Bicycle store De Geus luxe as ‘SME of the year’ in the province of Antwerp: “A revolution is underway in the bicycle market”
On Wednesday evening, Unizo Province of Antwerp named De Geus bicycle shop ‘SME of the year’. The bicycle shop has been around since 1984, but has noticeably expanded over the years. “There is a real revolution going on in the bicycle market.”
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Together with a delegation of the 35 employees of De Geus, business manager Thomas Vanderhoydonck received the flowers for the ‘Antwerp SME of the year’ from entrepreneurial organization Unizo on Wednesday evening in Plein Publiek in Antwerp. The bicycle shop distinguishes itself because it “opens extra shops and opts fully for a local anchoring”, according to director Carl Van Dyck of Unizo Province of Antwerp.
A vision that Thomas Vanderhoydonck endorses. “We are just as successful because we are in that middle segment, between the large retail chains that have no connection with the region and the small traditional bicycle repair shop. The latter is also more difficult because there is much more nowadays. When I started as a business manager ten years ago, we didn’t have a single electric bicycle in the store. The bicycle market has really undergone a revolution in recent years.”
Fixed value for 38 years
Bicycle shop De Geus was founded in 1984 by Marie-Jeanne Theunissen and Dirk Vanthillo at the Marnixplaats op het Zuid in Antwerp. In 2012, the then 22-year-old bicycle fanatic Thomas Vanderhoydonck joined the story as owner. Marie-Jeanne and Dirk learned zoom from the trade and in 2014 they completely switched to zoom.
Vanderhoydonck enlisted a team of technicians and consultants so that he could fully focus on the organization and expansion of the business. In 2017 he opened a second store in Berchem, last year a third was added in Edegem and this year a fourth, specifically for sports bikes in Antwerp.
Veloplan for companies
Earlier this year, the company launched the online tool Veloplan with the aim of “getting as many employees as possible on their bikes”. This tool can be used to provide suitable information about company bicycles. “Due to a shortage of expertise, SMEs sometimes still hesitate to let their employees use their bicycles. Our tool solves that problem,” says Vanderhoydonck.
In 2018, De Geus was already crowned ‘Best bicycle shop in Belgium’. The BeBike award owed the business to “her warm professionalism”. The title of Antwerp SME of the Year has now been added to this and De Geus can compete for the national Unizo title on 6 December.
The online accounting tool Dexxter received the prize for ‘Promising SME of the Year’ in the province of Antwerp on Wednesday. The company from Kontich mainly targets young starters and self-employed people in a secondary occupation.