Halfords buoyed up by Britons getting on their bikes to save money

Britons have taken up cycling to beat the recession
Zoe Wood
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 April 2009 16.28 BST

Halfords said today the price battleground had shifted from supermarket aisles to cycle lanes as Britons got back on their bikes.
"Consumers are looking for bargains and there is greater transparency than ever before because of the internet," said David Wild, Halfords' chief executive. "The bike market was very competitive in the final quarter of last year."
Halfords, the UK's largest cycle retailer, has sold more than 1m bikes a year for the last two years, with sales buoyed up by commuters taking advantage of work incentive schemes, as well as the success of British cyclists at the Olympics in Beijing.
Wild said cycling had become more popular because of concerns about health and the environment as well as the recession: "The first two reasons will be relevant whatever happens to the economy, although that is particularly important today."
The strong bike market helped Halfords beat City expectations with profits of £92m in the financial year just ended. It said like-for-like sales in its leisure departments, which include bikes and accounts for a third of sales, were positive in the quarter but down 3.8% overall. Much of the dip was down to falling demand for gadgets such as satnavs, as motorists were forced to spend money on essential maintenance or decided to switch to two wheels.
In recent years Halfords' margins on satnavs were being squeezed in a competitive market place, but Wild said price deflation had slowed as European manufacturers such as TomTom, which imports from Taiwan, juggle buying in dollars and selling in pounds. Sam Hart, an analyst at Charles Stanley, warned the depreciation of sterling could become a bigger issue further down the line as many Halfords' products were sourced in dollars.
Despite the surge in popularity of cycling, Halfords has abandoned plans to open a chain of bike shops aimed at the high end of the market.