TI Cycles, part of Tube Investments of India Limited, is set to expand its chain of Ciclo Cafes (bicycle Cafes) being set up in a joint venture with Absolute Speciality Foods Chennai Pvt Limited.
The Chennai-based joint venture company had set up its first Ciclo Cafe in Chennai in 2015 and is following this up with what it calls their biggest such bicycle Cafe anywhere in the world in Hyderabad.
As it expands, stores will be set up at Gurgaon by January 2017 end and two more stores in Bengaluru and Coimbatore respectively by April next. Arun Alagappan, President of TI Cycles, told BusinessLine: “The venture plans to set up 15-20 cafes in metros and Tier II cities of the country over the next 3 years, which will mean an investment of about ₹50-60 crore.”
“TI Cycles has always promoted cycling as a culture. Cycling is increasingly becoming the most common recreational sport that also builds strong communities. After the Ciclo Cafe concept receiving success in Chennai, we plan to set up a chain of similar Cafes, which serve as a pit shop for all.”
Narrating how cycling is something that people want to try, Alagappan said a family of four had dropped into to Ciclo Cafe, but before they left, they purchased four bicycles for the entire family.
When they see bicycles in such a cosy surroundings, they get tempted to try one. TI Cycles is engaged in parleys with several metro projects to provide bicycles for last mile linkage, he said. Ashish R Thadani, CEO of TI Absolute Concepts, which is setting up the Ciclo chain through the venture, said, “We are here to promote cycling as a culture as it is more about passion rather than business for us. The whole concept revolves around promoting bicycle Cafe culture.”
Bicycle market
Referring to the country's bicycle market, Alagappan said about 16-17 million units are sold annually but there has not been much growth as youth are taking to motorbikes.
Within the segments of bicycles, about 95 per cent of the market is for cycles in the ₹5,000 range. Rest of them are priced above ₹5,000. Significantly, trends point towards likely increase in sales volume of cycles in the ₹5,000-12,000 range as people tend to upgrade.
The purchase of cycles in the school-going kids has been growing with a good number of them buying more than one cycle over few years of their school-going days.
The sales of bicycles have been particularly going up in the IT hubs of Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and the NCR and in Kerala and West Bengal in particular where girls and women ride them.
The Ciclo Cafe has bicycles priced from ₹5,000 and go up to ₹8 lakh for racing bicycle range.