As told to us by Brittany of Beat Cycles!
Our Retailer Spotlight of April features Beat Cycles of Lakewood, Ohio. Get to know them and find out what makes them special in this blog post.
Each month we highlight one of our retail partners to get to know them better. If you have a suggestion for a small business that would be a good home for Po Campo, drop us a line and let us know! Support your local retailers! #ShopLocal #ShopSmall
Tell us a bit about your shop. How long have you been in business? Why did you decide to open a store where you did?
We opened Beat Cycles in 2014, with the intention of simply being a “community bike shop”. We weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel - there are several amazing bike shops in our area. We just saw potential to add something else to the table. We are a group of people who live by bike and play by bike, and we wanted to share that excitement with others.
What do your customers like best about shopping at your store? What makes Beat Cycles special?
Our customer experience is so important to us, and we truly strive to ensure that each of our customers doesn’t just leave happy, but that they feel as though they are a part of the bike community. We want them to not only be customers, but to swing by the shop just to say hey, have a beer, and to geek out on all things bikes. We joke that our shop is the local club house.
What does Po Campo bring to your product assortment? Why do you like having us in your shop?
We have so much respect for Po Campo and love how it completes our line of bags. We view cycling as a entire lifestyle, and Po Campo does such an amazing job of combining well thought-out function with unique style. We want more people on bikes, and to do so, it needs to be convenient. Our Po Campo line allows us to show just how easy it is to go from bike to other daily activities without missing a beat.
What's something you're excited about either in the future of your business, your industry, your city, or just in the world in general?
Cycling is definitely on the upswing. For us, locally, it is becoming more of the “norm”, if you will, and it is great being a part of that. To see people using bikes as their frequent form of transportation, to be getting on a bike again after years of not riding at all, and to see our infrastructure become bike friendly is just amazing to watch unfold. To be a part of a community that advocates so heavily for bikes is exactly why we got into this business.
Share a short story about a time when something happened at Beat Cycle and you were like, "Now this is why I do this!".
It's hard to pinpoint one specific example of a "why I do this" moment. After many years in the bike industry I think we still get the most enjoyment working with people new to cycling. Their enthusiasm is so contagious it makes us want to immediately jump on our bike.
