One of Melbourne’s oldest and largest bicycle stores caught fire on Thursday 22nd January.
AvantiPlus Ray’s Preston has been trading in the same premises at 545 High Street Preston for 37 years. It’s owned by long time cycling identity Ray Larkins and was once known as Rays Bicycle Centre Preston being one of a chain of Rays Bicycle Centres around Melbourne.
The fire was caused by an electrical fault that sparked it at about 4:30 am. Store Manager Terry Nicholls said that although only the front third of the store was burnt out before the fire brigade brought the fire under control, the rest suffered smoke and water damage.
In addition, because the old building had an asbestos roof, all of the stock must be written off and dumped, because it may now have asbestos contamination.
Fortunately the business was insured. The owner of the premises also had vacant building nearby, so Rays has now relocated to 255 Plenty Road Preston, and kept the same phone number, 02 9478 2064.
Terry thinks it could be at least a year until the old premises is rebuilt and they can move back. In the meantime, they’ve had to restart from scratch, restocking every tool, spare part and shop fitting as well as new stock. They built counters and fittings themselves to be up and running again as quickly as possible.