Bicycles Quilicot was founded in 1915 in Montréal, Québec. As one of Canada’s longest-standing bike retailers, they have always operated on passion, deep expertise and a commitment to providing best-in-class customer service for every kind of rider. To continue to grow and thrive in the industry, Bicycles Quilicot needed a robust and agile partner that could help them blend their century of cycling heritage with cutting-edge technology. CEO Marc-André Lebeau chose Apple, transitioning company operations from Windows to Mac to support that vision.
Apple Retail and their Business Teams helped guide the transition, from choosing the right hardware and software to training and support. Today, Apple is integrated into every part of the company’s operations.
It wasn’t just a sale — it was a relationship. Apple Small Business Team really understood what we needed and helped us build a solution that works for our business.
Marc-André Lebeau, CEO, Bicycles Quilicot
Apple technology helps streamline the Bicycles Quilicot retail experience from start to finish. On the showroom floor, employees walk customers through custom bike building and planning on iMac. Its Retina display provides a crystal-clear look at product photos, videos and service details, and its durable aluminum hardware stands up to the demands of a retail environment. Employees also use Lightspeed, a point of sale platform, on iMac to easily look up inventory and process purchases.
Apple technology powers back-of-house operations, too. All inventory is managed on Mac and iPad with Lightspeed, making it simple to view the 350 brands and over 10,000 products offered in stores and online in real time. Warehouse team members view incoming orders on ShipStation and quickly fulfil them at their Mac workstations.
With Apple standardized across the business, Bicycles Quilicot has reduced IT support costs and downtime — saving tens of thousands of dollars per year by eliminating third-party PC maintenance contracts. With free automatic security updates, Mac devices are designed to last longer than what the company used previously. And they’re simple to manage, which is a major plus for André-Philippe Ethier, who, on top of his COO duties, functions as the de facto IT team, too.
We used to spend too much time managing software issues on PC. Mac is easy to use and manage, even for someone like me who’s not very technical. That’s been a huge help as we’ve grown the business.
André-Philippe Ethier, COO, Bicycles Quilicot
Employees at Bicycles Quilicot love working with Apple. Team members across project management, inventory, marketing and finance say it just makes things smoother — from the intuitive user experience to the seamless integration with Microsoft 365, QuickBooks and other operationally critical software. With all systems working together, employee productivity and connection between teams have increased across the board.
The stable platform, robust hardware, built-in security and ease of management of Apple devices elevate both the employee and customer experience and reduce business costs. With the help of Apple, Bicycles Quilicot is a century in and the ride is just getting started.
