New!New! 55 StarStar RetailerRetailer SectionSection Top 100 Retailer Two Wheels One Planet in Costa Mesa, California. Cover photo by Nicole Formosa T-2 Bicycle Retailer & Industry News • Top 100 Retailers 2009 www.bicycleretailer.com 5 Star Retailers have made the Top 100 list for five years in a row, from 2005 through 2009. To recognize them for their outstanding effort and achievement over this time, we broke them out into a separate category this year. We asked them to share their secrets to providing a consistent retail experience. Bicycle Garage Indy Bicycle Sport Shop Belmont Wheelworks Indianapolis, IN Austin, TX Belmont, MA Number of locations: 2 Number of locations: 2 Number of locations: 3 Years in business: 26 Years in business: 25 Years in business: 31 Square footage (main location): 15,000 Square footage (main location): 24,000 Square footage (main location): 20,000 Number of employees at height of season: 70 Number of employees at height of season: 120 Number of employees at height of season: 95-100 Owner: Randy Clark, Managers: Paul Crimmins, Toby Owner: Hill Abell, Manager: Marty Muehlegger Owners: Clint Paige, Peter Mooney, John Allis, Managers: Holsman, Tony Simeone, Lavina Kautz, Tim Gale What Sets You Apart: Using technology and training to make our staff Jason Paige, Gary Wood, Colin Eggleton, Len Meserve, What Sets You Apart: Much of our outreach effort is centered around and product selection the best. Warren Koebler, Elena Alfaro advocacy. We feel advocacy is the key to the future of bicycling and What Sets You Apart: We service all sectors of the marketplace, from have a full-time advocacy director on staff. We rely on fitness equip- tricycles to tandems, by asking three questions: Who’s the customer, ment as a counter-seasonal activity, allowing us to employ quality what types of goods and services are they interested in, and, lastly, personnel year-round and dramatically reducing the costs of turnover how do we make a margin? If we can answer all three questions suc- and training. cessfully, only then do we participate fully in a category. Bicycle Village Big Shark Bicycle Co. Breakaway Bicycles & Fitness Aurora, CO St. Louis, MO Portage, MI Number of locations: 5 Number of locations: 1 Number of locations: 3 Years in business: 35 Years in business: 16 Years in business: 35 Square footage (main location): 25,000 Square footage: 7,000 Square footage (main location): 12,000 Number of employees at height of season: 170 Number of employees at height of season: 30 Number of employees at height of season: 12 Owner: Specialty Sports Ventures, LLC, Manager: Bruce Owner: Michael Weiss, Manager: Dirk Sprogoe Owner: Kenneth M. Polidan, Manager: Todd Thedorff Douglas What Sets You Apart: Big Shark Bicycle Company strives to support What Sets You Apart: Breakaway Bicycles & Fitness strives to sell and What Sets You Apart: Same-day bike service, lifetime tuneups, 30- the breadth of cycling. One of our key ingredients is hiring enjoyable promote all types of bikes and bicycle activities with the highest level day performance guarantee. We are an event-driven business; for and positive staffers who reflect our passion for the sport and excite- of expertise and attention to detail. And—after three previous loca- example, our Annual Deals on Wheels tent sales at three locations in ment for bikes. We very actively promote cycling events and rides, tions since the ’70s—we built ourselves a brand-new building. March. helping sustain a strong cycling culture and calendar in St. Louis and Missouri. We imbue our employees with a sense of mission. We are conscious of cycling’s impact on our customers’ lives and on our community. We see the bicycle industry in terms of personal enjoy- ment, environmental impact and inspiring athletes. www.bicycleretailer.com Bicycle Retailer & Industry News • Top 100 Retailers 2009 T-3 Century Cycles Eddy’s Bike Shop Erik’s Bike Shop Rocky River, OH Stow, OH Bloomington, MN Number of locations: 3 Number of locations: 4 Number of locations: 15 Years in business: 17 Years in business: 69 Years in business: 32 Square footage (main location): 3,600 Square footage (main location): 20,000 Square footage (main location): 12,000 Number of employees at height of season: 20 full-time, 10 Number of employees at height of season: 65 Number of employees at height of season: 230 part-time Owner: Jim Ruggles, Manager: Jim Ruggles, Jr. Owner: Erik Saltvold, Manager: Dave Olson Owner: Scott S. Cowan, Manager: Mike Petcher What Sets You Apart: We strive to be the best bicycle shop for every- What Sets You Apart: Erik’s has an extensive training program that What Sets You Apart: We all believe in our slogan “Define your life. one passionate about cycling. We stand out locally because for nearly every sales and service staff member participates in, ensuring that Ride a bike.” At Century Cycles, we define ourselves by getting the 70 years we’ve carried the industry’s best bicycles and products. It’s we offer outstanding service to all of our customers. Plus, there’s bicycling message out of our stores and into the public eye. We assist our people who set us apart from our competition, though, by offering experience: Erik started the business at age 13 in his parents’ barn. numerous bike rides and local charities, and we also hold free events their knowledge, experience and passion to our customers. Whether Other than a paper route, it’s the only job he’s had. throughout the year for our customers and the public, like a “Breaking our customers are tackling a big race or riding our local towpath, our Away Party” and twice-monthly night rides. We founded a Bike-to- crew can help them pick the right products and offer advice to help School program with a local school system and do cross-promotions make cycling their favorite activity. with other businesses. George’s Cycles & Fitness Boise, ID Gregg’s Cycle Helen’s Cycles Number of locations: 4 Seattle, WA Santa Monica, CA Years in business: Number of locations: 3 Number of locations: 6 Square footage (main location): 10,000 Years in business: 77 Years in business: 73 Number of employees at height of season: 50 Square footage (main location): 20,000 Square footage (main location): 11,500 Owners: Mike Cooley and Tom Platt, Manager: Sandy Rust Number of employees at height of season: 140 Number of employees at height of season: 100 What Sets You Apart: We strive to evolve. We are aware of the Owner: Stan P. Gregg, Manager: Marty Pluth Owners: Karen Stier, Jay Wolff, Manager: Tony Ray constantly changing marketplace and do what we need to stay on top What Sets You Apart: Gregg’s is currently in the third generation of What Sets You Apart: We’ve been taking good care of people and their of the business: i.e. better customer service, changing product mix family ownership. Since 2007, we’ve expanded the Greenlake store, bikes since 1936, and we’re still always striving to create the best (commuter bikes, products), storefront changes, a newly opened Fit built a new location for the Bellevue store, and moved into a new lo- shopping experience for our customers. Studio and by-appointment mechanic service. We change our events cation near the Alderwood mall. Gregg’s supports or sponsors 20-plus to meet new demands: a TT stage race to capture triathletes, relay cycling events with financial contributions or staff/mechanical support. format 200-mile race, 100-mile cyclocross group ride as well as tra- Stan Gregg is an avid cyclist and a multiple national and world medal- ditional races, and two women’s clinics which sell out. We continually ist on the velodrome. We avidly support the cycling community and High Gear Cyclery work with different agencies on alternative transportation, and with believe all people benefit from expanded opportunities for cycling. schools, supplying bikes at wholesale for fundraisers and sponsoring Stirling, NJ bike-to school-competition. This active involvement gives us superior Number of locations: 2 visibility and fuels our love for cycling. Years in business: 27 Square footage (main location): 7,600 Number of employees at height of season: 37 Goodale’s Bike Shop Owner: Rone Lewis, Nashua, NH Manager: Craig Ward Number of locations: 3 What Sets You Apart: We focus on Years in business: 90 and deliver a world-class retail Square footage (main location): 47,000 experience. Number of employees at height of season: 20 full-, 40 part-time Owner: Brad Hill, Manager: Ron Bingham, vice president What Sets You Apart: Willingness to accept change and a strong pas- sion for the cycling industry. T-4 Bicycle Retailer & Industry News • Top 100 Retailers 2009 www.bicycleretailer.com Kozy’s Cyclery Landry’s Bicycles Landis Cyclery Chicago, IL Natick, MA Tempe, AZ Number of locations: 4 Number of locations: 4 Number of locations: 4 Years in business: 67 Years in business: 87 Years in business: 97 Square footage (main location): 10,000 Square footage (main location): 16,200 Square footage (main location): 7,000 Number of employees at height of season: 70 Number of employees at height of season: 75 Number of employees at height of season: 35 Owners: Ron and Paul Kozy Owners: Peter, Jeanne and Tom Henry, Managers: Mark Owner: Robert and Richard Landis, Manager: Dave What Sets You Apart: We distinguish ourselves by our beliefs. We are Gray, Allison Snooks, Patrick Flaherty, Mark Vautour Kuhlman not a niche shop, but carry Schwinn from one end to Colnago on the What Sets You Apart: “We are living the dream of better bicycling for What Sets You Apart: Our shops’ sizes range from 4,200 to 7,000 other.