Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Another big midlands dealer down!

They are due to close at the end of the month and are taking no more bike or service orders.

Sad day, they were very competitive on tyres. I bought quite a bit there over the past year or two. My back protector, helmet, tyres.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Well it appears you have another shop to frequent and buy shiny things from ;)

Really is a worrying turn of events though. Which dealer is next? :(

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Which one?

The only bike shops even remotely near me now are CMC Chesterfield (15 miles) and Nottingham (10miles), and I heard the Nottingham branch of them was having a particularly tough time.

:( Bad Times

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

If the Motorcycle Trade charged more reasonable prices for spares and services they would probably have an upturn but irrelevant of how you look at things we are still in recession------consequence follows


The goose that lays the golden egg is no more

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

To be fair they have for the past year been very competitive for a main dealer. To little to late maybe.

Some crackin deals to be had by the looks of it.

http://www.stratstonemotorcycles.co....&SP_ID=2068965

Brand new GSXR600... £5990

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

I was refering to JHP/Ducati Coventry, G. :p

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Ditto that. People will just do their own servcing, or give that fork change a go themselves when times are hard.

Fact of life is people are spending less.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Bike sales are way down, there has also been a massive slump in new car sales.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Bad times!

It seems to be all over the country aswel. My local main dealer has lost about 5 franchises this year alone as they ain't shifting anything.
I was in the other week and could have had a AGV for about half price, oh how i wish i had the cash

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Drop the prices then. Sorry but we are all spending less, so why aren't bike dealers appreciating this. Cheaper prices to draw the customers back in. Yes your profit will drop, but like the rest of us you are now experiancing the **** after the storm.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

They're stuck between a rock and a hard place - new bike sales are down 25% (40% for sportsbikes), but exchange rates are making Japanese imports expensive.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

No sympathy to be fair - I have bought 12 bikes in the last 10 years 4 of them brand new and everytime I have been raped on the resale (as I expected to be). I am keeping the SV for now and will weather the storm. I know the financial climate is hard but come on adjust your service costs so people like me come to the dealers rather than doing an oil and plug chance themselves to save a small fortune.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Awwwwww pants.

I got some leathers from there earlier in the year having just found it and planned to frequent. Now the flipping flip is flipping closing.

Flip.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Specialone should buy this place if he wants a good set up. Theplace is fantastic and has a good cafe to make money on, loads of parking, great showroom and great service bay.

It was just run by idiots.

They would only let you test ride AFTER you had agreed to buy the bike and had paid a deposit.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

I'd been only a couple of time but agree the place is ideal, shame the staff will loose their jobs but the company polices seem a bit odd if that was their carry on.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

It was a very very busy place, so they probably had a lot of timewasters... But their silly policies and bad attitude will have quickly scared off the genuine customers.

They getting better but again...To little to late.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Love to G, but its a bit far away and probably too much money :(
Im having 2nd thoughts with all these businesses going pete tong :(

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Trouble is i know full well as a dealer that dropping prices and reducing your profit doesnt automatically generate enough of an upturn of custom to offset the loss of turnover and can in quite a few cases end up with the business not being viable to run.

Dealers dont get a choice when it comes to re-selling parts, especially from manufacturers. RRP and margins are pre-set and if you dont make the margin on the part to cover the cost of sales in each department the business then looses money and closes.

It will only get worse. More people want cheap, business then offer that but cant run efficiently on the margins, employ inexperienced staff, cut corners on quality and then the end customer gets a raw deal.

IMHO the UK price wise for new bikes and parts within europe is cheap - just been out to Spain..and nearly choked on my coffee when wandering around the large shop in Jerez!. They are doing well and yet Spain is in a worse reccesion than the UK!

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Went past them today and they are gone! Showroom empty, shutters down. Gone!

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Stratstone are a very large group owned company so id guess if there was no profit being made they would choose to shut the doors. I have no idea on how the rest of their group is performing but it wouldnt be good business sense to offset a poor performing sector with your good one at the moment.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

I went in at the weekend and they had some really really good deal on what they had left, which wasn't much, they should be open again this weekend too and closing the door for the last time on Sunday.

Stratstone/pendragon nearly went under last year, their share price fell well below £1... They've since been restructuring and by the looks of it getting rid of poor performing areas of the business.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

FYI - Me & the Mrs are heading up this weekend.
If you see a green & black Gladius say hi.

Hold on, we might be in the car as the boy will be in tow.

If you see a man who normally rides a Gladius hunting through the racks looking for some winter gloves with wife & 3year old boy full of snot, say hi.

Hang on, if he's still all snotty Sarah might stop home with Sam.

Basically I'll keep my eye out if I get up for any orgers.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Will be a wasted journey I'm afraid, they shut for the last time today according to an email I received from them.

Was an email thanking all customer for their custom over the years etc.

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

Yep, phoned ahead just in case & you're right - they are no more :-({|=

Re: Stratstone Claycross - Close at the end of the month!
 

I haven't read through this... Last time I used them they were shoddy at best. Im not surprised about this.