Retailer Spotlight: Blue Lug
Tokyo’s famed Blue Lug bike shop was our first retailer back in 2012. Blue Lug is known for their world class assortment of bikes, accessories, and custom builds, and it’s been fun to work together over the years on some exclusive ILE colorways for their shops. Our partnership has grown tremendously since the early days, and their support and feedback has undoubtedly helped guide us into making better packs. Check out our conversation with the Blue Lug team below:
What’s the story of Blue Lug?
We opened up our first store in 2006, since then we have three stores. One is in Hatagaya, where we carry clothing, accessories, bikes, small goods and have a great local customer base street shop. Our second store is located in Kamiuma where we make custom bikes, carry high-end components, have a wide range of handmade and high-quality bikes and, of course, provide bicycle repair. We opened this shop to take our business to the next level. The third store is located in Yoyogi-park. We always try to be a part of the local scene and because of that we always have great support from our customers.
In addition to these stores, we have a café/bar located near our Hatagaya store. We wanted to create a bicycle-friendly café featuring artisan coffee, fantastic food, and amazing beer. LUG Café/bar with a small mechanic area is a place where cyclists can ride up to the window for a coffee, or lean their bike against a table and stay for a while. Either way, the concept of our café is no different than our stores. We aim to provide our patrons with a unique and quality experience.
What makes your shop unique?
We always carry full items at all the stores, I mean literally full and also each mechanic has their own style which makes them very unique and able to build any kind of bicycle for our customers.
What ILE product stands out to you and why?
The big size bags such as the Travel Pack and Radius XL––usually bags this size can be very heavy when full but ILE's are very light and easy to use.
Check out Blue Lug online and on Instagram, and pay them a visit on your next Japan trip!
All photos courtesy of Blue Lug.
