News & Stories

Bike & Ski Service Provider Partnership Opportunity at the Trailhead

Several questions have come up with regard to the request for proposal. This addendum provides answers to those questions. In order to give all parties a fair opportunity to respond to the rfp with this new information we are extending the proposal deadline by two weeks, August 9th. See the attached addendum for more information.

This article was posted on Monday, July 1, 2019

Proposals are sought for a bike and ski service provider in The Trailhead. Services sought include bike, snowboard and cross country ski servicing, sales and rentals and repairs, and sales of things like inner-tubes, tires, lights, and other bike, snowboard, golf and ski related paraphernalia. We see the partner providing staff and equipment for doing service at The Trailhead – for both the general public and for the Loppet Foundation’s programmatic bike, snowboard, and ski fleets. These services would complement the Loppet Foundation’s work in providing trails, programming, and events in these areas.

Trailhead Bike & Ski Service Provider Partner Request for Proposals »

To ensure that information is dispersed equitably, questions will be accepted and posted on the website, along with our response. Please address your questions to rfpinfo@loppet.org.

---

Questions & Answers

This section will be updated with our responses to questions as they are received.

Question 1: Roughly how much has the Loppet Foundation budgeted for customer service staffing in the past?

The Foundation only has one year of experience with customer service staffing so
our numbers are not based on a lot of experience. However, we budgeted roughly $85,000 for customer service staffing over the past year. One of the reasons that we think this new arrangement can work is the efficiencies of time here. For instance, on a summer day, one staff member might be able to handle both customer service and bike & ski shop business in hours when the bike & ski shop is not that busy. On the other hand, Saturday and Sunday afternoons in January and February are likely to require three or even four staff members just to sell passes and rent skis during the busy time (typically 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.). Note that on busy days like this it is possible that the Loppet Foundation will have someone working in the customer service area at the front of The Trailhead in order to supplement bike & ski shop staff by selling ski passes and/or acting in a concierge role.

Question 2: Is the vendor expected to provide their own point-of-sale system?

Yes.

Question 3: Would the vendor be allowed to use the Loppet Foundation’s network in order to connect to the internet?

Depending upon the amount of data that the vendor might need the Loppet Foundation would be amenable to the vendor using the Loppet system. However, the vendor would be in charge of security of transactions. This is a topic that we would see covering in more detail in the negotiation process.

Question 4: There were requests for specifics on the type of skis, snowboards and snowshoes that would be available to the vendor through this relationship.

Rental Equipment Details:

a. Equipment supplied by Loppet:

Snowboards — Burton LTR (various sizes)
Adult Snowshoes — TUBBS Brand
Youth Snowshoes — Garneau NeoKid

b. Equipment available for sale, lease or other proposal:

Skate Skis — Madshus Megatronic

ITEM — SIZE — QTY
Skate skis — 175 cm — 9
Skate skis — 180 cm — 10
Skate skis — 185 cm — 10
Skate skis — 190 cm — 13
Skate skis — 195 cm — 9

Question 5: Would the Loppet Foundation require any type of group discounts on rental equipment?

Yes, the Foundation would occasionally be running some programming that would necessitate the use of ski, snowshoe, snowboard and bike equipment. For instance, the Foundation might run mid-week ski programs for school or community groups. The details of how this might work can be discussed during the negotiation process but the vendor may want to make a proposal around this
idea.

Question 6: Please provide a more specific breakdown of the physical space dimensions that would be available to the vendor here.

Physical space dimensions breakdown (measured in feet)