Small town bike shop?

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Ah....okay. A college town would be nice. The town I'm referring to has around 24,000. I'm wondering if anyone has had any success in a town that size and what it took to get their shop going.
 
When I was a kid we had a small bike shop in town. Down in the Ally an older guy who was retired,would open his garage door every morning. He had about fifty used bikes in there. He would adjust bikes, Buy bikes, Fix flat tires. Change bearings. We would give him a few dollars. He would sit down and drink his coffee. Just a nice guy.
He was the neighborhood guy, He loved what he did and we really liked his stories about the old days, He also enjoyed telling us about bikes and how we could fix them ourselves.
That is the bike shop you will always remember all of your life, A few new parts. All used bikes that rode on forever as long as he was there.
No one had attitude, we just rode bikes.:thumbsup:
 
honestherman said:
When I was a kid we had a small bike shop in town. Down in the Ally an older guy who was retired,would open his garage door every morning. He had about fifty used bikes in there. He would adjust bikes, Buy bikes, Fix flat tires. Change bearings. We would give him a few dollars. He would sit down and drink his coffee. Just a nice guy.
He was the neighborhood guy, He loved what he did and we really liked his stories about the old days, He also enjoyed telling us about bikes and how we could fix them ourselves.
That is the bike shop you will always remember all of your life, A few new parts. All used bikes that rode on forever as long as he was there.
No one had attitude, we just rode bikes.:thumbsup:
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I feel like I'm experiencing De ja vu reading that......
 
I live in a small town...approx 7,300 people. We have four bikes shops in town and another 6 shops on the outskirts of a 5 mile radius. You would think this kind of saturation would put a few of the shops out of business...fortunately all are doing well.
 
fordsnake said:
I live in a small town...approx 7,300 people. We have four bikes shops in town and another 6 shops on the outskirts of a 5 mile radius. You would think this kind of saturation would put a few of the shops out of business...fortunately all are doing well.
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What's the catch? No cars allowed? Are you on an island?
 
I guess I'm astounded that there's that many shops in such a small area. How many cars are there? Does the Town Marshal also do double duty as the coroner, funeral director, town taxi, pizza delivery guy and uses the same car for all the jobs?
 
You would think we're rather small, but we are incorporated and have a sizable town counsel and a staff of 12 police officers each patrolling the streets in their spanking new "Dodge Chargers." It's a bohemian community, a throw back to the hippy era. I've been here 31 years and I'm still amazed that the town refuses to expand. We're kind of a niche destination spot! I would guessimate we get around a 1000 or more cyclists any weekend day passing through our town?
 
A town like Fairfax, with a median home price of nearly $800,000.00 isn't exactly your typical 'small town'... ;)
 
Chips_Mahoy said:
I feel like I'm experiencing De ja vu reading that......
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Careful, you can't eat deja vu!

What is the general attitude/lifestyle in your town? Are folks active? Is it part of a larger metro area? Rails-trails, bike paths, etc? 24k and growing, or 24k, down from 50k and fading fast? Families? Retirees?
 
I would think small bike shops must love what they do. Maybe if a person was in it for the money, there just might be better businesses to get into.
Dentist
Plumber
 
Bendix said:
A town like Fairfax, with a median home price of nearly $800,000.00 isn't exactly your typical 'small town'... ;)
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Compared to the surrounding towns...its viewed as a ghetto! Primarily because its a throw-back to the 60's; peacock feathers, Macrame, tie-dye shirts, and Birkenstocks are still ever present...its a quirky little town that refuses to change.:cool2:
 
Bendix said:
Careful, you can't eat deja vu!

What is the general attitude/lifestyle in your town? Are folks active? Is it part of a larger metro area? Rails-trails, bike paths, etc? 24k and growing, or 24k, down from 50k and fading fast? Families? Retirees?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what I could classify the general attitude as. I guess, to me, it seems to be a good mix. The town does have plans to add bike lanes this year to a bunch of it's streets and the Mayor is very enthusiastic to get more cycling activity in the area. The western half of the county is very agricultural with a couple small towns without a 24 hr police department or a traffic light. The eastern half of the county is rapidly growing with a lot of roadie groups everywhere. There's a lot of money in the southeastern part of the county too. We go from one extreme to the other. There is a nice paved rail trail in the southeast that's a couple miles long. Then there's one that's about 12 miles long that very scenic, rural but unpaved.

I'd say 24k and growing and then a lot of rapid growth in the southeast. Mostly housing additions and some new shopping areas too.
 
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Well, that sounds promising. Especially if the older, less expensive retail areas aren't a turnoff to the newer residents. ;-)
 
honestherman said:
I would think small bike shops must love what they do. Maybe if a person was in it for the money, there just might be better businesses to get into.
Dentist
Plumber
Click to expand...

Only in the bicycle business are these things considered mutually exclusive...

:banghead:
 

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