American Bike Expo seeks to shake up U.S. B2B trade show picture

A new B2B trade show destined for the East coast of America will launch in March under the American Bike Expo banner.

Set for New Jersey’s Meadowlands Exposition Centre on March 6th and 7th, the organisers are familiar faces in the U.S. bike business having previously managed the nationwide Electric Bike Expo Series, as well as the ongoing four stop e-MTB Experience.

Introducing the idea to bike businesses during Eurobike, organiser Bill Sell told CI.N: “40% of the bike stores in the United States are concentrated in the New England, Pittsburgh and Washington vicinity, so the east coast really needs an accessible event and one that prioritises the kind of content modern bike shops desire. We’re placing emphasis on retail training and the theme ‘what will the bike shop of 2024’ look like. That’s important at this time of adaptation.”

With Interbike moving further West and CABDA also pitching up on the West coast with a newly-announced San Diego event, the east coast was served in 2017 by the Fall Cyclofest, though as yet no announcement has been made of a repeat of this event.

The American Bike Expo is expected to host 200 booths in its first year with an option to extend the footprint to cater for 365 going forwards.

“We’re known for our test tracks,” adds Sell. “So there will be testing of class 1 to 3 electric bikes on offer for those assessing their strategy here. That aside this event is all about putting people together with new opportunity. We want visitors to understand the potential of the cargo bike segment and to return to their stores with new skills and ideas.”

The American Bike Expo is to build in sub-events, these include:

The Bike Retailer Conference
A series of talks on merchandising and selling targeted squarely at independent stores.

Among the speakers are universities looking at retail shop design with the future in mind and a mini “Retailing Bikes Lab 2024 – The Store in Five Years” right on the expo floor.

The U.S. Cargo Bike Summit
An analysis of the opportunity this growing segment of the trade represents, including a look at how global logistics firms are turning to cycling for delivery tasks. Among the speakers planned, the UPS Director of Sustainability will be speaking.

Bike Share Summit
A discussion piece on how the bike share economy may change the fortunes of bike business for better and for worse and how stores can make the most of the opportunity.

The conference schedule will be a paid entry at $395 per ticket. According to research by the organisers, a survey of over 2,200 U.S. shops showed that over 50% declared an interest in attending an education-centric event in New York and 60% would happily pay if the value was there. The majority asked for a two-day event.

Exhibitors interested in a presence at the show are invited to contact Sell by email here, or fill out a registration form here.