Long established Melbourne bike shop Gran Prix Bicycles is now owned by a couple completely new to the industry.
For many years Gran Prix was run by Stephen Hart and his partner Kay Marr. Stephen, who was a keen cyclist, was tragically killed in a road cycling accident in Europe in 2010. Kay continued to run the shop until December 2014 when she sold to Dean Bragge and his wife Renita.
“This is our first venture into the bicycle industry,” Dean said. “I am a graphic designer by trade and work at a small printing company in Scoresby. My wife and I decided that it was time to look for something else as the future of the print company was not looking good, and figured now was a good time for a sea change too. So we looked for something that I enjoy and came upon Gran Prix Bicycles. It has been an interesting journey so far - lots to learn!”
Gran Prix is a Trek dealer, based on Glenhuntly Road, Caulfield, which is one of the well-established older south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
“Trek have been very good to deal with, helping us with training and so on,” Dean said.
“We are not planning on making too many changes. We are working more along the lines of a refresh. We have painted the shopfront and front part of the inside of the shop so far, and will be looking to neaten up and refresh the rest as and when time and funds allow. We will be sticking with our current brands, but will be looking at other products our regular customers may want.”
Meanwhile Dean is keeping his day job, and mainly working at the store on weekends, whilst Matt Cantwell is the full time store manager.