lEidENSCHaFt - Storck Bicycle GmbH

die Idee des Flagship Store”, erklärt der Radsport-Visionär, “doch die Umsetzung ließbis Ende 2008 auf sich warten”. Während der erste Storck Store in Halle/Leipzig nochgeplant wurde, kam auf der Eurobike 2008 der koreanische Importeur auf MarkusStorck zu. “Der ist gleichzeitig der koreanische Harley-Davidson-Importeur, undder Motorradhersteller verkauft ja ausschließlich über seine Markenstores”, erklärtStorck.Inzwischen spannt sich ein noch recht großmaschiges Netz aus Storck-Stores überden Globus – mit Standorten wie Japan, Singapur, England, Schweiz oder Korea.Bis zum Jahr 2014 soll es insgesamt 20 Storck-Stores geben, so die Marschrichtung.In Deutschland sticht unter anderem der große Store am Firmensitz in Idstein hervor.Doch welch Einflüsse hat ein derart attraktiver Standort auf die lokalen Einzelhändler?Wie Markus Storck erklärt, gewinnen letztlich alle: “Durch die gewachsenenPräsenz unserer Räder stieg die Nachfrage so steil an, dass auch die umliegendenStorck-Händler deutlich profitiert haben.” Storck hat nicht einmal etwas dagegeneinzuwenden, dass Kunden sich in der Firmenzentrale eingehend beraten lassen, ihrRad dann aber woanders kaufen – beim kleinen Storck-Händler in ihrer Nähe zumBeispiel. Und damit schließt sich der Kreis. Brand-specific stores, shop-in-shop concepts, the experience of shopping – asthe world of merchandise changes, so do the concepts of selling. The bicycle retailtrade can certainly learn in this respect from other sectors that offer high-end consumerproducts. Markus Storck’s roots are in the bicycle retail business and, beingintimately familiar with the way it operates, he’s convinced of the new new conceptsof presenting merchandise: “The higher the value of a product is the higher are theconsumer’s demands with respect to its presentation. The retail trade is often unableto meet these expectations.” First of all, appropriately showcasing high-end, visuallyappealing products requires ample space – a reason that explains why a surprisinglysmall number of pictures are hung on the walls of museums. But smaller bicycleretailers, above all, have to accommodate a large product range to cover the diversewishes of their customers and thus may not always be able to present their productsthe way they’d like.Markus Storck wants to do both – cater for the needs of the small local bike retailerwho is often well-connected to the local bike scene, delivers high-quality support andenjoys strong customer loyalty, plus present his high-end bikes in a setting that iscustomary in sectors like the car industry. The solution is a four-tiered sales concept,as Storck explains, “On the one hand, we’ve got the regular authorized retailer – inother words the traditional bike dealership that carries the Storck brand, can orderproducts from us and also stocks them. Then there’s the shop-in-shop concept thatpresents our products to reflect a relatively great breadth of our range and ensuressignificant visibility of the brand.” The next tier, he says, is the studio, which meansthat a bike retailer places the branded products with clear emphasis in a separatearea of the store. “This presentation should definitely feature 50 to 70 percent of theproducts.” The cooperation of the dealership with Storck is very close in this caseand, for instance, involves the organization of test events to give potential customersan opportunity to truly get to know the products. That the dealer’s range alsoincludes high-end brands from direct competitors is certainly desirable – the worldat the point of sale is no different than the one reflected in the major bike magazineswhere Storck has been ranking at the top of the tests for years. In the watch industry,by the way, some brands even impose outright requirements on retailers seeking tobecome their concessionaires to sell direct competitor products as well. The fourth– and major – tier is the mono-brand store, explains Markus Storck. “This is wherethe customer finds the entire Storck world.” Plus accessories, gear – in other words,everything the Storck brand embodies.“As far as the repeat buyers rate is concerned, we’re ranking in second or third placeacross our industry,” says a pleased Markus Storck – which indicates an extremelyhigh level of customer satisfaction and is one of the reasons to bank on brand-specificstores because, says Storck, “Once you’ve found a pair of pants that really fits wellyou’ll go back to the same store when you’re ready to buy another one –“ which is whyflagship stores are a supporting pillar of the sales concepts of leading fashion brands.This isn’t a new concept, as Markus Storck freely admits – at least not outside thebicycle sector. “We had the idea of a flagship store six years ago,” explains the bikingvisionary, “but putting it into action took until the end of 2008.” While the first StorckStore in Halle/Leipzig was still in planning, the Korean importer approached MarkusStorck at Eurobike 2008. “This company is the Korean Harley-Davidson importer aswell and the motorcycle manufacturer exclusively sells its products through its brandspecificstores,” explains Storck.Meanwhile a – still relatively wide-meshed – net of Storck Stores has started to spanthe globe – with locations such as Japan, Singapore, the UK, Switzerland and Korea.By 2014, a total of 20 Storck Stores are planned. In Germany, among others, the largeStore at the company’s headquarters in Idstein stands out from the crowd. But whatimpact does such an attractive location have on the local retailers? As Markus Storckexplains, it’s ultimately a win-win situation for everyone: “The growth of our presencehas led to such a steep increase in demand that the surrounding Storck dealers havebeen clearly benefiting as well.” Storck doesn’t even mind customers visiting thecompany headquarters for in-depth advice, only to walk away and buying their bikeelsewhere – for instance, from the small Storck retailer in their neighborhood. Andwith that, the concept has come full circle.