Quilicot moves its head office to the former Mascouche aerodrome

The retailer Bicycles Quilicot is moving its head office to Montoni’s CentrOparc in Mascouche. He took the opportunity to expand the industrial park along Highway 640.

Andre Dubuc
The Press

Groundbreaking takes place on Tuesday morning. The building will be located rue Louis-Blériot, facing the highway.

In addition to the head office, the 4,200 square meter complex, designed by DKA Architectes, will include a store, a distribution center, an assembly workshop and a bicycle recycling center. The current headquarters and warehouse are located in Sainte-Thérèse, in the Lower Laurentians. About fifty jobs will be created. The $15 million investment is funded in part by the Business Development Bank of Canada.

“For us, it’s an investment that will create a turning point in our history,” says CEO Marc-André Lebeau, 44, “because we’ve grown a lot in recent years and we’ve invested a lot in retail. online, and we didn’t have the infrastructure. We are in the process of creating a hub for all of our operations for the bicycle trade of the future. »

Founded in 1915, Quilicot has belonged to Marc-André Lebeau since 2005. From one store when Mr. Lebeau arrived, the retailer now has seven. With its 150 employees, Quilicot sells from 8,000 to 10,000 bicycles per year. 15 to 20% of sales will be made online in 2022. Mr. Lebeau wants to remain discreet about his turnover, but indicates that electric bicycles are today responsible for 35% of sales in dollars.

The retailer opened its new 93 m Laval store at a cost of 2 million^⁠2 (1000 ft^⁠2) last week in part of the former Future Shop at Center Laval.

The cheapest bikes start at $500 each.

Athletes have rediscovered cycling during the pandemic. The price of bicycles has skyrocketed. The merchant’s profit margin has increased from around 2% to around 10%.

CentrOparc expands

The promoter Montoni and the City of Mascouche announce the start of the transformation of the third and final phase of the lands of the former aerodrome into an industrial park. In total, CentrOparc has an area of ​​270,000 m^⁠2 (approximately 3 million square feet), of which 121,000 m^⁠2 (1.3 million square feet) for phase 3.

Montoni will build up to 5 industrial buildings in sequence at a cost of 175 million. It will go ahead without a prior rental agreement. He gives himself a maximum of 36 months to fill the industrial park. The buildings are signed by the firm NEUF Architectes.

“The idea is to create investment and jobs for Mascouche so that its citizens can live and work in their city instead of taking their car to earn a living elsewhere in the region,” continues Mr. Montoni.

In addition to Quilicot, the first two phases of CentrOparc have attracted major tenants such as St-Hubert. Nearly 650 jobs have been created.

Montoni acquired the airfield land in 2018. In total, the promoter is investing 300 million there.