Electric bike and motorcycle company Rumble Motors is preparing to open its showroom and headquarters in Old Sacramento next week.
The opening of the retail store follows more than a year delay, due to the pandemic, supply chain problems and inventory shortages, said CEO RJ Khademi.
“We were always sold out. There was no reason to have a store when we couldn’t keep up with orders,” he said.
The company has been selling its bikes online, but Khademi said the store will increase sales because people will be able to see, and test drive, the vehicles.
“Because they are expensive, people want to see them before they buy,” he said.
The company sells nine models of e-bikes, which range in price from $2,450 to $7,550. They are assembled in Sweden and in the U.S., but the company wants to expand its assembly locally. It has a warehouse and assembly location in West Sacramento.
Some of the Rumble machines are technically scooters, some models are electric bikes with pedals and the bigger models are electric motorcycles. They range from top speeds just under 20 miles per hour up to 65 miles per hour.
The showroom is in about 4,500 square feet in a historic building on a high-profile corner in Old Sacramento at Second and J streets. Khademi said he wanted a showroom in the historic district because it gets so many visitors from out of the area.
The showroom will offer a lounge, coffee and table tennis to encourage people to hang out and spend time talking about Rumble’s e-bike collection. There will also be a mechanic's shop in the store for repairs and upgrades.
The coffee part of the showroom won’t be part of the opening next week, because the espresso machine, on order from Italy, is on back order, Khademi said. “God knows when that will arrive. It’s like everything these days. Everything is delayed.”
In addition to the e-bikes, the company will sell accessories, as well as Rumble-branded hats, watches and sunglasses.
The company has sold more bikes every year since it launched, Khademi said. Rumble reinvests the money from sales back into ordering more inventory. Khademi said he is looking for investors to build inventory.
“If we had more inventory, we could sell more bikes," he said. "When we are sold out, people don’t want to wait six months, and they look someplace else.”
Rumble raised $805,840 on West Hollywood-based equity crowdfunding site StartEngine in an offering that ended earlier this year.
Khademi declined to disclose Rumble Motors' revenue.
