(Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. 2022) Irvine, CA: The National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA) will officially open applications for its 2022 Bicycle Retailer Excellence Awards (BREA) program on February 18. The NBDA’s Bicycle Retailer Excellence Award (BREA) celebrates diversity and excellence in bicycle retail. With a focus on inclusivity, the program unites retailers, suppliers, industry organizations, advocates, and consumers in identifying and highlighting exceptional bicycle stores across North America. Recipients will be acknowledged and awarded not only for their excellence in retail but their integrity, inclusiveness, spirit, and commitment to grow ridership. The 2022 BREA application will not require payment or NBDA membership and will be available on the NBDA’s website beginning February 18th until the submission deadline of April 29th.
“If you are a retailer who is serious about profitability, loves entrepreneurship, and is eager to challenge yourself to become more, then you should go through the process of this application. The 2022 application is dynamic. The retailer feedback we received from 2021 allowed us to implement some radical changes to the program. We streamlined the entire application process and are confident that retailers will find the questions challenging and thought-provoking,” commented NBDA President Heather Mason.
The former America’s Best Bike Shop program received a major overhaul in 2021, with changes including a new name (Bicycle Retailer Excellence Award), reformatted application, and removal of all barriers to entry. In 2022, the NBDA has continued to excel the program. Retailers will be met with an earlier program launch date to allow for ample time to complete the application process. Application software has been upgraded, allowing for a more premium platform for retailers to save application work as they go through the process. Finally, participants can expect to find a completely revised application. The 2022 application will feature a series of highly analytical questions each asking the retailer to dive deep into the “why” of your business in several areas. The questions are pointed and designed to make every retailer take a deep look into multiple aspects their business and describe in detail exactly why and how their actions resonate into excellence.
“We worked diligently on this year’s program and are thrilled to introduce the completely revised application process. Every retailer in North America is encouraged and welcome to take part in the program,” stated NBDA Development Director Rachelle Schouten.
The NBDA will deliver corresponding retailer education via BREA-specific webinars being held in February and March. Going through the application and educational materials will be insightful to your business practices, and those retailers awarded the BREA title can be proud to promote the award via their website and in-store. Continuing from 2021 is an additional People’s Choice component to the program, allowing retailers to promote their shop in their local communities to receive an extra acknowledgment.
The NBDA is thankful to the many sponsors of the 2022 BREA program. Ikeono co-founder, Brett Lang commented “A key part of retailer excellence is great customer communication. Since the beginning, Ikeono has strived to help bicycle retailers not only survive but thrive in today’s competitive market. We are excited to sponsor the 2022 Bicycle Retailers Excellence Award to celebrate these retailers.”
This year marks the tenth year the NBDA will highlight and award bicycle retailer excellence. The 2022 recipients will be announced in July, then formally acknowledged at a winner recognition event and cocktail reception at the Big Gear Show in August 2022. In addition to the awards of Excellence and People’s Choice, participating retailers will also have an opportunity to receive scholarships to the NBDA.
“The work the NBDA does for bike dealers across the country is something we’re honored to be a small part of, and we look forward to sponsoring the 2022 Bicycle Retailer Excellence Awards. Our mission includes providing a marketing platform that keeps customers riding and buying at their local bike shop, and we look forward to celebrating bike retailers’ continued growth and success,” commented Heather Knutson, Ascent360 VP of Marketing.
The Bicycle Retailer Excellence Award is one of many programs spearheaded by the NBDA in the pursuit of strengthening the specialty bicycle retailer and leading bicycle retail to excellence. The 2022 Bicycle Retailer Excellence Award program is made possible by generous support from sponsors Quality Bicycle Products- U of Q, Ascent360, Ikeono, RIDES, PeopleforBikes Ride Spot, Bike Exchange, Locally, HLC, JBI Bike, SmartEtailing, Marsh & McLennan Insurance, and Outdoor Industry Jobs. Bicycle Retailer & Industry News is the official media partner of the 2022 Bicycle Retailer Excellence Awards. For more information on sponsoring BREA please contact the NBDA here.
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About the National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA)
The National Bicycle Dealers Association (NBDA) has been here since 1946, a nonprofit organization representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.
