Performance Bicycle, one of the largest bike retailers in the country, is expected to close all of its locations next month.

When Performance’s parent company, Philadelphia-based Advanced Sport Enterprises (ASE), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last fall, it was thought that about half of the discount chain’s 104 locations might survive under renegotiated leases. Instead, more than 1,700 retail employees will likely lose their jobs by the last store’s scheduled closing on March 2. About 100 staffers at Performance’s corporate headquarters in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, were laid off last week.

Tiger Capital Group—a hedge fund that helped liquidate Toys R Us and Gymboree over the last two years—was among a group of four companies that paid $23 million for ASE’s assets. Tiger partnered with Hong Kong-based Advanced Holdings Co. to acquire ASE-owned bike brands Fuji, Kestrel, and Breezer, while California-based online retailer AMain Cycling took over the Performance Bicycle and Bike Nashbar e-commerce sites. The fourth company, K&B Investment Corp., bought ASE’s Chapel Hill and Philadelphia real-estate holdings.



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Tiger Capital and Advanced Holdings formed BikeCo LLC to run the Advanced Sports, Inc. (ASI) wholesale business. In a press release, BikeCo officials said they were committed to ASI’s long-term success and would retain “the vast majority of staff” at its Philadelphia headquarters.

More than 100 Performance Bicycle stores are slated to close on March 2, bringing all of the retailer’s brick-and-mortar locations to an end. Smith Collection/Gado Getty Images

“We have some exciting product launches under our existing brands in the very near future,” said Karen Bliss, ASI’s chief marketing officer. “We look forward to providing a compelling selection of products and excellent customer service to our dealer network.” Bliss has told reporters that Tiger, which owns the lease rights to Performance’s retail locations, has no plans to reopen any brick-and-mortar stores.

Kendall Bennett, CEO of AMain Cycling, told the Raleigh News and Observer that “achieving success as a start-up in the bike industry has been challenging,” necessitating the acquisition. He added that some of the laid-off corporate employees could go to work for AMain.

Known for its low prices, Performance Bicycle took a big-box approach to bike retail. In recent years, the chain’s low margins made turning a profit difficult as customers increasingly went online for even lower costs, according to Matt Powell, a senior industry advisor with the market research firm NPD Group. Making matters worse were the Trump administration’s tariffs enacted last year on bikes, e-bikes, and many components and accessories that raised overhead costs.

“Performance Bicycle was highly leveraged before ASI bought them” about two years ago to form ASE, Powell told Bicycling. At the time, Performance was so heavily in debt to ASI that the only way to keep both companies afloat was for ASI to buy Performance. Yet it remained unable to lower its debt in the ensuing years, and the entire company went under.

Robert Annis After spending nearly a decade as a reporter for The Indianapolis Star, Robert Annis finally broke free of the shackles of gainful employment and now freelances full time, specializing in cycling and outdoor-travel journalism. Over the years, Robert's byline has appeared in numerous publications and websites, including Outside, National Geographic Traveler, Afar, Bicycling, Men's Journal, Popular Mechanics, Lonely Planet, the Chicago Tribune, and Adventure.com

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