Australia’s peak representative body for cyclists has called on governments to transform roads into cycleways to ease traffic on bike paths
Justine Landis-HanleyLast modified on Wed 22 Apr 2020 12.22 BST
Australian bike retailers are struggling to keep up with the boom in sales since coronavirus restrictions came into force last month.
“We’re the new toilet paper and everyone wants a piece,” Grant Kaplan, manager of Giant Sydney, a bike store in Sydney’s CBD, tells Guardian Australia.
“We can’t keep up with sales. Literally the phone is ringing nonstop,” he laughs, as another call came through in the background.
At first, casual employees, such as Giant Sydney’s Sean Marshall, were worried the Covid-19 restrictions would see them out of work.
But within a week of the state lockdown, Kaplan was offering his casuals extra shifts, saying if anything they were “short-staffed given the upturn in bike sales”.
The store has had to stop servicing bikes – typically a major source of revenue – because its mechanics are overrun with putting together customers’ new purchases.
Marshall, who has worked in bike sales for the last four years, tells Guardian Australia he would expect to see $10,000 in sales on a Saturday, but for the past two weekends “have done $40,000 each Saturday, with similar sorts of levels during the week as well”.
South Melbourne’s bikeNOW is seeing similar figures. Co-manager Nathan Ziino says they sold between 40 and 45 bikes last weekend, many of which are entry-level models costing $700 to $1,200.
‘Bicycles are the new toilet paper’: bike sales boom as coronavirus lockdown residents crave exercise | The Guardian
Australia’s peak representative body for cyclists has called on governments to transform roads into cycleways to ease traffic on bike paths Justine Landis-HanleyLast modified on Wed 22 Apr 2020 12.22 BST Australian bike retailers are struggling to keep up with the boom in sales since coronavirus restrictions came into force last month. “We’re the new… [Read More]
