Launching Upway's New 30,000 sq. ft. UpCenter in LA: Behind the Scenes
Written by: Lucas Nurdin | March 4, 2025 | Time to read 7 min
How did we find, prepare, and open our new 30,000 sq. ft. facility in just one month? Go behind the scenes of the LA UpCenter launch with Lucas, Upway’s Operations Lead!
More about the Author: Lucas Nurdin
Operations Lead, Upway US
Lucas is a globe-trotter at heart—born in France, he’s lived all over the world and is now settling on the West Coast to help grow Upway US. When he’s not busy adding e-Bikes to Upway.co, you can find him running along Redondo Beach.
Electric bikes aren’t the only things that move fast at Upway— we recently launched our new UpCenter facility in Los Angeles in under a month. With time working against me, I jetted to the West Coast in search of the perfect UpCenter and set it up for inventory, mechanics, and shipping.
Now with the exciting and successful launch behind us, I can take a moment to reflect on the intense effort and excellent teamwork. In this blog, I’ll share an inside look at the launch and discuss what to consider when opening a new supply facility.
The search for the perfect UpCenter
By January, there were open negotiations with three or four UpCenters in Los Angeles, but no location had been confirmed. One of our main priorities was ensuring a great relationship with the landlord, recognizing that our long-term collaboration would benefit immensely from mutual trust. As discussions continued, I was ready to travel to Los Angeles at the drop of a hat— or rather, when we finally received confirmation of the final UpCenter and began preparations for the launch.
The deal closed, I flew to Los Angeles on January 28th and things kicked into high gear. The most important element at this stage is speed, as our goal by the end of the week was to start processing bikes in the UpCenter. That means having workbenches ready, electricity running, internet up, tools out, inventory, and the team in place!
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It never quite goes according to plan does it
Maya Angelou once wrote, “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” That wise reminder helped guide our fast problem-solving on the first day at the UpCenter. On the 29th, we still did not have the keys to the UpCenter but the key drop off was imminent. We had planned to already have the keys, however, and had scheduled the arrival of a handful of bikes. As our luck would have it, we had miscalculated the delivery time of another (much larger) shipment and received 94 electric bikes at the location! We asked to store the bikes in the UpCenter until the lease was definitively signed and the landlord agreed.
But we weren't out of the flames quite yet— we still didn’t have our equipment at all to unload the bikes (specifically, no pallet jack). The driver helped us unload the bikes and we managed to have nearly one hundred bikes in the UpCenter, all before officially having the keys! But by the end of the long day, we had the keys and got to work on the next phase of the launch.
But we weren't out of the flames quite yet— we still didn’t have our equipment at all to unload the bikes (specifically, no pallet jack). The driver helped us unload the bikes and we managed to have nearly one hundred bikes in the UpCenter, all before officially having the keys! But by the end of the long day, we had the keys and got to work on the next phase of the launch.
The dream team
With keys in hand and plenty of bikes already in the UpCenter it was time to bring the team together— not quite as epic as reuniting the Avengers, but pretty darn close. Over the next couple of days, we conducted interviews for new mechanics with Colin, our Head of Bike Mechanics.
We hadn’t received any tools or assembled the workbenches yet, so we constructed a makeshift workbench with surplus bike boxes! It was a unique experience (with just the right amount of quirky absurdity) to interview mechanics and build excitement about Upway’s mission to recondition thousands of used electric bikes and new arrivals, all without a proper workbench in sight. Despite the bare-bones start, we received fabulous candidates— two of which were extremely great fits— and we made a pair of offers straight away.
By the end of the first week (only three days in, really), we had several workbenches ready and more than one hundred bikes to unpack. We set up mechanics tools and put tape on the floor to organize the large space— the UpCenter was starting to take shape. The following week’s goal was to repair a few dozen bikes and test our processes, ensuring all the basics were ready to start operating— things like safety kits, desks, computers, and the photo studio. On this front, everything went as expected.
A coat of paint changes everything
We had the help of Upway team members from New York and it was all hands on deck approaching the launch. We bought furniture and Ysa, our Marketing Manager, organized the painting of the walls with Upway signs and graphics. The most notable progress in the second full week was transforming the previously empty UpCenter into a place that’s truly “ours”— the Los Angeles UpCenter.
Okay, funny story time. Painters came with a small ladder, but the walls were so high that it would take them ages to finish the work— but they noticed a scissor lift on-site. The only problem was that the contractor wasn’t there and no one knew quite how to use the large machine. But after about half an hour of steering the lift back and forth, they figured out how to turn it and they were off to the races. Playing with their newfound toy, they took less than two days to complete the painting work, and the UpCenter now officially felt like an UpCenter!
Okay, funny story time. Painters came with a small ladder, but the walls were so high that it would take them ages to finish the work— but they noticed a scissor lift on-site. The only problem was that the contractor wasn’t there and no one knew quite how to use the large machine. But after about half an hour of steering the lift back and forth, they figured out how to turn it and they were off to the races. Playing with their newfound toy, they took less than two days to complete the painting work, and the UpCenter now officially felt like an UpCenter!
In-house photo studio
In all of our UpCenters across the world, we have the same professional photo studio to create high-quality images of our e-Bikes. This studio will arrive at the Los Angeles UpCenter in March 2025, but we needed to start shooting images of our inventory right away to start selling. Remember, Upway moves fast! But we have high standards when it comes to photography and couldn’t just set up any DIY studio or use iPhone cameras (but we considered this).
In the end, the marketing team came up with a clever solution and Marta lent her high-spec camera. We built an ‘in-house’ photo studio, fine-tuned the lighting, and were ready to start shooting.
Selling, shipping, and satisfaction
The second week we focused on shipping processes. For example, we conducted tests with providers to ensure the trucks would pick up our bikes in the correct location. The initial days of the UpCenter saw extension cords running slightly wild, but we cleaned up that temporary solution with a professional system and layout— our launch was happening fast, but we take safety very seriously.
By the end of these first two weeks, we had over 50 bikes ready to be sold, and I put them online on the morning of February 14th. This marked the end of the first step of the launch and it was extremely satisfying to receive sales notifications throughout the day and witness the impact of our work first-hand. These first customers received their bikes from the LA UpCenter in the following days.
Things that helped out big-time
My experience as Operations Manager for Upway in Gennevilliers, France prepared me to execute the launch of the new Los Angeles facility. I already knew the equipment we needed and was most useful to buy, things that weren’t necessary, and organization of task prioritization. I’ve spent a lot of time working on floor plans, considering different shapes, access doors, ceiling heights, and natural lighting to achieve the best results.
Before this exciting launch, I had never worked in the US and I was impressed with everybody’s optimism and energy across the Upway team, contractors, job candidates, and other business partners. I found that people were so enthusiastic about the project, even while walking through an empty UpCenter!
In closing, launching a 30,000 sq. ft. UpCenter was an intense and unique experience— there’s no denying the hard work along the way— but being a part of this adventure with such a great team was fantastic. Upway’s launch in California only happens once and I’m excited to see what’s next for Upway and e-Bikes in the Golden State and beyond.
