Chari & Co - A bicycle brand in NY with Japanese creators

Chari & Co is a specialty bicycle shop that was established in the Lower East Side of New York by two Japanese men, Yuki Goto and Yosuke Kamibeppu, in 2008. It is a retail, wholesale, and consignment shop that sells Japanese, Italian, and French bicycle parts, including for cyclocross and road bikes, as well as apparel and accessories. These products are also sold in the online shop and the clientele is not just in the U.S., but also extends to Europe. Goto, who is the President, came to the U.S. in 2002 and became familiar with a community of bicycle enthusiasts through Kamibeppu. As the concept of the "local bike boutique" indicates, he "was aiming to start a store that grasps the New York culture and that would be a place where people who love bicycles could meet." They tackled product development that mapped out the local flavor of New York by including cycling apparel that is a collaboration between Steven Alan and New York resident John Watson, who has a charismatic existence among bicycler, as well as announcing limited bikes with the Brooklyn bicycle frame manufacturer, Brooklyn Machine Works.

Since 2003, the U.S. bicycle industrial market has maintained a stable performance. Particularly with the increase in gasoline prices and concern about environmental problems in recent years, the number of consumers who have selected the bicycle as an alternative method of transportation in place of the car has increased. In the 1980s, the mountain bike sparked a world-side bicycle boom, but the sale of road bikes, cross bikes, and hybrid bikes, which are easy to ride in the city for commuting to work, has increased in the past five years and a new boom is being evoked. At the same time, the activity of organizations promoting the introduction of bicycles into civic life as they work toward environmental protection such as reduction of carbon dioxide emissions has intensified and a special budget for establishing bicycle/walking lanes has been included in the 2011 U.S. government budget. In 2008 in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the establishment of 1,800 miles (approximately 2,900 km) of bicycle lanes over the next 20 years. A community bicycle rental business, which is bicycle share program that was planned at the same time, is expected to start in Summer 2012. We have come to see many people riding bicycles in the city, from bike messengers, take-out delivery people, and bike enthusiasts to average citizens riding bicycles to work or for recreation.

According to Goto, it was this increase in demand for bicycles that was behind the decision to establish Chari & Co. Japanese-made frames are highly regarded by enthusiasts, so in addition to seeing an opportunity to start a business holding an advantage in such imports as a Japanese person, he says that the motivation to start the business was his enthusiasm about being a Japanese person selling Japanese products.

There have been many media opportunities in the U.S. as well as in the Japanese media as events are held at Chari & Co and magazine articles have been written. Goto says that "The New York locality and the existence of a bike enthusiast community have played a role" when it comes to media attention. In New York, which has a base of prominent people in various fields, such as movie stars and artists, such prominent people often visit popular stores and purchase their products. That often garners attention in media such as magazines and television, which naturally becomes PR for the company. In the community to which the bike enthusiasts belong, there are a great many well-known designers and artists who value environmental protection (sustainability) as expressed in the Chari & Co concept and they also provide PR for the company through word of mouth and blogging. From there, expansion into collaborative product development and wholesale has been common. Currently, Chari & Co's identity as a New York brand is becoming the center of a wholesale industry development in Japan, with the company's products being sold in major import goods and select clothing shops in Japan, such as United Arrows and Beams.