Trek Australia Buys WA’s Top Retailer, Expands in NSW

Trek Australia have purchased Western Australia’s largest specialist bicycle retailer, The Bicycle Entrepreneur (TBE).

TBE started as a single shop in the Perth suburb of Belmont in 1983 and steadily grew to six locations, all in Perth, including an online store and a central warehouse / mechanical servicing department.

TBE is already a Trek dealer, no doubt the largest in WA, but also currently stocks Giant, Scott, Avanti and Cannondale. It’s highly likely that these other brands will be looking at alternative options once the transaction has been finalised because Trek typically focuses upon its own brands, Trek, Electra and Bontrager within its company stores.

As a transaction between two privately owned companies, no details of the sale have been released and neither party is obliged to make any public comment at all.

However Trek Australia CEO Jason Pye said in a written statement, “We appreciate you reaching out and are excited about the future transition of TBE to Trek on 1 July. TBE have a fantastic business and staff and we look forward to working with them. As the transaction is between two privately owned businesses we will be keeping any further specifics private.”

Meanwhile Michael D’Arcy, co-owner of TBE said, “I believe everyone’s happy. The staff are happy, Trek’s happy, we’re happy and that’s all I really want to say about it.”

Michael said he would be focusing more on the Fusion POS bike shop point of sale software that he’s developed, not just for TBE, but for other bicycle shops.

Meanwhile in NSW, Trek are going to do a major re-fit and re-branding of their flagship Sydney store, Clarence Street Cyclery, which was founded by the Cook family over 40 years ago and sold to Trek several years ago after Tony Cook’s retirement.

Trek are also opening a brand new store in the regional city of Penrith, located at the base of the Blue Mountains, 57 kilometres west of Sydney. Penrith has a population of 216,000 and is currently served by a 99 Bikes, a Blackman Bicycles (which has other stories in Parramatta and Blacktown), and Panther Cycles a large, long established independent.