Halfords closes its cycling businesses as it pivots to online
Halfords has announced the closure of two of its cycling businesses as it focuses its attention on its online operations.
The retailer is closing the operations of Cycle Republic and the Boardman Performance Centre following a strategic review of the group’s cycling businesses.
Halfords said it was closing the low-returning and stock intensive business next year, to improve returns as well as accelerate growth in its motoring business.
The closure of Cycle Republic will leave Halfords with its predominantly online cycling business, Tredz.
“With investment in the Tredz business, alongside our core Halfords Retail cycling business, we believe we will be uniquely placed to serve both the enthusiast and the mainstream customer in a more economic way than we do today,” the group said in a statement.
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The retailer said it would launch a consultation process with its 226 employees to mitigate redundancies.
Chief executive Graham Stapleton said: “The Board has come to the difficult, but necessary, decision to propose the closure of Cycle Republic, our retail store-focussed performance cycling brand.”
“This proposal is not a reflection of the hard work of our Cycle Republic colleagues, who I would like to thank for their commitment and passion in serving our customers. We are now moving into a period of consultation with impacted colleagues with a view to mitigating as many redundancies as possible.”
“Going forward we propose to focus our investment and resources in Halfords and Tredz, through which we will deliver market-leading specialist propositions for both mainstream and enthusiast cyclists via a business model that improves our overall economics.”