SALES OF BICYCLES INCREASE

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 24 July 1935, Page 7

SALES OF BICYCLES INCREASE

FEATURE OF PAST TWO 1 YEARS. WOMEN’S MACHINES IN DEMAND. AUCKLAND, July 23: Until motorists and cyclists started mutual recriminations in tho newspapers recently over the responsibility lor accidents, few of the public outside the two parties concerned had noticed the large increase that has taken place in the number of bicycles in and around Auckland during the past' two years. This phenomenon is not confined to Auckland or even to New Zealand, but according to trade magazines is universal. “A few years ago we were on the point of. giving up our bicycle business, so few machines were sold. In the past two years it has saved the firm,” declared the manager of an importing business. “Last December our sales of bicycles reached the highest figure since long before the war, and instead of falling off during the winter months, as we expected, they have kept up. A surprising feature is the number iof women’s bicycles being sold. Whereas we previously ordered from the makers about one woman’s machine in ton, our consignments are now 50-50 women’s and men’s.” The Auckland representative of one of the largest bicycle factories in England said that his firm had experienced a- similar “boom,” and during last November and December had been hard put to it to supply t]ie demand, especially for women’s machines, whole consignments of which had boon sold as soon as they were landed.