Nicolas Roche is set to open a triathlon superstore with a café aimed at cycling groups later this summer in Co Cork.
The Team Sunweb pro already runs the Rocca Sports cycling
wholesale business with business partner Thomas Cahill.
The new shop will effectively become the retail arm of
the existing business and will contain a café element that Roche hopes will
become a coffee stop for cycling clubs and groups.
With that in mind, the shop will open on both Saturdays
and Sundays in a bid to offer a destination for cyclists to stop for a coffee
mid-spin or at the end of their rides.
The project has been in the planning stages for a number
of years, with securing a premises and the Covid19 pandemic adding time to the
planned opening.
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Roche and Cahill had hoped to have the store open in June
but will now be forced to miss that date. However, they have continued with
their preparations despite Covid19 and have moved their planned opening to late
August.
Roche told stickybottle the plans were coming along very well and that he and Cahill believed they had found the right premises, which is just outside Carrigtwohill.
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“We’re basically extending the distribution company,
Rocca Sports, into a shop as well,” Roche said.
“We’re going into triathlon because there’s a lot of bike
shops already. Triathlon has gotten very, very popular in Ireland and I think
it’s nice to be able to cover the whole three sports.”
Roche and Cahill already distribute or sell brands such
as BMC, Sportful, SciCon, Gaerne, Castelli, Limar, Wilier, Tacx, Sigma and
Spiuk as well as Jako running clothing, On Cloud footwear and the Arena and
Phelps swimming brands.
They are also putting the finishing touches to other
deals before their new store opens its doors for business.
“We’re almost there and we’ve got quite a variety of brands already,” Roche said. “Eventually we also want it to be a meeting point for cyclists going on their spins.
“I think with having the café there and opening Sundays, hopefully groups can make it the local stop on the way home from their rides.
“We’ve lost a couple of months due to the coronavirus but this is a long term project for us so the important thing is to do it right. We’ll keep the same name, Rocca Sports, and we’ll also have an opening.
“We’re working to get some stars over for the opening and people who are working for brand ambassadors. We’re planning that at the moment and we’re very happy with the location and the building itself.”
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