No More Bike Delivery: Kitzuma Lays Off Driver Fleet Ahead of Winter Lull
The bicycle delivery service laid off most of its driver network in anticipation of low demand this winter.
Kitzuma Cycling Logistics, a company that partners with direct-to-consumer businesses and retailers to deliver fully assembled bikes, is taking a hiatus. The company announced the suspension of its services on Oct. 31, citing an industry-wide dip in bike demand as well as typical winter-month business slowdowns.
“With the cold-weather months ahead, we made the strategic decision to suspend our door delivery service,” CEO Taylor Essick said in a statement obtained by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN).
“Clearly, the most difficult part of this decision is the impact on our drivers. As we wind deliveries back up in the spring, we hope to bring back most of our drivers.”
Essick did not share how many of Kitzuma’s drivers the layoffs will affect.
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Recent Expansion
Kitzuma previously grew 35% per quarter for six straight quarters, according to Essick. This growth reflects the “pandemic bump” the bicycle industry (and the outdoor industry as a whole) experienced as Americans searched for safe things to do that complied with COVID-19 restrictions.
In August, the company heralded an expansion into warehousing and expanded fulfillment services. To that end, Kitzuma opened two new warehouses: one in Asheville, N.C., and one in Salt Lake City. How the layoffs will affect those facilities is unclear.
Essick told BRAIN that Kitzuma will use the hiatus to “push several ongoing projects across the line and focus on our growing warehousing and fulfillment services.”
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