Lancashire cycles maker launches state-of-the-art showroom

Ribble Cycles, a digital first business and renowned world-class bicycle manufacturer is hoping that the new site in Clitheroe will become a hot destination for riders.

The 2,000 sq ft showroom has been designed to showcase Ribble’s award winning bicycle range and aims to blend digital with the physical to wow customers.

It has been designed to individually showcase every bike in the Ribble range with space to allow the customer to interact with the bikes and appreciate the design in detail.

David Stacey, commercial director at the firm founded in 1897 and which used to be based on Water Lane, Preston, and has a site at Walton Summit, said: “We wanted to create a brand showcase which would define the future of cycle retailing and represent our world-class credentials.

“Putting the Ribble brand experience in the heart of the Ribble Valley set amongst the most incredible riding routes directly from our doorstep was of paramount importance.

“From the moment you step into the showroom you will enter a truly immersive experience and it will completely challenge the notion of a traditional bike shop. I passionately believe that we have created a major step forward for retail standards and possibly the best bike shop in the world at launch.”

Ribble’s said its concept was to “re-imagine retail”, by personalising the physical in-store experience and combining with a digitally enabled environment to be paperless, efficient, engaging and constantly ‘live’ with the ability to refine in real time messaging and merchandising.

The Barrow Brook Trade Park site has Europe’s largest indoor 4k video wall, features Ribble’s BikeBuilder tool which allows the customer to customise their builds and custom colour option.

Every bike is then hand-built in the UK by one mechanic from start to finish and delivered to the customer's door or available for click and collect.

Andy Smallwood, Ribble’s chief executive said: “This exciting state of the art digitally focused showroom and brand retail proposition is the culmination of incredible work by the entire team at Ribble and whilst we have been trading since 1897 this absolutely represents our vision for the future of the Ribble business as we continue to innovate and disrupt the Cycling and Leisure markets on our way to becoming a truly world-class brand.

"This new flagship showroom showcases our significant investment and dedication to and vision for the brand’s future with the digital technology integrated into this physical proposition enhancing and complementing our industry leading online customer journey demonstrating the ambition and scale of our strategy”.

The new flagship store also houses the Ribble Live virtual showroom team allowing customers from all around the world to speak with one of the experts via a live one-way video chat and to experience the store from the comfort of their own home.

Starting this Summer the store will also become a location for Ribble events and activities including regular ride-outs, evening talks, technical ‘how to’ classes, screenings and Zwift events.