Originally Posted by
Kabuki12
Here in Ventura , California we have a few choices. Recently Trek Bikes of Ventura closed abruptly without warning. Being a vintage road bike guy , I usually go to Open Air Bikes on Main St. I do most of my own work and buy some vintage stuff online , but still spend a bit of money at LBS to get cables , accessories , bar tape and other stuff. Last time I was in the Open Air shop (3 weeks ago) it was packed and Mark said they have been "swamped". This is good news for sure . They work on the bikes in front of you while you shop , just like the 70's. Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress
I use to do business with Open Air in Santa Barbara, but when I went back to them about 25 years after leaving there they shut down the big store they had in the old depot building, now they have a smaller store on state street.
Yeah, I don't believe for one minute that Bike shops are being destroyed by internet sales, and the stats are proof they are not. Small mom and pop operations have always had a tough time, I knew several that closed before the internet thing even took off because they couldn't afford to stay in business. I love bikes, but I would never go into that business as much as I would love to dream, but I'll just leave it there, in a dream.