Store Visit: South Downs Bikes, West Sussex
Posted on 2 Jun 2009
In December 2008 South Downs Bikes moved its second store from tiny cramped premises in the West Sussex village of Angmering to a new site just down the road in East Preston, near the coastal town of Littlehampton.
What is interesting about the new store is that it is located within a Smart Car dealership, and it looks like a great synergy for both parties.
See photos and video below.
South Downs Bikes now benefits from real destination store premises delivering high quality customers. As you will see from the photos and video below the premises are clean, spacious and very well lit with plenty of free parking and easy access. All at a low fixed overhead cost.
The new store gives South Downs Bikes the opportunity to display 2 or 3 times more bikes than in its previous location. The workshop benefits from its own separate area with dedicated access. The store also offers mens and womens toilets and plenty of seating.
In return the car dealer gets one significant benefit. Increased footfall. So far it is estimated that approximately a dozen car dealership customers have subsequently bought bikes and the car dealer is pleased with the additional footfall and awareness that the bike business has brought his way.
Apart from a couple of Brompton's this is a Trek store, with a good range of mostly urban bikes for men and women plus mid-range road and MTB. The Trek brand sits well with the Smart Cars on show, and very often the cars are displayed with bike racks sporting one or two of the Trek models on offer. See photo.
In this context it really does seem cars and bikes can exist very well together, and as far as South Downs Bikes are concerned cars offer a smart opportunity to expand their market.
Photos:
- Store front
- Smart Car displaying bikes on rack in store
- Store foyer
- Main cycle sales area
- Bikes and car showroom
- Workshop
Video:
South Downs Bikes, West Sussex from ActSmart on Vimeo.
