NEW YORK, NY (BRAIN)--Does a week in Senegal or Ghana talking shop with bicycle retailers about marketing and sales issues and back shop inventory control sound like a great weeklong vacation? If so the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) has a $2,300 vacation package to sell you.
ITDP is looking for 10 North American bicycle retailers, with French proficiency, to attend its retail education conference in Senegal from Aug. 6 to 12. And another 10 English speaking retailers are needed for a similar conference in Ghana from Aug. 20 to 26.
“Africa is a long way away, but the basic tenets of running a bike shop—customer service, opening and closing a sale, inventory control, are the same,” said Ben Capron of True, who along with partner Mark Reidy, will be helping ITDP develop the retailer program.
During the first few days of the program week, North American retailers will visit Senegalese or Ghanian bike retailers to see how the shops run and interact with their customers. The retailers and ITDP staff, along with Capron and Reidy, will go through a few days' worth of curriculum. Then the African retailers will convene for the final few days of the week for their retail conference and training.
Retailers interested in attending the Senegal or Ghana seminars can get more information from ITDP's here or contact Bradley Schroeder, ITDP’s senior project director, at bschroeder@itdp.org.
