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Capitol Hill Bikes sent out an email to its customers on Thursday announcing that the store has lost its lease and must liquidate its entire inventory while it searches for a new location. The cycling store has been located at 709 8th Street SE for about a decade.
The email advertised up to 75 percent off everything in the store, plus discounts on tune-ups while the service center is still open. Co-owners Denise D'Amour and Laurie Morin also included this message:
We've been proud to serve the Capitol Hill community for these many years and we hope to be able to do so again. Until then, we must liquidate and vacate our current space. Please show your support by doing some early Christmas shopping or getting that new set of wheels you've been wanting.
Thanks to everyone for their support.
Denise, Laurie and the Capitol Hill Bikes Crew.
The store will be open Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
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Tragic for them, but fortuitous for me since I need a new bike.
i'm hoping that they're looking for a space up on H street. we would gladly welcome them north of the hill.
Let's hope they can go to H Street, where they can stay maybe two years until the rents there are thoroughly jacked up and they have to move on to the outer rings of Beltsville MD. I say H street rents will reach a ridiculous apex around the time one more good bar opens, and the mythic street cars are in place.
Unfortunately I think they might have even less foot traffic there. The location on 8th was never lacking walk-ins, and loyal patrons, just probably not the high spenders a bike shop needs. After being a loyal customer for years, I took my bike re-builds elsewhere last year because 1) the waiting list was months long there to have a bike fully serviced (perhaps too many loyal customers?), 2) the price was 25% more than another small local bike shop.
But I still made a point to buy most of my bike items there every year in an effort to support a good neighbor. Best of luck, and where ever they go on the "greater hill metro area", I will try and support them.
Weird that they have to liquidate just because they have to move, but holy crap 75% off is awesome! Too bad I can't justify owning a new bike.
Criswell predicts that within 18 months, the space will be occupied by a restaurant selling tiny portions of really expensive food. Why can't DC have more simple, homey, affordable dining options that serve all income brackets like Cockpunchteria?
Totally. While I was glad to see the restaurants come back after a bunch closed since last October, its sad to loose Cap Hill bikes. There are no less than 3 new restaurants going in right now.
I can't believe they can't easily find some other space on 8th Street. There are several empty storefronts that have been empty for some time.
It'll be a loss if they can't find other digs. They were quite a good bike store.
If it was just a matter of losing a storefront, they probably wouldn't be liquidating their entire stock.
Actually, they're in total liquidation mode, save for service parts and their workbench tools. They've actually been cutting back their inventory all year. This was especially noticed in the high-end bicycles: CHB used to have a lovely selection of high-end stuff, but they didn't replenish as things sold this year. This meant less financial overhead, but also drove away folks who were looking for the higher zoot stuff - it's a double-edged sword.
In talking with the CHB managers yesterday afternoon, they're truly in "clear it all out" mode. They still have quite a bit of stuff - it's worth a look-see.
The issue is rent: 8th Street is really pricey these days, and CHB wasn't moving enough high-revenue product to keep up with it.
Oddly enough, their service department has been very busy this year. They even sent out calls for extra part-time mechanics, such was the workload. But the revenue on service is limited, as there is competition in said field from other stores and CHB had to remain competitive.
The main issue with relocation is that rents have risen across the board on The Hill. The area around Potomac Avenue has seen an uptick in rates since Harris Teeter and the attached condo complex opened. H Street NE is now commanding higher rents with its resurgence. Trinidad might be an option, but there is a relative paucity of viable storefronts in said area.
I wish them luck.
If it's empty space they need, I bet they could get a good price on an empty spot close to the baseball stadium. There are LOTS of empty spots down that way, but they won't get the foot traffic that 8th Street does.
(Goes and sits in the corner to pout muttering... "great, now I'll have to find a new bike shop... Somehow this is Fenty's fault...")
for every person we hired two quit because of the service manager bernie.
If only DCPS HQ would learn the intricacies of this management technique, the problem would take care of itself.
bladensburg road has a lot of build-out-able space, and there's the hechinger mall too.
h street is chock full of vacant properties. it's a shame that they might be priced at an unreasonable point, but there's really no good reason that a LOT more commercial can't fit into the corridor.
A couple of years ago I spoke to the one of the owners of a restaurant on 8th (a block from CHB) and was told he had to close because of the high rents. I think property owners think they can get a boatload of money from anyone willing to set up anything (rest. store, etc,) and the sad reality is that not all business survice - a clear example is some stores along 14th and Dupont. Property owners need a big reality check. Of course we the consumers pay the price with the super high prices - sad.
Perhaps Capitol Hill Bikes wasn't able to compete with the service prices of DDOT's 4 million dollar subsidized bike rack down by Union Station. Why does that bike rack have a service station, exactly?
[Insert Right-wing screed here]
Good riddence. Bike shops only serve to attract the wrong element to the neighborhood. Like the Mayor.
It's more than the lease. I heard they've been losing money for quite a while. That their inventory was low because they were having trouble paying their bills and suppliers wouldn't ship them any more stuff. I'm not sure they'll reopen elsewhere.
Wow. I could fall over from lack of surprise.
I stopped going when the head mechanic told me they don't work on disc brakes...
Fenty should buy all the bikes and then raffle them off.
Bummmmer. I really liked this store. This is pretty much the last of the stores that kicked off the 8th street renaissance. I also hope that they move to H street. We would love to have them in this neighborhood.
CHB gave me my bike (I won a raffle!) so I've always felt indebted to them and tried to make my purchases there. But their head salesman tried to upsell the hell out of me when I was looking at bikes, so I wasn't too eager to actually buy a bike there. I'll still miss them--nice folks in a nice store. And if it's 75% off, maybe I do need a new bike.
They "lost their lease" because they could not pay the rent. The paychecks for the staff were two weeks late too. The profit for the shop was given to a gift store that the owner also owns to keep that running. It had nothing to do with the high rent or their sub par managers. It was the owner that killed it.
The email advertised up to 75 percent off everything in the store, plus discounts on tune-ups while the service center is still open.
This is Bogus just went over there, it is cleaned out! The bikes left were 15% 25% and I saw one at 33%
There was only one table with %75 nothing good there. Shoes were 50% with only women's models. Almost got some shorts that were 50% off but they were $150 to begin with!
Sad to have another bike shop close, but they did not have a true liquidation sale.
It wasn't that picked over compared to other liquidations I've seen.
I think that they tried returning a lot of unsold stock back to the manufacturer or distributor, and succeeded with quite a few things. What couldn't be returned may have been offered to other local dealers who carry the same brands (Jamis and Bianchi) before the same went fully "public." What's left is what couldn't be cleared out via the other means.
It's a typical liquidation setup though: feast or famine, you get what's there. I found some great deals on random bike components there, but it took a bit of hunting to find the gold.
I need a tune-up and live in the neighborhood so could easily bring my bike by tomorrow morning, but I'm starting to wonder if the quality of the tune-up will be sketchy if they are so short on supplies, and even a little nervous that they'll completely close "early" while my bike is in there.
Certainly that scenario has happened before when dry cleaners and other such businesses shut down suddenly.
Anyone think I should risk it?
Their service department is still well stocked for maintenance issues - no worries, from what I can see. The showroom is what is more threadbare right now.
I would not risk it. They can't order parts so if you need something they won't have it. The "Tune Up" prices are just so they can get enough cash to pay the staff. The prices are high to begin with. Take it to pro shop or big wheel bikes in georgetown. Today is Friday so they have saturday to work on your bike before it's over. I'd wait.
You're right on the prices-- being somewhat new to cycling, I had no idea until I had to drop in for an emergency repair to the bike shop along the Mt Vernon trail in Old Town Alexandria (can't remember the name). I almost fell over at how much cheaper they quoted me for a custom fitting of my bike than Capitol Hill Bikes did.
I used to live in an apartment right on top of their space. I have four bikes, but only one was from their shop. They had a good service shop but their bikes for sale were almost exclusivley road racing and mountain bikes. It was really challenging to find anything with a fender, full chain guard, integrated lights, etc. They operated like a sports equipment store rather than selling the practical city bikes that people in the area wanted. I'm sad to see them go but I'm not entirely surprised.
If CHB wanted to keep that Barracks Row location they should have opened a bike-thru restaurant.
The reason the store closed from my understanding is there is more to this story than just high rent on 8th street. After having bought a high-end mountain bike from them and having it serviced there I learned that parts weren't being delivered from the manufacturer because they were owed money. Seems that was the case for several manufacturers besides the one that made my bike, hence the low inventory in the showroom and the total liquidation.
I wish them good luck if they are able to open back up. Lets hope they get all their sheep in a row and figure out that customers will travel a bit farther for great service and reasonable prices.