Hampton Road is certainly not the busiest retail street in Melbourne, but it’s in the heart of prime cycling retail territory.
At its northern end is Brighton, which boasts three bike stores, all either new or recently refurbished including leading Trek dealer, The Freedom Machine Brighton.
At its southern end is the famous cycle route, Beach Road, where around 10,000 cyclists can be counted over any fine weekend. Also towards the southern end of Hampton Road are two more bike stores including the upmarket Specialized concept store, Hampton Cycles.
Now, right in the middle, in a prominent, modern building will be a big new Giant store, which will be only the second company owned store in Australia.
“We opened our Adelaide store almost 2 years ago now,” said Giant Australia Managing Director Darren Rutherford. “It has proved to be incredibly successful and we have gained a lot of knowledge through the project. “
“Opening our second brand store was not a decision we made lightly, but the opportunity presented itself. Beach Road is the Mecca of cycling in Australia and Bayside Melbourne is the perfect place for us to showcase our brand. This however is not part of a Giant owned retail store expansion plan. Our priority and long term strategy remains to partner with independently owned bicycle dealers.”
Darren said that the new store should be open mid April and will be managed by David Ross, who is an existing Giant employee.
This picture was taken just six weeks before the scheduled opening date. It looks like someone will be working overtime between now and then.
Giant is making a statement in Hampton…