Great Products, Lousy Location
Could E-Ride Winnipeg be any further away & harder to find and still have 'Winnipeg' in its business name?
As to the Motorino products, we bought 2 scooters and tested them for a whole season before we decided to represent Motorino in Winnipeg - we know they are the best quality available.
Location? We checked Portage and Main, but it was already taken. We'd like to be somewhere on Portage Avenue, in Osborne Village, at Polo Park, or along St. Mary's Road. The reality is, however, a new business has to start where it can pay the bills. A quick way to go out of business is to rent a nice space on a busy street and fail to make the rental payments when sales don't come in as fast as needed. Electric scooters are a relatively new thing for the public, and it is unrealistic to expect scores of customers lined up to support a new business. E-Ride Winnipeg can't start with a great location - few new businesses do.
Until we grow big enough to 'hit the main drag' thank-you to all of our customers who support us during our humble beginnings phase!
- The showroom is located on Wilkes Avenue, just 1 mile West of the Perimeter Highway. From Route 90 (Kenaston Boulevard) turn West onto Sterling Lyon Parkway. Sterling Lyon becomes Wilkes Avenue - continue west and pass under the Perimeter Highway Overpass and continue 1 mile West to 8382 Wilkes. Our building is white with a green roof, and located on the South side of Wilkes. The new bright yellow Superior Propane yard is our neighbour to the West.
- From the West Perimeter Highway, drive south, pass over the Assiniboine River, pass under Roblin Boulevard, and continue South for 1½ miles and turn West from the top of the Wilkes Avenue overpass. Head west on Wilkes for 1 mile. Our building is white with a green roof, and located on the South side of Wilkes. The new bright yellow Superior Propane yard is our neighbour to the West.
- Most of the other sources for scooters in Winnipeg are paired with an auto dealership or All Terrain Vehicles, and/or motorcycles. If we are truly trying to promote green and sustainable transportation options, we cannot also be selling cars or ATV's or motorcycles with gas engines. Neither can we offer snowmobiles in the winter season to make this a year-round business.
- Our site does have a couple of advantages: we have room to service our scooters, and very little traffic to interfere with a test drive.
- So far, we share space with an environmental home builder (Advanced Design/Build Inc.) which is busiest from September to June. As to renting retail space on a busy street like Portage Avenue, we would need to find a related business that doesn't operate in the summer months. An income tax preparation business maybe?