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Mountain Bikes Are Too Hot to Stock in Tahoe Truckee Ski Shop Finds Bike Sales Success

Mountain biking has taken off in the Tahoe region.

By Sierra Ryder

Jim Schaffner: So we essentially sold our entire bike inventory…Saturday we had four new bikes left for sale.

Sierra Ryder: Owner of the Start Haus Jim Schaffner has already sold most of his bike inventory amid a pandemic and falling economy.
The problem now…they can’t re stock!

Schaffner: The bike business is so overwhelmed, that none of the suppliers can supply because most of the bikes can’t deliver without the help from China

Ryder: Now that bikes are nearly gone, the ski turned bike shop must rely on repair income.

Schaffner: Right you’re replacing the $3,000 sales with like say a you know a $500 service bill or something like that.

Ryder: But repairs won’t last forever. So, Start Haus is shifting gears away from bikes and into their trademark ski sales. But that presents another unknown.

Schaffner: I think people will be a little tenuous this year, about making early ski purchases.

Ryder: Schaffner says their ski shelves are stocked, now all he needs are the skiing customers.
Reporting from Truckee California, Sierra Ryder N-C-C News

Start Haus exterior
The Start Haus has never seen bike sales like this summer.
© 2020 Jim Schaffner

 

Truckee, Calif.  (NCC News) – The biking business is seeing major growth this summer as COVID-19 has pushed people outdoors, according to a report by the AP. One ski shop in Truckee, Calif., Start Haus, has benefited greatly from the biking popularity, but now there are no bikes to sell.

After shutting down due to COVID-19, Jim Schaffner, owner of Start Haus, said he slowly brought his employees back as the Tahoe summer crowds flooded in.

“Some of the guys were gone for five weeks, and in some cases, some people we have not brought back,” said Schaffner.

Schaffner said that his business was able to survive the months of zero business from the small business loans they applied for. Those loans allowed him to put in new protocols and set his shop up for a successful summer.

“The SBA loan helped us kind of bridge, our way out of the ski business, you know, which in the spring, you still have bills that are due, and bring in some of the bike inventory that we didn’t have yet,” said Schaffner.

But nothing could prepare Start Haus for the demand they would have in mountain bike sales.

“We sold 246 bikes in a time period we normally would have sold between let’s say, April 1 and October 1,” said Schaffner.

While the spike in business has been great in many aspects for the local shop, they are now unable to re supply their bikes. This is because most bikes are made in China, where the Coronavirus has caused serious delays.

“Even if a frame builder could produce frames,” explained Schaffner. “They couldn’t get the parts to complete the bikes because the effect of COVID in China shut a lot of the factories down for almost a 60-day period.”

Start Haus is relying on repair sales to keep business open. However, that does not generate nearly as much as a new bike sale would.

Now with the summer season ending, the shop is planning to pour more effort into ski sales.

“Our shelves have never been this thick in July,” said Schaffner. “If you walked in the shop right now and saw the ski wall, it’s huge.”

While the upcoming ski season remains questionable, there are plenty of new skis to go around.

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