BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Hot Wheels evolved out of one bicycle retail business that has been located at 1145 Christchurch Road, Bournemouth for 20 years.
"We maintained our retail business as it has been successful, profitable and has provided excellent market research and direct customer contact," said Russell Merry, one of the partners of Hot Wheels. (The other partners are brother Neil Merry and their father, Graham).
"Retail turnover hit a peak this year of just under £700 000 but Hot Wheels now has to focus on its core business of the import and distribution of the brands. It’s the end of an era, the Hot Wheels shop is an institution in Bournemouth. The decision has been a long time in the making and was a tough call."
The shop will be either sold, or closed:
"We have had some initial enquiries from prospective purchasers and we are prepared to consider all options, but we have to look at the bigger picture, the opportunities in our wholesale business are excellent for 2003."
Hot Wheels will relocate over Christmas, with final move taking place by Monday 13th January. See the pic below for a visualisation of how the warehouse/HQ will eventually look. Russell Merry sent us a number of photos of the building’s skeleton as it was being erected, he’s that excited about the move. There’s no firm address yet but the building site is at Plot B, The Fulcrum, Poole, Dorset.
And if you’ve got a million or two to spare, the building next door houses the Sunseeker Powerboa’s R&D centre.
Hot Wheels is the UK importer of Mongoose, Snafu, and We The People and recently bagged both Wilderness Trail Bikes and GT’s IBD business in the UK.
At Interbike last week Hot Wheels was once again awarded Snafu International Distributor of the Year at the annual Snafu dinner and awards ceremony:
"This is the second year in a row that we have won the title," said Merry.
"We work closely with Snafu, they produce great products, the marketing is creative and they listen to our needs."
