"Your mission, Ross, should you decide to accept it, is to find some retail space for Bike and Roll. As usual, should you or any member of your Retail Force be captured or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Ross."
You know, I really wish he'd stop saying that !
Anyway, I checked out the Bike and Roll website (www.bikeandroll.com) and liked what they were all about - adventure, health, environment - and so I set up a meeting with owner, Darryl White.
We discussed his roll-out strategy. With twenty-five locations in San Francisco, New York, Miami, Chicago, Washington D.C. I liked the vision and the mission. Very specifically, Darryl wanted a new location in San Francisco's Embarcadero district near the Ferry Building.
We walked around and surveyed possible sites but there was just nothing available that met the requirement. Undaunted, the mental-wheels began to churn. A Bike and Roll store at the Hyatt Embarcadero would not only benefit Bike and Roll but also the Hyatt who would be able to promote to their clientele an association with this "green" health-conscious enterprise.
Business is full of barriers these days. I contacted the Hyatt. I contacted the property owner. I wasn't gaining traction. The light-bulb went off. PKF Consulting, a pre-eminent hospitality industry consulting and brokerage firm is under the same corporate umbrella as Colliers International. So I walked down the hall and had a word with my colleague, Henry Bose.
Henry knows virtually everyone in real estate in the hospitality industry and he was glad to help. Through his relationship with the property owner, I got connected to the right person at the Hyatt. Darryl and I met with the person in charge of guest amenities and on Friday October 23, 2oo9 Bike and Roll opened their outdoor store in front of the Hyatt Embarcadero.
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