ROCHESTER, MN (BRAIN)—In order to take his 31-year-old business to the next level, Bob Gritman decided he needed to take a leap, transforming his Rochester, Minnesota store into a Specialized Elite Shop. It opened last Friday.
Since starting with Bicycle Sports in 1990, Gritman knew the shop was capable of big things. He purchased the shop five years later with a focus on maximizing the shop’s untapped potential, according to a press release.
Nearly doubling the floor-space with a 2001 move, Bicycle Sports suddenly became a 6,000 square foot Specialized dealer.
“We’ve had great success over the years, in spite of our area’s competitive market, and I think there was one more step to take to truly tap into the true potential this store has.” he said. “When we started to talk about what we could do to harness that potential, with Specialized being our go-to brand, the Elite Shop plan became more and more apparent as the best solution to meet our goals.”
When originally moving to the new location, Gritman re-purposed the interior wood finishing of the building to create the floors and raised portion of the shop. Over the years, this wood has become the shop’s trademark, which the Retail Services immediately clued into when taking on the project.
“With Bicycle Sports’ history and character so ingrained in the natural wood interior, we’re re-using the natural-finish wood once again,” said Nichole Perrin, retail services manager. “With the addition our new wood-accented Heritage fixture line, the personality of the store will shine through, while the fixtures and design update will elevate Bicycle Sports to a high end retail experience.”
With many consumers becoming accustomed to clean design and strong merchandising in most of their day-to-day buying, Gritman and Perrin agreed that the move to Elite Shop status was the best way for Bicycle Sports to meet their goals.
“By integrating the shop’s character into a more polished retail environment, they’ll continue to attract their core cycling-specific customers while providing a well-designed, inviting retail experience for any shopper,” said Perrin.
“The updated interior will attract a wide range of customers; especially new riders and people not used to life in a bike shop,” added Gritman. “This is the final piece of the puzzle that we needed to truly realize the potential I always knew Bicycle Sports had. I’m really excited.”
