Surge in cycling sales helps Halfords beat forcasts
October 8th, 2012
A surge of cycling sales on the back of the London 2012 Olympics and Tour de France 2012 have helped Halfords beat forecasts for the second quarter.
Reports showed that sales from stores open at least a year rose by 4.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to September 28th 2012, with like-for-like bike sales up by almost 15 per cent.
A surge of cycling sales on the back of the London 2012 Olympics and Tour de France 2012 have helped Halfords beat forecasts for the second quarter.
Reports showed that sales from stores open at least a year rose by 4.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to September 28th 2012, with like-for-like bike sales up by almost 15 per cent.
Paul McClenagham, commercial director, said there had been strong demand for Halfords’ range of bikes which have been designed by Olympic gold medallists, Chris Boardman and Victoria Pendleton.
“The Boardman and Pendleton ranges really resonated with the customers during the Olympic period,” he confirmed.
“The exposure that Chris had during the Tour de France and Victoria during the Olympics helped to raise the profile of the brand.”
McClenagham added that the Boardman range, “allowed us to sell bikes over £1,000 on a regular basis”.
However Dennis Millard, Chairman of the nationwide retailer, remained cautious about the growth in sales and stated that a “cold hard winter” is more likely to favour the car repair side of the business.
He also said that the Christmas period is a crucial time for the company, “particularly for cycling”.