Jeff Appleton, the long time owner of two successful Cyclebuzz stores in suburban Perth, has teamed up with Giant to open the brand new Giant Perth concept store.
Bicycling Trade recently visited the new store and spoke to Store Manager Andrew Lumley
“It has been quite busy,” Andrew said. “Lunch times are quite full on. Every man and their dog is in the shop. We normally have two staff throughout the day, with an extra one for lunch times.
“It’s been very wet. I think we had the wettest September for 90 years in Perth, so not the best weather for bike riding.
“I’m actually from Sydney. I was in at Panther Cycles (Penrith). I didn’t move specifically for this job. I was moving for lifestyle and family reasons. There’s heaps of bike shop jobs over here if you’ve got experience.
“The new store is about 140 square metres. I think the rent per square meter here is higher than the rent for Giant Sydney in Clarence St.
“Jeff has sold his Canning Vale store to help finance this one, but still has Cyclebuzz Cannington. He has a manager in each one and does most of the behind the scenes stuff, the publicity and organising, which keeps him pretty busy with five kids as well!
“Logistically it’s tricky in here getting things in and out of here. We’ve only got a very small spot out the back. We fit about 100 bikes in total, about 80 on the floor and about 20 out the back in storage. It’s hard picking the right models to have in the shop at the right time, in the right sizes.”
Giant Perth is located on Hay Street, which is the main shopping street in the city centre of Perth. It is surrounded by the towering corporate headquarters of resources companies such as BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum.
Every cubic metre is valuable in this city centre location. The store layout is tight, but still enticing to customers.
High end carbon road bikes are in the prime floor space, front and centre to give the corporate mining types something to drool over during their lunch breaks. Perth has a huge road cycling scene and there appears to be little shortage of money amongst Perth’s cyclists who are looking to keep up with latest bike gear.
Giant Perth store manager Andrew Lumley is enjoying his move from Sydney.