Trek Bicycle plans a store in Boise, where Idaho Mountain Touring ‘helped them grow’

Trek Bicycle Corp. plans to open a retail store in the former Archiver’s scrapbooking-store space in a Milwaukee Street shopping center, just north of Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

Trek, based in Waterloo, Wisconsin, makes midrange and high-end road, mountain and other bikes, from entry-level models selling for $350 to advanced ones costing thousands of dollars. Idaho Mountain Touring, an outdoor-sports retailer that sells Trek bikes in its Boise and Meridian stores, recently sold a custom one for $16,000.

Chris Haunold, who co-owns Idaho Mountain Touring with his wife, Jill, said Trek’s decision to open its own store in Boise “will cost us a few sales” as curious customers check it out. But he expects to survive and thrive, as Idaho Mountain Touring did after REI opened its Boise store in the 1990s.

Haunold said he started carrying Trek bikes in 1989 is usually among the top 100 sellers in Trek’s network of about 1,600 dealers.

“When we took Trek on as a brand, they were a small, struggling company,” he said. “They had to talk me into carrying them. They were not well-known. We’ve helped them grow to where they are today. We’ve spent a lot of time promoting the brand.”

Lance Armstrong won seven Tours de France riding Trek bikes, though his victories were withdrawn because he doped.

Plans filed with the city of Boise say Trek expects to make minor changes to the existing 5,600-square-foot retail space in the Fairview Milwaukee Plaza. The changes include the installation of a shower and a bike-washing station.

Trek did not return a call seeking details. Haunold said Trek told him the store would open three to four months from now.

The Treasure Valley already has high-quality bike retailers, and Trek will be challenged to match them in service and community engagement, Haunold said.

He said he isn’t surprised to see Trek opening its own stores to boost sales, because it has opened some already in cities including Seattle, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C. But he is surprised to see one in Boise, a smaller city.

Plans for the store were first reported by BoiseDev.com.

This story was originally published September 7, 2017 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Trek Bicycle plans a store in Boise, where Idaho Mountain Touring ‘helped them grow’."