identified certain persona in customers but that’s not what the industry is doing. That’s what customers do. And that’s the extreme prepper that people they carry too much on their bike. The people that must be the fastest, the best. The nicest, blinging Yes, people want to be the best at something Okay, fine. And then the the perfectionist, I’d like to see less perfectionism. Okay, it used to be this thing where people would get so close to the bike looking for a fingerprint or as much we call them sniffers. Okay, we thought they were smelling the bike so that I’d like to see less of the cosmetic industry, I think it was $47 billion was spent not invested in this country last year on being cool. Okay, I have cool bikes, but they’re humble, cool bikes, and not just who can spend the most money and get the most bling on their bike. I don’t know, I guess a little more real, but I’m still glad they’re investing that money here rather than something illicit. So I’d like to see less forced innovation, less overlap and models. We don’t need a model every $30. I’d also like to see more of the networking and the sharing like you have encouraged us to do and for which you’ve provided these forums to do I’d like to see more of that. I thought I’d never share any of this until I was retired. But the more you help others get what they want. Boom, the more you get what you want. Yeah, Larry, I’ve been working on a book since 1999. And there’s a section on our website called missives from Larry that the web guy used to collect and he put them up as missives and it’s some things are a little off the wall, but that plus I have a lot of tech tips I writer from DuPont, has been collecting this and I said we’re not coming out with the book. Till I close down both stories. He said why is that I says it would make me too busy and I don’t want to be too busy.

Heather Mason  1:04:42

I mean, people have said they love hearing what you add to the Monday mangoes and people definitely want to learn more. So thank you for so much time. You know we’re working on this bicycle retailer of Excellence Award and providing we did a webinar about retail excellence if you could guide us and Your mind what bicycle retail excellence looks like? What would you say?

Larry Black  1:05:04

I’d say, I don’t like to use all this buzz. Team members, what do you call it experience, okay, it’s an experience, create the expert, there’s so much buzz and I’m anti buzz, okay? And you’re from the next generation or two paths, what yada yada, yada is to us, blah, blah, blah to us. And excellence means showing them your care, being able to get more people on bicycles, having a good time doing it and dissuading people from living a false sense of why they’re getting their bike. Sometimes people just somebody will walk in and say, I like that bike, I want that. But how much is that bike, it doesn’t fit them, it’s a totally wrong bike for them. What they like is the bling, or the emotional appeal, I will admit 90% of the items sold in this country, other countries, bike shops are based on an emotional appeal. And the industry knows that emotional appeal is something that’s very strong emotion. I mean, emotion can cause war, emotion can cause death, but they’re buying bikes based on emotion. And the reason I have so many of these, trading bicycles and bikes I bought out right is because somebody was talking into something that wasn’t for them, they thought it was going to change their life. So an excellence means providing the right bike in the right size to the right person, making sure it fits what they want, or your services, make sure your services fit what they want. Just you can’t go out with dollar signs in your eyes saying, Wow, I’m seeing a $90 tune up there. I’m seeing new grips, new K, the cables are fine on that bike, the brake user fine violin down a little bit. Don’t just go out there and see how much you can take from the fewest number of people. But see how little you can take from the most number of people get more people biking out there. Be true to your customers true to yourself. You got to be true to yourself, you got to get up and you asked what keeps me up at night. If I’m awake longer than three minutes. It’s a miracle. Okay, I work every day as hard as I can. Helping as smart as I can. I used to work hard now I’m working smart for as many people as I can for as long as I can. And I’m out like a light at night. So and I get my I tried to get seven, seven and a half hours so that I can be gangbusters all day here. I’m a textbook case of ADHD without medication. It helps me here because I can relate to a lot of different kinds of people. And I can relate to different situations.

Heather Mason  1:07:44

And I can play different parts. When you’re doing good work and you’re you’re being a quality person. You don’t have any stresses to keep you up at night, right? You know, you’re doing good stuff.

Larry Black  1:07:52

And I got to keep throwing it up to you before you did this. What you’re doing is a miracle you’re changing you and your people there are changing lives. This is my element. You have helped me find my element. And that’s come from a 55 year veteran of this industry, somebody 1/4 my age comes along and gets all this going. It’s amazing.

Heather Mason  1:08:14

Thanks I truly care I really like it means to me so when you first

Larry Black  1:08:20

appeared, I said oh, not again. Mr. cynic came I said Really? 30 years ago they did this thing we’re hiring an executive director Glenn boster was nice guy but why do we have to hire an executive director and he didn’t do anything but executive direct. Okay, you are up here. Okay, I get you’re still on the bike thing. You still work on bikes.

Heather Mason  1:08:44

I will not very good, but I do. Yes. Here you will learn Okay, how to fix a bike and I own a shop Larry and I was the mechanic and I fixed my kids bikes and I fixed my bike. How do you own a bike shop? I thought you owe you. I used to own? I love you. That’s one of mine. I know I like it. Alright, so if people want to learn more if they have questions, which I’m sure can we share your contact information.

Larry Black  1:09:13

And I also recommend don’t get a stupid email address that you have to spell and write to everybody. Larry at bike 123 dot com don’t do the cutesy stuff okay. In business that doesn’t work. You drop it when you fly to college, you drop the cutesy okay. And Larry at bike 123 dot com Our website is as easy to remember as 123 and it’s the remnants of what my son designed when he was 15 he actually started that thing and put it together. So he went on to bigger and better than the last thing I’d want my do is have my kids get into this racket.

Heather Mason  1:09:49

So where’s Linda Larry? Is she in the stores to her?

Larry Black  1:09:53

Oh, try that sometime. Try that sometime. It’s better than he is. Her office now she took my class. She accompanies me on these. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. We’ve gone on 23 International trips and Santana, she plays hostess, and I play mechanic, okay? They don’t pay me, but I don’t have to pay them. And we fixed bikes in the field. And it’s all river cruises and ocean cruises now. So you get up in the morning at 730. At a huge breakfast, you ride your bike all day, you can meet the ship for lunch, or it’s five figures a person double occupancy, but these people they can afford it. And I’d rather them do that than a generic cruise with. The ships are usually between 50 and 100 people, okay? And someone’s got to do that job. So she goes on those trips. So she’s learned enough about how to take care of bikes on this, she can put pedals on and off. Okay, she knows how to charge your E bike, okay. And she’s up till two, sometimes three in the morning, making up for all the mischief that we create here like bills, and she’ll sleep till 10 3011. She gets claimed seven hours, but I think it’s less and she spends time at the home. They call it the home office, okay and comes in here from time to time but not often one of her friends Beth who’s been helping her with as Assistant Secretary for years. Beth comes in here bets 50. Something comes in here once or twice a week helps me operate the cash register, does some inventory work gets accused of being my wife some time. And she’s also our gardener at home. She likes to work in organic gardening at home. So that’s what Linda does. It doesn’t come in here. And we do tend to make some time but she likes her little recumbent bike and I do my biking. That’s where she is. But she’s still the Veep and keeps the bills paid keeps the bills paid. Isn’t most important. Larry, I hope to meet her soon.

Heather Mason  1:11:47

So for our listeners bike 123 dot com. You can hit the contact button or Larry at Yeah, and I urge you to check out the website, check out the missus from Larry. There’s some really great stuff on the website like 123 calm, Larry, thank you for coming on and talking with me and doing so

Larry Black  1:12:02

much in addition to contact me that way. We welcome visitors. And we do have work study programs for anybody in the bike industry. You can come here and jump in with both feet, including you. Thank you.

Heather Mason  1:12:14

Yeah, and if you’re an MBA member, come up to a Monday mingle and you’ll get to meet Larry face.

Larry Black  1:12:19

Oh, those are great. Those are great. And I plugged the chat button in and when I get a phone with a better speaker, I’ll be able to participate a little bit more.

Heather Mason  1:12:27

I love that. So that is it. I invite you to connect with me. Come on bicycle retailer radio and share your story with our listeners. If you’d like to support the show. Don’t forget to subscribe on Spotify, Apple podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. Share your favorite episode with friends on social media NBDA does appreciate your support and we think

NBDA   1:12:46

this week this has been bicycle retail radio by the National bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership and member benefits, join us@nbda.com

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The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

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