All Performance bike shops expected to close by March 2
Performance Bicycle, once the largest bike retail chain in the U.S., is expected to shut down all retail locations at the start of March.
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Bicycle Retailer & Industry News (BRAIN) reports that all 60 of the remaining Performance Bicycle stores will be closed by March 2, as a result of the retail chain’s November bankruptcy filing.
Layoffs of about 95 employees on Wednesday at Advanced Sports Enterprises’s (ASE) facility in Chapel Hill, North Carolina — the longtime headquarters for the company’s Performance retail division — ended hopes that any Performance stores, once the country’s largest bike retail chain, would continue.
However, the new owners of the Performance and Nashbar e-commerce businesses told BRAIN they will operate and expand those websites. And the new owners of Advanced Sports, Inc. (ASI), the wholesale business that distributes Fuji, Kestrel, SE, and other brands, also plan to keep that business alive.
The Chapel Hill layoffs removed almost all management and support staff above the store level for the Performance store chain, which still has about 60 stores open. All of those stores are expected to be closed by March 2, with some closing sooner. Remaining Performance store employees are now reporting directly to Gordon Brothers, the store liquidation company ASE hired soon after filing for bankruptcy protection.
There were also at least a few layoffs made this week at other ASE facilities, including at the Philadelphia headquarters of ASI.
Most of those laid off in Chapel Hill are staying on through Thursday or Friday. About 30 people remain employed there, but about half of those positions are set to expire either this month or next.
There were also layoffs announced Wednesday at a call center in West Virginia that services Nashbar and Performance customers. The call center has been in operation there since 1995. It was not immediately clear how many jobs were let go at the call center, or if those positions were among the 95 job cuts announced.
Amain.com, Inc. acquired the Performance and Nashbar trademarks and web domains, as well as trademarks for Performance house brands, for $1.245 million. Amain did not acquire any store leases, warehouses, or inventory.