Primera Sports set to open new Haibike e-bike shop

Primera Sports, which has shops in Charminster and Poole, is opening Destination Haibike, a branded store, next door to its shop in Charminster Road.

The store is the business’s first foray into a brand specific shop, something which company director Joe Temple described as an exciting move for Primera.

“We’ve been doing them for just over four years now, and every year the range gets better and better,” Joe said.

“They’re proving very popular.

“Around Christmas time, we were approached about opening a Haibike brand store and it has gone from there really.”

Haibike is a German e-bike brand that produces bikes to cater to a range of disciplines, from downhill mountain biking to leisure riders and commuters.

Joe said the e-bike industry was going ‘from strength to strength’ and the new store reflected the demand that they had seen for Haibike cycles.

“When brands first approached us five years ago and said e-bikes are going to be the next big thing and we stocked one and we couldn’t sell it, we were a little concerned,” he said.

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“But it’s just gone from strength to strength really, we don’t go a day without a customer coming in to enquire about e-bikes, wanting to test ride them or take advantage of the cycle to work scheme.

“It’s just grown way past wherever we expected it to. It’s safe to say it’s got to be 75 per cent of our sales now, so it’s a huge part of what we do.”

The new shop is the only standalone Haibike shop in the south and Joe said Primera ‘jumped at the opportunity’ to open the shop.

“We’ve built a very good relationship with Haibike over the years,” the business director said.

“For us everything seems to have happened at the right time, with the brand and the business.”

Joe said the shop had thrived following the Covid lockdowns and had been able to remain competitive as more of the industry goes online.

He said that the company had always been looking to expand.

“15 years ago, we went from being one store to two stores, and now we’ve expanded to the third store, it’s definitely the way we’re looking at it going really,” Joe said.

The shop will be opening with a special launch event this Saturday, June 24, featuring MTB professional Chris Smith, giveaways and a local coffee company.

Joe said he was nervous but really excited to open the store this weekend.

He said: “It should be a really fun day out, you’ll be able to see the new store and meet some good people.”