Mountain Equipment Co-op to sell bikes
We have heard the the Co-op (aka MEC) is going to sell bicycles next year.
Great, how many more local bike shops will they kill?
Shop local folks, and avoid the big-box stores. Yes, even the "ethical" ones like MEC.
Now, if we could actually live up to our own high standards!
posted by Cycle Fun Montreal @ 5:10 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I'm all for shopping "local", but why avoid the big-box stores? Fact is that they, esp. MEC, often have items hard to find elsewhere in Quebec, and for people who may not be able to travel to Ontario or the States to get these products (and don't want to pay more than necessary to have them shipped here), a place like MEC is a godsend. Personally, I got my hybrid Trek from La Cordee & couldn't be happier with the purchase & the service, and this is after searching extensively at local shops like McWhinnie's, Cycle Pop, Pignon Sur Roues, Martin Swiss, ABC Cycle (or is this a "big box" store too?)....The other thing is that, especially when it comes to tune-ups & getting parts for upgrades and the like, smaller shops can be so overwhelmed by too many customers and too few (qualified/knowlegeable) staff that the wait time turns out to be unbearable, so the bigger stores are sometimes the better option. Look at it this way: do you do *all* your grocery shopping at the depanneur near your house? Or at the health food store not far away? (laundry detergent, pet food, all of that stuff?) Or do you do sometimes pop into Provigo/Maxi/Metro/IGA etc. to get some of your staple items? Look I'm all about supporting the little guy too, they obviously have their place in the consumer landscape, but so do the larger guys - together they provide the diversity of products & services that for so long had been lacking here.
it's always your choice to shop where you feel the price-service equation = happy customer.
Will the co-op raise the bar for local shops to provide better service/price, or will your local bike shop (who is there to fix your bike on friday before your weekend trip) be killed by the big-box competition. This is the question.
We do our grocery shopping at PA!
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