Trek Bicycles announced earlier in May that they were acquiring Philadelphia-area bike shop chain Bike Line. Trek is purchasing 12 of the 16 locations Bike Line currently operates throughout south eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Bike Line has sold Trek bikes for more than 30 years. Trek said it became interested in acquiring the chain after learning that owner John Graves was looking to pursue opportunities outside of the cycling industry.
“Trek has been a longtime partner and has played a big role in the success of Bike Line,” Graves said. “They've been invested in our success and I wanted to find a partner for the next step in the shops' future who understands what it takes to continue what we've started and shares our values and passion for cycling.”
Following the Bike Line acquisition, Trek will own about 33 stores in the U.S., company spokesman Eric Bjorling said. For many years, the company has operated two stores in Madison, Wisconsin, near its headquarters in Waterloo. It also opened a company-owned store in Berkeley, California, this spring.
Bjorling said the company's strategy is to acquire or open stores in markets where the brand is under-represented, if it is unable to develop a relationship with an existing retailer. The company also is open to opportunities to buy existing stores where the owner is looking for an exit strategy, as was the case with Revolution Cycles and Bike Line.
He said the Bike Line stores will eventually be renamed as Trek stores. The company expects no interruptions in service or changes to store hours during the transition.
As we have previously reported in multiple articles over recent years including these ones here, here and here, this latest purchase is not an isolated case. Trek appears to be accelerating its strategy of becoming a vertically integrated bicycle company that manufactures, distributes and retails its own products.
Most of this article was first published in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News
