History
Passion for cycling and more than 100 years of family tradition
Edel-Rose: the foundation stone for our success.
History
Erwin Rose’s grandfather founded the family bicycle company as far back as 1907 and even today, Rose Versand GmbH is entirely family run. Our catalogue has been a reference work for bicycle enthusiasts for many years.
Our 6,000m² flagship store, Rose BIKETOWN, which opened in 2005, offers a wide selection of items that your will also find on the pages of our catalogue.
We were so proud of our first catalogue in 1981, which was printed in black and white and had a print run of 4,000 copies. The early catalogues were written after hours late into the night.
By 1994, our catalogue had already increased to 576 pages and was praised by Mr. Y. Shimano as “Europe’s best catalogue”. This was also the year in which our RED BULL bikes first appeared in the catalogue.
We were able to enlist Maurice Lavoie from British Colombia (Canada) as a developer. The first mountain bikes were manufactured by the Canadian company, Yess, from Vancouver. These mountain bikes caused a stir because of their light weight, stability and affordable price.
These classic bikes have a special place in Erwin Rose’s historical bicycle collection. The place of honour is occupied by historical racing cycles, however, some of them assembled by his grandfather and his father: racing bikes that have won Olympic gold, silver and world championships.
We are incredibly proud of the fact that Rose has over one hundred years of experience in bicycle manufacturing and that the company is now run by the fourth generation of the Rose family. We will continue to draw on our experience and our passion for cycling to develop innovative bikes in proven Rose quality and to maintain our place among the world's best.
Chronological history
1903
Heinrich Rose opens the first Rose bicycle shop in Bocholt.
1932
His son Heinrich Rose founds the new company, “Heinrich Rose jun.”. This bicycle shop is the smallest in Bocholt at that time (30m²) and its advertising slogan is „Im kleinsten Laden kaufen Sie am billigsten” (“The price is cheapest in the smallest shop”). During the summer months, he sells bicycles, including chrome Wanderer bicycles. During the winter, most of his trade is in Dürkopp sewing machines.
1980/81
For the first time, a national advertising campaign is launched and customers from outside Bocholt are able to select and order their bike using photocopies. Erwin Rose is one of the first Europeans to import Japanese racing cycles.
1981
Rose Versand is born: the first printed catalogue, still entirely in black and white, has 64 pages and a print run of 4,000 copies.
The core business is the distribution of Italian and Japanese racing cycles manufactured by De Rosa and Nishiki, for which Rose is the only distributor in Germany.
1994
Rose Versand’s mail order business is growing at a rapid pace and the company soon outgrows its city-centre building. The company moves into its new premises at Schersweide 4, which offer 3,800m² of space for the storage, commissioning and shipping of the parcels, for bike assembly, administration and catalogue production. The mail order business employs 55 staff, while a further 20 staff work in the shop.
The RED BULL bicycle brand is launched successfully. Canadian bike know-how, first-class components and high-quality workmanship immediately catapult the Red Bull brand to the very top of the bicycle market.
2001
Rose Versand GmbH is chosen as company of the year 2000 in Bocholt. The prize is presented to Erwin Rose on 7 March in a ceremony held in the city's historic town hall. The prize money of DM 10,000 is split between further training for staff and supporting youth cycling in Bocholt.
In summer, the company moves into its expanded mail order building. Twice as much space as before (8,000m²) allows for further optimisation of the dispatch logistics in this and the following year.
2005
On 17 March, after exactly 10 months of construction work, the new “biketown” shop is opened in Werther Strasse in Bocholt. Spread over 6,000 m², it offers a unique bicycle experience and sets standards in the bicycle industry and the retail industry as a whole.
In its August edition, American magazine “Bicycle Retailer” writes: “The world’s most beautiful bike shop?” In the "Läden 2005" (“Shops 2005”) annual, biketown is listed among the world's 50 most interesting new openings of the year.
2010
The new logistics centre in Isselburger Straße begins operations in March and houses bicycle production, commissioning and the outgoing goods department. The capacity has increased to 12,000 parcels and 150 bike assemblies per day. The number of employees exceeds 250, among them 20 apprentices in 7 different professions.
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