I am usually sad to see a mom-and-pop bike shop close for the same reasons I lament the loss of most independent book stores: They are the source of a family's ( or a person's or community's) pride as well as livelihood. But, too often, those closures are inevitable.
Such, it seems, is the case of Flying Fish Bikes in Tampa, Florida. Opened in 1963 as Dud Thames Bicycles, it has served generations of the area's cycling community. But even the area's year-round climate for cycling wasn't enough to keep it going into another decade.
Two of the usual culprits were blamed: mismanagement and the proliferation of online retailers. Indeed, some people who showed up for the auction of Flying Fish's remaining inventory admitted that they do most, if not all, of their shopping via touchscreens.
But there were two other factors in Flying Fish's demise that caught my attention. One is the machinations of a much larger retailer. Now, the big-box stores like Wal-Mart can be blamed for the loss of some shops' sales, but one would think that even if people bought all of their bikes and accessories, for their kids or themselves, at Wally World, at some point they'd need a real bike shop for service.
Unfortunately, such people might visit a bike shop once or twice, and may not spend very much money. Still, the "big boxes" I'm talking about aren't just the retail behemoths we see along the interstates. Instead, I'm talking about the giants of the cycling industry. Though they are miniscule in comparison to Walmart and other mega-corporations, a few of the largest players in the bicycle industry can have the same power to destroy independent bike shops that the "big box" stores have to annihilate smaller shops that sell hardware, clothing and just about anything else.
The giant that vanquished Flying Fish is not just a giant in the industry: It's Giant. In 2012, Giant Bicycle, Inc., made a deal in which Flying Fish owner Francis Kane agreed to buy and sell $120,000 of their bicycles in the Spring of 2013.
In a subsequent lawsuit, Kane said that Giant agreed to promote Flying Fish as the dominant Giant dealer in the area. Moreover, Kane said, Giant did not disclose that it was planning to terminate its relationship with Flying Fish and open a "concept" store nearby.
After a two-year court battle, a jury awarded Kane $250,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages in September 2015. But even such a settlement ultimately wasn't enough to keep Flying Fish in business: Giant countersued for the $120,000 in inventory Kane didn't pay for, as well as "compensatory" damages. And, of course, there were legal fees. (Contrary to public perception, few people get rich by winning lawsuits.)
The court battle, though, wasn't the only thing to ground Flying Fish. Performance Bicycles opened a mega-store in the area. Last year, the company went bankrupt, but their Tampa store was falling to another force that contributed to the demise of Flying Fish. Some would argue that it was an even bigger factor than the Internet, the business practices of Giant or big-box stores.
Even though cities all over the US are building bike lanes and starting bike-share programs, the number of people who commute by bike fell from a high of 904,463 in 2014 to 872,000 three years later, according to American Community Survey. In the Tampa Bay area, the decline was even more precipitous: According to ACS, the number of people who ride their bikes to work fell by 50 percent. That, even as the League of American Bicyclists declared Tampa and St. Petersberg "Bike Friendly Communities" in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
One probable reason for that was, ironically, expressed by some of the people who showed up at the Flying Fish auction. They said that they never depended, or stopped depending, on their bikes for transportation because doing so is "too dangerous." If they ride, they stick to pre- or post-work training rides on bike lanes, or they drive with their bikes to ride in other places.
Their perceptions have some basis. As I've mentioned in other posts, Florida has, by far, the highest per capita death rate among cyclists in the United States. And the Tampa Bay area's statistics are in line with the rest of the state, meaning that a cyclist has a much greater chance of being killed there than in almost any other part of the nation. I've never cycled in the Tampa Bay area, but my experiences of cycling in other parts of the Sunshine State make it easy for me to see why there's such a high mortality rate, and why, even though there are many casual or recreational cyclists, few people depend on their bikes for transportation. It's one thing to go for "fun" rides on trails and bike lanes; it's another to navigate, day in and day out, roads with no shoulders or sidewalks and 55 MPH speed limits--and drivers who, usually, haven't cycled since childhood, if they ever rode at all.
So, while the Internet, big-box retailers and shady practices by one of the "giants" of their own industry may well have led to the closure of Flying Fish Bikes, it might have ultimately been done in because, as we have seen, a thriving bicycle culture doesn't exist without people who depend on their bikes to get to school or work, to shop or to get to the places where they get their entertainment or other social interactions. No declaration of "bicycle friendliness" from the LAB or anyone else can make it otherwise.
Such, it seems, is the case of Flying Fish Bikes in Tampa, Florida. Opened in 1963 as Dud Thames Bicycles, it has served generations of the area's cycling community. But even the area's year-round climate for cycling wasn't enough to keep it going into another decade.
Two of the usual culprits were blamed: mismanagement and the proliferation of online retailers. Indeed, some people who showed up for the auction of Flying Fish's remaining inventory admitted that they do most, if not all, of their shopping via touchscreens.
But there were two other factors in Flying Fish's demise that caught my attention. One is the machinations of a much larger retailer. Now, the big-box stores like Wal-Mart can be blamed for the loss of some shops' sales, but one would think that even if people bought all of their bikes and accessories, for their kids or themselves, at Wally World, at some point they'd need a real bike shop for service.
Unfortunately, such people might visit a bike shop once or twice, and may not spend very much money. Still, the "big boxes" I'm talking about aren't just the retail behemoths we see along the interstates. Instead, I'm talking about the giants of the cycling industry. Though they are miniscule in comparison to Walmart and other mega-corporations, a few of the largest players in the bicycle industry can have the same power to destroy independent bike shops that the "big box" stores have to annihilate smaller shops that sell hardware, clothing and just about anything else.
The giant that vanquished Flying Fish is not just a giant in the industry: It's Giant. In 2012, Giant Bicycle, Inc., made a deal in which Flying Fish owner Francis Kane agreed to buy and sell $120,000 of their bicycles in the Spring of 2013.
In a subsequent lawsuit, Kane said that Giant agreed to promote Flying Fish as the dominant Giant dealer in the area. Moreover, Kane said, Giant did not disclose that it was planning to terminate its relationship with Flying Fish and open a "concept" store nearby.
After a two-year court battle, a jury awarded Kane $250,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages in September 2015. But even such a settlement ultimately wasn't enough to keep Flying Fish in business: Giant countersued for the $120,000 in inventory Kane didn't pay for, as well as "compensatory" damages. And, of course, there were legal fees. (Contrary to public perception, few people get rich by winning lawsuits.)
The court battle, though, wasn't the only thing to ground Flying Fish. Performance Bicycles opened a mega-store in the area. Last year, the company went bankrupt, but their Tampa store was falling to another force that contributed to the demise of Flying Fish. Some would argue that it was an even bigger factor than the Internet, the business practices of Giant or big-box stores.
Even though cities all over the US are building bike lanes and starting bike-share programs, the number of people who commute by bike fell from a high of 904,463 in 2014 to 872,000 three years later, according to American Community Survey. In the Tampa Bay area, the decline was even more precipitous: According to ACS, the number of people who ride their bikes to work fell by 50 percent. That, even as the League of American Bicyclists declared Tampa and St. Petersberg "Bike Friendly Communities" in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
One probable reason for that was, ironically, expressed by some of the people who showed up at the Flying Fish auction. They said that they never depended, or stopped depending, on their bikes for transportation because doing so is "too dangerous." If they ride, they stick to pre- or post-work training rides on bike lanes, or they drive with their bikes to ride in other places.
Their perceptions have some basis. As I've mentioned in other posts, Florida has, by far, the highest per capita death rate among cyclists in the United States. And the Tampa Bay area's statistics are in line with the rest of the state, meaning that a cyclist has a much greater chance of being killed there than in almost any other part of the nation. I've never cycled in the Tampa Bay area, but my experiences of cycling in other parts of the Sunshine State make it easy for me to see why there's such a high mortality rate, and why, even though there are many casual or recreational cyclists, few people depend on their bikes for transportation. It's one thing to go for "fun" rides on trails and bike lanes; it's another to navigate, day in and day out, roads with no shoulders or sidewalks and 55 MPH speed limits--and drivers who, usually, haven't cycled since childhood, if they ever rode at all.
So, while the Internet, big-box retailers and shady practices by one of the "giants" of their own industry may well have led to the closure of Flying Fish Bikes, it might have ultimately been done in because, as we have seen, a thriving bicycle culture doesn't exist without people who depend on their bikes to get to school or work, to shop or to get to the places where they get their entertainment or other social interactions. No declaration of "bicycle friendliness" from the LAB or anyone else can make it otherwise.
