BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
London bike store Velorution has acquired Islington’s Mosquito Bikes. The Mosquito name will disappear, with the store becoming Velorution Islington.
Velorution is currently £118,000 in excess of a crowd-funding goal of £500,000. The funds are to be used for expansion across London and the south east of England.
Velorution’s flagship store is located at 75 Great Portland Street, close to Oxford Street, and is owned by serial retail entrepreneur Jonathan Cole, pictured. Cole has tripled the size of the business since acquiring it four years ago. Non-executive board members include Sebastian Conran, formerly head of design at Conran & Partners, and Tony Schulp. ex-CEO of Haymarket Publishing and commercial director at Aston Martin.
Cole said: "As part of our expansion plans we are about to Velorutionize Islington with our acquisition of the assets of Mosquito Bikes, a 30-year-old iconic bike store. The blend of Velorution’s Uuban lifestyle with Mosquito’s famed specialist bespoke bike building and fitting skills will make a compelling offering to our customers as we expand our stores around the capital."
Cole added that the Mosquito Bikes Essex Road store is a close to the City. The store is currently being refitted to match the Velorution look and feel and will reopen later this month.
