Own-brand bike shops have become increasingly popular over the past few years, and the latest to join the fray is Trek Bicycle with its first store in Milton Keynes, which opened at the weekend.

Independently owned and operated by Gary Bird, proprietor of East Street Cycles, the shop will showcase Trek and Bontrager products, with cycles on offer ranging from state of the art road and mountain bikes to childrens’ machines. Other leading accessory brands will also be available. In addition to sales of bikes and accessories, the store will offer bike service and repair, Trek Fit Services and a Project One design centre.

Trek and Gary Bird have had a successful relationship through the three current East Street Cycles locations. Milton Keynes was seen to present a favourable opportunity for Bird to expand his retail business, based on its central location and the overall bike-friendliness of the city.

“Milton Keynes is an ideal location for a Trek store. With miles of “redways”, quiet lanes for road riding and local trails nearby for mountain bikes, there’s a bit of everything. The city has fantastic demographic diversity, great people and a promising future,” said Bird. “Trek is a marquee brand that consistently produces market-leading product. It was a perfect combination for a new store.”

Nigel Roberts, General Manager of Trek UK, added, “We are very excited to be working with Gary on this project. We have had success with Trek Bicycle stores in the US and other markets around the world, and we believe this is the right place to introduce this programme into the UK.”

The store will be part of the 22,000 square foot Cotswold Outdoor Explore More store, which also houses Up & Running and Costa Coffee. The store has on-site parking and is set to open on April 1.

More information at www.facebook.com/TrekMK