“No matter what kind of business you run, you should be in the relationship-building and experience selling business because that’s where you find the greatest success”. -Chris Zane
Zane’s Cycles is a New England bicycle store located in Branford, Connecticut, started by Christopher J. Zane in October 1981, at the age of 16. Since then, the store has grown from a local bicycle and hobby shop to the largest P&I (Premiums and Incentives) distributor of bicycles in the United States.
Whether it’s selling bikes in his Connecticut store or filling orders for corporate rewards programs, Zane knows a successful business is about more than just selling stuff. He tells people to picture a 7-year-old riding on a two-wheeler for the first time. It’s not just a bicycle to her; it’s the “first real freedom that kid has ever experienced away from the parental grip.”
Zane, 46, got his start at age 12 fixing bikes in his parents’ East Haven, Connecticut, garage. At 16, he convinced his parents to let him take over the lease of a bike shop going out of business, borrowing $23,000 from his grandfather—at 15 percent interest. His mother tended the store while he was at school in the mornings. In his first year, he racked up $56,000 in sales.
Over the last few years, Zane has expanded the business to include items like gaming systems and racing strollers. Consistently expanding has allowed him to keep his average annual growth rate at 23.5 percent for the last 30 years. He expects to close this year with $21 million in sales. He’s come this far with the help of store policies that would make big box stores blush: Lifetime service guarantees, 90-day price protection, and a trade-in program for children’s bikes where parents get 100 percent of the purchase price applied to their child’s next bike.
Zane’s corporate client business has grown so much that his Branford, the Connecticut-based store now accounts for only about a quarter of his revenue. But he’s got plans in the works to expand, even more, opening 100 stores over the next decade.
Zane proved that no matter what your age is, you can do wonders. You just have to have faith in you.