Letter From America: Rationale Behind the Great White Feeding Frenzy

Wheat Ridge Cyclery shop front

Santa Fe, New Mexico It’s as if someone tossed a ton of chum into the turbulent waters surrounding independent bicycle dealers, attracting a scrum of swift-moving sharks snapping up prime retail locations in the prosperous suburbs of major metropolitan areas. Look at a map and it’s easy to see where the Great Whites — Trek,…

Trek Buys Eight Melbourne Stores

The Cycles Galleria chain, both this month by Trek Bicycle Australia, includes four stores in inner-city Melbourne and three in the city’s suburbs.

Melbourne, Victoria One of Victoria’s largest bike store chains, Cycles Galleria, has been purchased by Trek Bicycle Australia this month. The purchase, including all seven Cycles Galleria stores, is the latest of two purchases by Trek in recent weeks to bolster the company’s presence in Melbourne. In late February, Trek bought Essendon store Rapido Cycles.…

How’s Business – March 2022

Ivanhoe Cycles Megastore at Heidelberg, Vic

Wollongong, NSW Welcome to our monthly chat with bicycle shop owners and managers from across Australia and New Zealand. One universal theme in their comments is that stock shortages are still impacting their businesses and most feel that the light at the end of the tunnel, whilst visible now, is a long way down the…

Trek Adds More Stores in US and Australia

Washington DC bike store chain Spokes Etc. was purchased by Trek last week.

Waterloo, Wisconsin, USA Trek Bicycle’s buying spree of bike stores in the US has continued with the recent purchase of 13 outlets in Baltimore and Washington DC. The founder of the Spokes Etc chain of stores in Washington DC, Jim Strang, last week confirmed the sale of his business and its six locations. The sale…

Five Predictions for Industry Direction in 2022

Bike stock levels may lead to an increase in prices

Little Rock, USA US bike industry commentator Rick Vosper has published his predictions for a number of possible developments in the American bike industry for 2022. At least some of his projections in ‘Five things that might happen in 2022. Or Not’, published online this week in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, could just as…

How Many More IBDs will Bike Brands Acquire?

Mikes Bikes website

San Francisco, California, USA Are we beginning to see a wider pattern of major bicycle companies looking to ‘vertically integrate’ by buying out some of their dealers or starting new stores from scratch? Already for several years, Trek has been progressively buying dealers and in some cases starting new stores. This is USA head office…

Sustainability Report Lifts the Lid on Bike Industry

Trek - 10 Areas to focus to reduce our footprint

Many bicycle industry members feel good about the idea that they’re selling environmentally sustainable products. But exactly how environmentally friendly is the process of manufacturing, distributing and selling bicycles? Trek Bicycles have just released their first annual Sustainability Report, which answers some of these questions. In his introduction to the report, Trek’s President, John Burke…

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

TBE Belmont

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,…

These Five Shops Are Looking Well Stocked – For Now At Least

In this age of random Covid hot spots and unexpected lockdowns, I’ve chosen not to risk too many road trips. Not because of health concerns, but just to avoid the potential disruption of having to quarantine and get tested through being in the wrong place at the wrong time.   On Friday 26th March I finally poked my head out of the burrow, and headed to Sydney where I…