Company co-founder Dick Burke would later recall that "it wasn’t until we built the new factory that we became a business." With more factory space available, Trek expanded its manufacturing to include complete bikes. Recognizing the need for expansion, in 1980 Trek broke ground on a new 26,000 sq ft (2,400 m 2) corporate headquarters on the outskirts of Waterloo.
In just a few years Trek had outgrown its original "red barn" manufacturing facility-a former carpet warehouse. Hampered without additional manufacturing capacity, Trek sales plateaued in the late 1970s. Within three years, Trek sales approached $2,000,000.ġ980–1984 - Trek becomes a business In 1977, Penn Cycle in Richfield, Minnesota became the first Trek retailer in the world. Later that same year Trek Bicycle was incorporated.
Trek built nearly 900 custom hand-brazed framesets that first year, each selling for just under $200. In early 1976, with a payroll of five, Trek started manufacturing steel touring frames in Waterloo, Wisconsin, taking aim at the mid to high-end market dominated by Japanese and Italian made models. In December, 1975, Dick Burke and Bevil Hogg established Trek Bicycle as a wholly owned subsidiary of Roth Corporation, a Milwaukee-based appliance distributor. 1.5 1997–2005 - The Armstrong years and further expansion.