Running a BMX Shop during the pandemic: Grounded BMX (BEL)

Jan 26, 2021

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 2151 times

Shop name: Groundedbmx
Location: Ninove and online at Groundedbmx.com
Years in business: Almost 11 year now
Best year yet: 2014
Worst year yet: 2018

2020 has been, well, different. When did Covid-19 turn up and start influencing your business?
Brecht Baeyens: March 2020 we had to close the shop due to lockdown regulations. We had to close for almost 3 months and missed out on a ton of sales during our best months April and May. During summer season we had a lot of demand for bikes but we had lot’s of trouble getting our hands on stock. After summer season we had to close the shop again due to lockdown. We got to open up again mid December but there are lots of regulations ...

Did you take any action from the start or were you thinking this would be over in a few weeks?
Brecht Baeyens: I knew shit hit the fan big time and this would take a long as time to blow over, so we started cutting costs quick and made sure we filled in all the paperwork correctly to receive financial support from the government. We have always had a multi channel business due to our combination of

brick and mortar and webshop so we focused extra on our online store.

Now, being in this situation for many months, how did you manage to keep your business rolling?
Brecht Baeyens: We are managing our overhead well and focus on getting enough products in stock so our domestic webshop customers can get bikes and parts delivered in 24 hours.

The supply chain has also suffered. Has it been a challenge getting the bikes/product in stock that you needed for your customers?
Brecht Baeyens: Yes! super challenging, we had big troubles during the summer season. After summer season we finally got our hands on lots of products and we made a shit ton of pre-orders for spring and summer. We already have tons of bikes in stock, a good amount of parts and we expect way more parts and bikes by spring and summer.

Have you been able to keep your shop open all this time?
Brecht Baeyens: No, we had to close down twice due to lockdown. In total about 4,5 months.

Have internet sales/mail-order sales made up for loss of shop sales?
Brecht Baeyens: No, we did miss more bike sales because our brick and mortar store was closed during lockdowns

During the pandemic has it been difficult to organize local events to support the local scene and get the customers in the shop?
Brecht Baeyens: It’s been impossible to organise anything in a safe and legal way due to covid restrictions

What mouth masks do you sell?
Brecht Baeyens: We had masks from Federal and Tall Order and we got a big load coming from Sunday bikes :)

When do you believe this mess will be over?
Brecht Baeyens: I have no clue, I just try to make the best of the situation, follow all the covid rules and regulations and hope that we can turn back to a somewhat normal way of living and doing business as fast as possible.

Thanks to?
Brecht Baeyens: Everybody that rides a BMX bike. The most important thing is that our sport / hobby / lifestyle keeps inspiring kids to pick up a BMX bike and use it as a means to have fun, stay in shape and express themselves creatively.

Your website: www.groundedbmx.com