Drillium Dude 

I wonder when the first bike & weed shop will open up. If it ever happens, my money is on Portland breaking ground first

DD

wrk101

Similar here. I know a talented bike mechanic. Went from working at one of the best shops in town to working as a barista. Doubled his pay.

The bike shop business is one of the few where some have to compete against non-profit, donated inventory, volunteer workers businesses. Some coexist smoothly, some do not. But it makes a tough business even tougher. And then you have consumables on line: ebay, Amazon, wherever. And you have Walmart and similar competing on the bottom end. All in all, very difficult to make it work! My hat's off to those that can do it.

repechage

True enough today, way back there were different issues but the situation was the same, the owner's might have made out OK, but the employees not. There is an association trying to raise the expertise level and make a case for mechanics to be better paid, tough.
In the reporting by Bicycleretailer, many shops are surviving on "the back of the store".
One local shop when I visited for the first time, was beside himself, he had some recently purchased inventory that was being offered by the brand now direct to consumer for Less than he paid before shipping.
He contacted the distributor/mfg. - too bad so sad. It's a nasty world out there.

mstateglfr 

I have 0 desire for my metro to expand, but recognize it will continue to do just that for many reasons- relatively inexpensive land, strong schools, safe towns, low unemployment, etc.
But really- from a selfish perspective I would love to see expansion stop. I dont want more houses popping up like pimples on a teen. I dont want more bulldozed land to make connectors to the interstates for future growth into rural areas. Selfishly, I wish we were bordered by a lake on one side, and mountain ranges on the other sides...though I like the rolling hills for actual riding so mountains would be an issue!
I dont want more cars on the road, housing prices to continue to increase, or service cost to continue to outpace cost of living. That is just me and my selfishness due to cycling and family situation. But I have no power to stop it. Its another story when people on a town council who have the power to stop it feel the way I do.

I would guess a pretty common view for many is that they would rather not have their town/metro expand too far beyond a certain amount. What that amount is will obviously vary.
Sprawl simply doesnt sound appealing to many. Nobody wants to exist in traffic jams twice a day. Nobody wants an increase in crime. All those things inevitably come with population growth, so there is an inevitable push against growth.

SurferRosa

Like closing their Fremont store a couple years ago due to rising rent. They had a ton of storage space at that location. I wonder what they do for storage now.

RiddleOfSteel

Yeah, the rent was to rise...considerably. 2x or 3x or some order of absurd. It also turned out that it was their original Boat St. location that essentially subsidized the Fremont location. They tried, it didn't work out monetarily, and they went back to a single store. They occupy the entirety of that Boat St. building, after starting out in a small part of the basement all those years ago. Things are packed pretty darn tightly down in the basement now (staff only area), though the workshop area has good space.

repechage

I live on a "hill" community, there is a shopping district at about the top of the hill, there was a bike shop, long ago a Schwinn shop for decades. They sold, another fellow bought the place, was making a go but sold out to another. He was in his early 50's wanted to get the business to another level, moved the shop to a location with better visibility in the same general area, understandable, the old long occupied location was two floors, two entrances, sales up top, service under. Worked but mandated more staff. new location was a fresh build-out inside. He coughed up for a Specialized Concept store... was not sure about that. The area is known for high income, high net worth, self made folk, = cheap. The local TJMax is BUSY, the highline department stores went under way before it was a thing.

I think density is a problem, 3,000 per square mile, flat land cities are in the 6,000-7,000 range. Anyway, the store is treading water, but that was it. Sadly, the owner dies of heart failure while on a bike ride. Between lack of estate planning and nothing really viable to sell, shop closes, 5 out of work. If it had stayed in the old location where a bike shop had been for decades, it probably could have been sold as a business.


A few years later a new bike shop has opened in essentially the same location as the old, keeping entry to one floor. From the looks of it - a rough go so far. Figuring out what the customer base wants is I think a challenge. Kids bikes for sure.

just went by today- 11:15 am closed...
that is not encouraging on a Saturday.

bikemike73 

crank addict
or anyone else

Where is the place that you need a food permit to sell energy bars ???


I believe you.....BUT that's one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. I live in Taxa.......I mean Massachusetts, where everything is taxed..................
..but a permit to sell bars **********

Please tell me I mis-read it !!

merziac

Got the exact 411 today, moving in March, 12330 SW Walker Road, Beaverton, not Hillsboro.

merziac

You in?

SamSpade1941 

See that is even better for me than Hillsboro

gugie 

I know exactly where that is-was an antique store.

Andy_K, looks like trouble...

tashi

While I love both those products, I doubt it will happen. Why take up space with low-margin, high-effort (& slow transaction time) items when you can sell a high-margin, compact, quickly sold product like weed? With the startup and operations costs being what they are, I'd be keeping my floor space to a minimum if I secured a retailers license for weed. The combo doesn't make a lot of sense from the customer side either.

Ever see a liquor store/bike shop combo?

From a customer perspective, a coffee shop that has a few PR's, with a smoking lounge...that would be a good combo. I've fantasized about adding a smoking lounge and weed sales to my pool hall, (pretty sure my food sales are 25% weed driven already) but there's no chance of getting a license or getting the space in my high-rise. See coffee/bookshop combos, and bars for inspo. The costs associated with the weed regulations would be a deal breaker. If there were a way to get not a retail license, but a service license, like a pub vs. a liquor store, than there might be something there...

...yeah, I'm in a weed-loving town and I've put some thought into it!

J.Higgins 

What's not to love about the co-op? Free labor + Free bikes = profit for someone. Hmmm... with the exception of free labor its almost like Goodwill. Free inventory, resold, and the CEO makes $729 a year.

That brings us to the disappearance of our local bike shops. Up here, the shops that stay open are the ones that show a diversity in their income streams. Boston Metro area can support only the oldest, most-established shops. There's a strong customer base for them, but farther north, and into Maine, shops that also sell skis and kayaks and the like are more perennial.

Oldairhead 

I have visited many of the shops in PDX since 2008. For awhile it seemed that there were almost as many bike shops as coffee shops! Even in PDX there is a limit how many bike shops can survive. With fewer shops maybe survival will improve.

As far as the current business climate: I believe that the current economy is the best that most of us will see in our lifetimes! We should enjoy it while it lasts.

gugie 

I don't think we're lacking for bike shops in Portland, there are still tons of choices. I think what we're mourning over is the loss of some really cool ones (Velocult, Norther, Rivelo) that maybe, just possibly had too narrow of a consumer base to support them.

big chainring 

That was the typical bike shop in the '70's.

Jeff Wills

It's already happened... almost. Rose City Recumbents (on Powell) is in a space formerly occupied by a medical marijuana dispensary. I believe it took them a couple months of airing out before they got rid of the smell.

Jeff Wills

Hey now... just because he wears scrubs doesn't mean he's highly paid.

FWIW: my day job is at Emanuel Hospital in Portland. (Ironically, within walking distance of Breadwinner Cycles and the defunct UBI site.) We wear scrubs as a hospital uniform from housekeepers to doctors. Me and the people in my department wear scrubs to distinguish ourselves from the patients and their families. We're not highly paid- many of us are working paycheck to paycheck. (I'm lucky enough to have a wife who is highly paid... and she facilitates my bicycling habit.) We know that the care we provide costs a lot but the revenue stream dries to a trickle when it gets to us.

Here's one example of why it costs what it does: https://www.wweek.com/news/2015/12/0...-empty-wallet/

Here's an analogy: imagine the best bike shop in existence. They can repair any bike, any day, in any way, at a moment's notice. You can walk in with any kind of repair, 24/7, and they would fix it without asking if you were prepared to pay for the repair. Don't you think that would cost more than the ordinary bike shop?

SurferRosa

I wish we could go back like Cornelius and Zira.

The Thin Man 

Losing Norther is a damn shame. Although I left (less than a year ago; previous resident of 15 years), I feel like I can say that it's a hit to the Portland cycling community. They did some incredible custom frame and rack building at rock solid prices. The tiny team of two core fellas are passionate riders and poured their heart, soul and time into all of their builds. There was solid stock selection from outfits you love (VO, Compass/RH, Gilles Berthoud, etc.) along with respectable high/mid range vintage parts and advice. Oh yes, the advice. StarMichael taught me some tricks on how to polish metal that is easier, faster and comes with the most incredible shine I've ever seen. And still, nobody else (that I've seen) has ever mentioned his techniques. But people certainly noticed it on their builds. Could StarMichael do this out of any 'ole garage and sell his wares on the internet? Sure. I suppose. But, what dies with this shop is a little bit of bicycle culture. Bicycle infrastructure isn't all there is to a city. Gut the passion and subcultures and it becomes just a city that has some people riding scooters, bikes and fleeting food trends.
Most of "new Portland" won't miss this shop, but I will. I'm sorry to keep seeing Portland's soul being chipped away more and more. What a shame.

rossiny

God how depressing reading all this stuff about how bad a bike businesses is.
Just buy a store front cash$$$ and sell bikes and repair and offer a spin class section where you hang out. Oh you don't have 500k$$$ to buy a property? ? Don't go in business..
PS, only sell bikes or products that sell through you to have floor space.

nlerner

I worked in a couple of bike shops in the SF Bay area from 1986-1990. It was then that I first heard the adage, “How might you end up with a million dollars? Start with three million and open a bike shop.”

it’s never been an easy way to make a living/killing.

SamSpade1941 

There are currently three shops not including the co-op here.

how 2 of those shops stay in business is anyone’s guess

Santiam bicycles here in Salem seems to be empty of customers most of the time . They mostly cater to the MTB crowd but do have some road / gravel bikes

How they stay in business I’m not certain there’s hardly ever a customer in there when I’m there looking for a part or accessory .

Scotts is the local Trek dealer , they lost my business simply because they always seems almost distracted and even like they just didn’t want my money. Even after I gave them a lot of it buying a bike. When I decided to pull the trigger on a new touring bike I wanted to buy a new 520 Disc but after going back to the store they seemed just as uninterested in my money as they were last time I gave them a large pile of it. They seem to be really more interested in catering to the hard core roadie riding 700x23 tires than selling me a bike or accessories.

The bike peddler and my goto LBS in town is very busy most of the time . In fact they’re the busiest shop in town and despite that they’ve always been polite and helpful . Super nice folks who are happy to work on any bike you bring them . They probably have the best selection of bikes in town . When I ultimately get ready for a new bike that I don’t build myself I’ll buy it from them .


I think it’s noteworthy there was 4 shops up until a year or so back , South Salem Cycle Works went out of business but honestly that really didn’t shock me . A shame really because he had a C&V candy land of bikes and components . He also had a huge stock of Italian bikes for the hardcore sorts out there.

he was just notoriously hard and sometimes impossible to deal with . When he was going out of business he ended up keeping most of his stock because he refused to mark anything down . Weird guy with a lot of cool stuff though . I don’t miss him or his shop though , just his inventory which was cool to look out .

my understanding is most of his store income was actually ski and tandem rentals and not actual bike sales.

2old

Guess socal must be the promised lad for bike shops. Within about a 20 mile radius of where I reside there are five or so Specialized concept stores, six or so Trek concept stores and a private owner with two locations. Of the ones I frequent, all seem healthy and the employees appear happy and typically stay for a long while (of course there are those getting advanced degrees that leave eventually). As I said before, no co-ops in the area that I know of.