On Thursday, Andy Schleck presented his new specialised shop, Andy Schleck Cycles, in Itzig to journalists.
The fully renovated building oozes charm - it took around 9 months to transform - and has almost 800m2 of space over three floors, split primarily between a workshop for repairing bicycles and a showroom for all types of bicycles (children's, professional racing, mountain bikes, town bicycles and even a range of electric bicycles) as well as accessories, clothing, footwear and bio snacks; it even has a coffee corner / snack bar and a Hall of Fame in which a trophy, bicycles and jerseys are prominently displayed, including his Tour de France yellow jersey from 2010. As well as the stock displayed on each floor, the building is decorated with diaplays of photographs taken during his professional career.
He explained that the shop stocks mainly three brands (TREK, Cervelo and Focus as well as others) and it was he himself who did most of the selection of each model in the showroom. He is also working on bringing out his own brand of bicycles in the future, but the first mildstone was to open the shop.
He spent a lot of time on the range of children's bikes and explained "everyone will have a bike at a certain period". A quick glance revealed that prices range from €150 to several thousands of euros, which Andy described as "a price for everyone". Brooks saddles are also included in the range of accessories...
Andy expects to be in the shop himself on a daily basis and introduced a policy of cycling to work for all staff. As well as himself there is one sales person and three mechanics as he is putting a strong emphasis on repairs (to any and every bicycle) and maintenance. The staff speak a multitude of launguages including French, German, Luxembourgish, English, Italian and Portuguese.
As well as the stock displayed in the showroom, Andy has included a TREK Project One system by which prospective buyers can build (customise) their own bike by choosing first the model, then the paint (colour) and then the accessories. He has also included a system where serious cyclists can use a specific machine for 90-120 minutes (in racing mode) which takes stress measurements and configures a customised bicycle for each individual.
For those purchasing bikes worth €1,500+, customers can spread payments over 36 months in collaboration with BIL, with free annual check-ups for the first three years after purchase.
Andy Schleck Cycles is located at 2 rue des Prés, L-5972 Itziz (tel: 274812-1); opneing times are Mon - Sat, 10:00 - 18:00. Along with Andy in the business is his wife Jil and fater-in-law Jeannot Delvaux who each helped in realising the project, operated by the company Delvaux Schleck Associates. It opens its doors to the public at 10:00 tomorrow, Friday 5 February 2016, with an Open Doors scheduled for Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March.
Photo (above) by Geoff Thompson
