In December, I had the pleasure of connecting with Lester Binegar at University Bicycles for a quick interview. A huge thanks to Lester for sharing his wisdom with all of the Winged Wheel network!
Winged Wheel: For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of visiting University Bicycles, would you give a brief overview of the business and how you fit into the Boulder market? Lester Binegar: Ubikes is a bike shop with the simple goal of spreading the joy of cycling. We have created a museum in our store exhibiting the entire history of the bicycle with bikes from every era and memorabilia showing both the competitive side of the sport and the joy of recreational cycling. We focus everything we do towards providing the best possible experience for any and all cyclists. We especially love to help our customers who are entering the world of cycling to better their health and well being. We want to know your name, your personal goals and we want to help you achieve them. We also provide a place for tourists and locals to rent bicycles so they can enjoy the Boulder area and beyond by bike. And just importantly, we try to provide an incredible work culture for our employees. Without our amazing staff caring for the success of our business, we would be nothing. Ubikes probably has the highest payroll as a percentage of overall sales than any other shop of comparable size in the country. We wear it as a badge of honor.
WW: Over the last few years, we’ve seen major changes in tech and new categories emerge. What has been the “hard” challenge for U Bikes in this area? LB: The hard challenge is trying to handle the overwhelming volume of repairs in the best manner for our customers and our business. Of course the constant challenge of the changing technology in bike repair and warranty service rates up there as well, but it all goes back to handling our volume of work to the benefit of all involved.
WW: You mentioned the challenge of keeping up with the volume of repairs. How do you handle storage and space requirements effectively? LB: Storage and space requirements are handled by providing 0-2 day turnaround times throughout the season. The keeps people on their bikes and turns over our space for repair bikes so the next cyclist has a spot for their bike needing a repair.
WW: Do you have any techniques you use to manage the peaks/valleys of workload in the service area? LB: Yes, we don’t do tune-ups. That means we don’t check in any and every bike from customers who think their slight mis-shifting bike needs a full look over. We look it over and do minor adjustments right then and there so they can keep riding their bike. We also tactfully send customers to other retailers who are better equipped to handle repairs on department store bikes and older model bikes because these tend to be repairs that blow up or drive mechanics crazy because of the poor quality of the components. This means we end up only accepting profitable repairs that are much more cut and dried. It also means we have allies in our market that send us business in categories we have that they don’t.
WW: Specific to the service department, what has been the important thing you’ve kept the same? LB: What has remained the same is having service writers who can meet the challenge of keeping our customers rolling and provide that service in an incredibly personally fulfilling way for those customers.
WW: How would you describe your philosophy regarding the interplay of sales and service? Does one drive the other? LB: Everyone is a sales person at Ubikes. While our size (25 sales people and 25 mechanics) dictates two separate departments, we constantly strive to help both departments work well together. It’s very symbiotic however, because both departments rely so much on the other. It’s one of the things that my managers and I work hardest to keep under control on a daily basis.
WW: Every time I’ve been into U Bikes, I get the sense that you’ve got several veterans on staff. What are some of the ways you keep your teams engaged and excited? LB: We have some great long time employees but it’s not as much as you might imagine. We encourage a 2-4 year stint and then hope to see our best people move on to the next phase of their life. We take the staff on bike packing trips and mountain biking trips multiple times every season to keep the riding stoke alive. We want them to remember Ubikes as the best job they ever had and to take with them a learning experience so powerful that they can only succeed wherever they go.
WW: When you’re bringing on a new team-member, can you describe how you approach this? Do you focus on culture first, or look to training on operations first? LB: We focus on culture and emphasize using your own enthusiasm and personal responsibility to succeed. The first thing you do as a new employee is read our employee manual. If you’d like to read it, just send an email to lester-at-ubikes-dot-com. Written by our founder, Doug Emerson, it might be the best employee manual on the planet. Read it, Learn it, Love it, Live it. Once you are hired you will be exposed for the real person and employee you are due to our volume of business and our insistence of doing an excellent job for our customers. We want our store culture to be strong and full of so many staff members who care that any new employee we hire will be dragged forward until their best effort emerges.
WW: What ‘one thing’ would you tell other retailers to do in their markets to help ensure their success for the future? LB: Create a culture where you and your entire staff learn the names of your customers, call them by their name when they walk into the store and be as friendly as you can possibly be. Once you begin to create a real (it must be real) personal bond built on knowing the people you are trying to help, you can’t even imagine not doing a great job for them. Repeat on a daily basis as necessary and after 20 years you won’t need to have a sale, you won’t need to advertise, or use any other ingenious industry inspired retail strategy for getting people to walk through your doors and do the majority of their business with you. Why would they go anywhere else? Names people, names! My favorite quote: it’s not too many bike shops that’s the problem, there is just not enough riders.