BENTONVILLE, Ark. (BRAIN) — The National Bicycle Dealers Association Retailer Summit Central that started Monday and ends Thursday led off its first day of educational presentations and panel discussions with a keynote from Whitney Tabaian, newly appointed president and CEO of Mike's Bikes.
Pon.Bike, the 20-brand Netherlands-based bike supplier, purchased Mike's Bikes' 14 California Bay Area locations from founders Ken Martin and Matt Adams in 2021. Adams remains with Pon.Bike as head of portfolio of North America.
Pon.Bike also bought Elevations Cycles in 2022, a four-store Denver-area operation. Tabaian was a partner in the Elevations stores and joined the Pon.Bike team in conjunction with the sale.
Her previous experience was in the outdoor industry as a sales rep for Icebreaker and as owner of a Colorado-based sales agency that also sold Alite and Boreas.
Tabaian's presentation, titled "The Future of Retail: Culture, Leadership and Growth," focused on each of those three areas, including an action item for each to help retailers turn the concepts into reality in their stores.
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast," Tabaian told the gathering of 130 retailers, suppliers, and industry attendees. "Without culture, your strategy will never see the light of day. Culture is all about how your people show up. Inclusive culture leads to diverse customers, which results in a stronger business."
The action prescribed to improve Culture: Listen to your team. Schedule three listening sessions with team members you don't usually engage with. "It's my job to listen to team members, make them feel valued and cared for so they treat the customers the same way." Tabaian said.
Leadership lives at the intersection of empowerment and accountability, we learned from Tabaian's presentation. Trust is the foundation of high-performance culture. The Leadership action to take: Empower your team. Give autonomy, set clear expectations, and hold them accountable.
We learned from the Growth portion of the presentation that sustainable growth comes from culture, empowered teams, and retaining top talent.
"Good talent creates the foundation for customer service," Tabaian said. "Strong employees make customers happy and feel seen and heard."
Action item for Growth: Lead with vision and adaptability. Pivot quickly and embrace new opportunities.
Tabaian closed her presentation with a summary of the three core topics: "What sets us apart as leaders is taking the time to focus and explain our vision. It's not the strongest or most intelligent species that survives; it's the ones that adapt best to change."
