CASE STUDY: BR BIKES AND REPAIRS
Putting the wheels in motion for a new Urbana bike shop
Discover how BR Bikes and Repairs grew from a childhood passion to a successful bicycle repair and sales business.
ABOUT BR BIKES AND REPAIRS
Industry: Bicycle Sales and Repairs
Location: Urbana, IL
Website: https://brbikesandrepairs.com
True Boost Digital Partner Since 2020
Company Bio
BR Bikes and Repairs is a bike shop based in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, owned by Bernabe Romero and Theresa Dobbs.
Their journey started in the midst of COVID-19. After being laid off due to the pandemic, Bernabe turned his childhood passion of building bicycles into a full-time business.
Providing unparalleled convenience to local bicycle owners, BR Bikes offers pickups, drop-offs and on-the-spot repairs in the Champaign-Urbana area. They also refurbish older bicycles, restoring them with a new lease of life.
THE SITUATION
A new business in a competitive market
We started working with BR Bikes and Repairs in late 2020. After being laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bernabe Romero made the decision to pursue his lifelong passion for fixing bicycles – launching BR Bikes and Repairs with his partner, Theresa Dobbs.
BR Bikes is based in Urbana, IL, a town where cycling is a popular form of transportation, meaning some established competitors had a significant headstart on Bernabe and Theresa. As we discussed their business goals, we worked together to formulate a digital strategy to establish their new business.
THE STRATEGY
Highlighting the competitive advantages
BR Bikes knew they wanted a website to help build their online presence and manage their constantly changing inventory. This site would also act as a hub for community events and to provide information on their repair services.
As Bernabe is Mexican, one key advantage for BR Bikes over other competitors in their area was the ability to serve the Spanish-speaking community of Champaign-Urbana. It was therefore essential their website was able to be accessed in both English and Spanish.
With this in mind, our initial strategic decisions included:
- Building a clean and efficient website for BR Bikes to display and update their inventory
- Including multilingual functionality on the website to help serve the Spanish-speaking community
- Setting up and optimizing their new Google Business Profile to enhance their local visibility
- Providing ongoing training and support to enable BR BIkes to maintain their website inventory in-house
THE RESULTS
"Our revenue increased nearly 400%."
The website is better for us, and better for the customers too because it is easy to navigate and see our offerings. We are still happy to use social media platforms to build engagement, but social media is no substitute for a good website.
Our business is well on its way to becoming a well-known name in Urbana thanks to Tom and True Boost Digital! We are very grateful for the support with our website and marketing.”
Partners with True Boost Digital Since 2020
Six years since launching BR Bikes and Repairs, the business is thriving. Shortly after launching their site, they saw a fourfold increase in revenue. They have received over 200 5* reviews on Google.
Originally a home operation, BR Bikes opened a physical store in Urbana, IL in 2023, enabling customers to browse their inventory in-person.