‘Must visit’ bike retailer with 70 branches to close store with ‘best service ever’ in months

A MAJOR bike retailer with 70 branches across the UK is permanently closing a store with the “best service ever” within months.

Evans Cycles, owned by the Frasers Group, is pulling down the shutters on its Fitzrovia shop in west London in late Spring.

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It is understood the site will be relocating to a new unit although it is not clear for now where the new site is.

Once the site closes cyclists‘ next nearest branch will be in King Cross, just under two miles away.

News of the closure will likely be met with sadness from locals who are full of praise for the store online.

Posting on Google Reviews, one shopper said they had received the “best service ever” there.

Another said: “A great service center (sic) for any bike, and the staff are very helpful.

“A must visit for anyone who is looking for a bike or has questions.”

A third said: “Fantastic bike shop. Really friendly and helpful mechanics and staff.

“I got honest help and didn’t feel like I was being up-sold at all. Highly recommended.”

And a fourth commented: “Excellent service. Very fast and friendly staff. Would recommend anyone that needs a bike repair to go here.”

It comes after Evans Cycles added thousands of new lines to its website in December after launching a “dropshipping” programme.

The programme, aimed at boosting profits, sees items listed on the retailer’s website and shopped directly to distributors who sell them on.

It followed the retailer announcing in March 2019 it would close eight branches after collapsing into administration in late 2018.

Which other retailers are closing branches?

Evan’s Cycles is just one retailer announcing store closures across the UK as the high street takes a hit.

House of Fraser, also owned by The Frasers Group, is set to pull down its store in Carlisle in May.

The chain has shuttered several stores since last year, including in Birmingham, Cardiff and Guildford.

Other Frasers Group stores are closing too.

A Sports Direct branch in Stroud, Gloucestershire, will be pulling the shutters down for good at the end of March.

Sports Direct also shuttered its branch in the Central Six Retail Park, Coventry, at the end of January.

The Flannels site in Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton, pulled down its shutters for the final time in the new year.

It also shut its site in Bradford in January despite only opening back in October.

But it’s not all bad news for the retail group as it is opening branches across the UK as well.

In recent months it has been opening “new concept” stores which sell brands from across the group including Sports Direct, Flannels and Jack Wills.

Last September, it cut the ribbon on one of the stores in Norwich and has opened two more of the stores in Blackpool and Sheffield in recent months.

Plus, it has plans to open one of the concept stores in a former John Lewis site at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough by the end of 2025.

The firm also recently took on the famous Compton House in Liverpool and will reopen the site as its flagship Sports Direct branch.

Which other retailers are closing stores?

Supermarket chains such as Lidl, Tesco and Iceland have been closing stores since the start of 2023.

Meanwhile, retailers such as Poundstretcher, Argos and House of Fraser have been shuttering single stores too.

Major names such as Wilko, Paperchase and The Body Shop have crashed into administration since last year as well, shutting hundreds of branches between them.

In June last year, Boots said it would massively consolidate its portfolio of 2,200 stores to 1,900.

The pharmacy chain said it would shut stores where there was another one nearby.

However, as is the case with The Frasers Group, it’s not all bad news for the high street – a number of retailers are expanding.

Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores in a bid to rival its rivals Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.

Meanwhile, Wilko has made a comeback on the high street, opening stores in Plymouth, Luton and Exeter before the end of last year.

And in January, discounter chain B&M said it had plans to open 17 new sites in 2024.

The Sun approached Frasers Group for a comment.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk