Villy Custom

Villy Custom
Industry Fashion bicycle
Founded 2009
Founder Fleetwood Hicks
Headquarters Dallas, Texas
Area served
 United States
Products Happy bicycles and accessories
Website VillyCustoms.com

Villy Custom is an American lifestyle brand specializing in luxury custom fashion designed cruiser bicycles for adults.[1] Based in Dallas, the company was founded and is privately owned by entrepreneur Fleetwood Hicks, a former menswear fashion designer and health enthusiast, and it was chosen by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the 100 Most Brilliant Business Ideas of 2010.[2] The company will also be aired in season 3 of ABC's show Shark Tank according to WFAA [3] The focus of the brand is to create stylishly fun lifestyle products with a focus on customizable fashion bicycles, apparel, and unique gifts directly to the consumer through their website.

History

DeVille "Villy", Villy Custom Mascot

In 2006 Hicks discovered beach cruiser bike riding on Venice Beach while in Los Angeles on a business trip. After renting a beach cruiser for a scheduled one hour ride, he brought the rental back 6 hours later and was hooked;[4] relishing the simplicity, comfort and style of the bike and the fact that you could wear street clothes and look stylish riding. Two years later, Villy Custom was founded in 2008 and began as a brick and mortar retail store (selected by Daily Candy as “Sweetest Things” 2009)[5] specializing in sales of Felt Cruisers, Hawk Classic Cruiser bikes, specialty accessories and apparel. After experimenting with minor bike customization, Hicks soon realized he could infuse fashion, texture and unique color combinations to create a customizable luxury fashion bicycle company. The Icon of the Brand is the owner’s Bullmastiff dog, named DeVille. The Brand is known for its unexpected product features, such as power coated handlebars, neck stems, seat post, seat post clamps, fender braces, seat hardware, and wheels in a multitude of colors. [6] in addition they offer: brightly colored “balloon tires” (12 color choices), fender colors and pinstripe combinations (over 50 pinstripe colors and 16 fender colors), custom painted seatcovers (handmade), hand-made neck emblems (2 styles, 36 flavors to choose from), 8 different chain colors and luxurious screw on grips not typically seen on standard beach cruiser bicycles. At Villy Customs the customer can create their own designs based on color combinations and unique accessories.

Innovation

Villy Custom is the first “fashion” brand of cruiser bike.[7] Villy Custom was the first e-commerce platform to utilize a 3D Flash-based user interface allowing customers to change, add and remove features and colors. In June 2010, Entrepreneur magazine awarded Vily Custom with one of the 100 Most Brilliant Business Ideas of the year.[2]

Orange Villy Custom fender
One of Villy's Elite Edition bicycles

Logos

The official company logo is a shield including a graphic of DeVille’s (nickname “Villy”) head wearing a starred collar. The color scheme is Gold, Black, Red and Silver.

Company headquarters

The company's warehouse and assemblage facility is located in downtown Dallas, Texas. Villy Custom also has a few bicycles showcased at the Omni Dallas Hotel and they are available for daily rentals at the Hotel Palomar Dallas.

Mentions in the press

  1. Selected by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the 100 Most Brilliant Business Ideas for 2010 (June 2010 edition)[8]
  2. Feb 2011 featured on national T.V. by NBC’s First Look[9]
  3. Full feature by the Dallas Morning News as the Sunday “Entrepreneur” feature (Sept. 2010) business section[10]
  4. AOL National feature story[11]
  5. Modern Luxury magazine (April 2011 issue, Page 121)[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Villy Custom, Happy Bikes for Happy People". Villy Custom. Retrieved 2011-10-05. Build your own custom beach cruiser at Villy Custom
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ohngren and Wang, Kara and Jennifer (2010). "Entrepreneur's Annual 100 Brilliant Ideas". Section. 2011 Entrepreneur Media, Inc. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  3. ↑ "News 8". 2012.
  4. ↑ Sherman, Rebecca. "Spin Class". Spin Class. Modern Luxury.
  5. ↑ "The Wheel Deal". The Wheel Deal. DailyCandy, Inc.
  6. ↑ "1st Look Video". 1st Look Video. LXTV.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sherman, Rebecca. "Spin Class". Spin Class. Modern Luxury.
  8. ↑ "Entrepreneur's Annual 100 Brilliant Ideas". Entrepreneur's Annual 100 Brilliant Ideas. Entrepreneur Magazine.
  9. ↑ "1st Look Video". 1st Look Video. LXTV.
  10. ↑ "Dallas entrepreneur's multihued bikes catch eyes:". Dallas entrepreneur's multihued bikes catch eyes:. Dallas News.
  11. ↑ "Villy Customs' Fleetwood Hicks: Cruising to Success, On Two Wheels:". Villy Customs' Fleetwood Hicks: Cruising to Success, On Two Wheels:. AOL.

External links