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Velorution, the London-based premium urban and e-bike retailer, is set to close after 20 years of business.
In a statement posted to the company’s Linkedin, the owners said: “Velorution has been serving the London bike community for nearly 20 years, but sadly due to the economic conditions (which have been particularly harsh on the cycling industry) and circumstances beyond our control (a bus crashing into our Chelsea store certainly didn’t help), we have sadly decided to enter into a programme which will involve the closure of each of Velorution’s four shops and its website.
“Whilst we’re currently offering 25% off everything (some exclusions apply) on our website we will be undertaking a closing-down sale from the 18th of September for approximately one week. All of our stock will be sold so be sure to grab a one-in-a-lifetime bargain – either online or in-store.
“We’d like to take this moment to thank every single one of our customers who has shopped with us over the past two decades. Whether that’s been buying a bike, visiting us for a service or even just buying a coffee from our famous trike (which is also for sale) – it’s been a great journey and we hope to see another generation of Velorution in future.”
Originally a small store near Oxford Circus, the business grew over the years to trade online, and from four key sites in the capital: Marylebone, Islington, Chelsea and Hackney.
Velorution was taken over in 2012 by Jonathan Cole who saw both the potential in urban cycling and in the Velorution brand.
In 2016, together with partners Seedrs, Velorution raised more than £600,000 in funding to take the business to the next level.
The following years saw Velorution win a BikeBiz Award for Best Independent Bike Dealer, as well as opening a new store in Chelsea and a standalone Velorution Electric site.
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However a tough year for the cycling industry, compounded for Velorution by disruption to trading with vehicles crashing into their Marylebone and Chelsea stores in separate incidents, saw the owners put the business up for sale last month.
With no buyer forthcoming to take over the business and its assets, the decision has been taken to close the company down.
All stores remain open and contactable for enquiries during this time.
