ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (BRAIN)—Mike Olson has expanded his successful San Diego Trek Bicycle Superstore chain to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Olson opened the sprawling, 25,000-square-foot Trek Bicycle Superstore at 5000 Menaul NE in Albuquerque on July 3 in a former Oshman’s sporting goods store. The top floor is an 11,000-square-foot showroom, and the rest of the space is in the basement which will be used for storage, spin classes and, possibly, used bike sales.
Olson, who owns four Trek concept stores in San Diego, began looking to expand into Albuquerque last November at Trek’s request. Initially, he looked to purchase the three-store Albuquerque Bicycle Center, an existing Trek chain struggling in the wake of the economic crisis, but felt that model wouldn’t be successful.
“There were three small stores, a couple were only three miles apart. It really seemed like an area for one great store. There’s only one Apple store there, one Guitar Center, one BMW dealership,” Olson said.
Albuquerque Bicycle Center went out of business at the end of March.
With some financial support from Trek, Olson signed a five-year lease for the space, with three five-year options to extend.
He spent two months gutting the space and remodeling with the help of Trek’s Retail Services team.
“This was a dump,” he said, adding the interior hadn’t been updated since the 1970s.
A grand opening is scheduled on Aug. 21.
For details on how sales have gone since the opening and why Olson felt trepidation about expanding outside of Southern California, read the August 15 issue of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News magazine.
—Nicole Formosa
nformosa@bicycleretailer.com
