Our Retailer Spotlight of July is Perennial Cycles. 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
As told to us by Luke(Proprietor) of Perennial Cycles
1. 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?
I had a bike mechanic friend that dreamed of owning a shop where everyone was an owner. He dragged me over to a rather unremarkable bike shop that a bank had taken back from the previous owner. I had zero interest in that store, but the guy that was operating it for the bank had an even less remarkable bike shop that was in a basement and when I asked him about the basement bike shop he said, “oh yeah, I own that. That store is for sale also". I doubt he’d thought about selling it, but there he was with someone showing interest… The kicker for me was that the basement shop was more about rental than sales and I really liked the idea of not selling typical bike shop stuff.
2. What do your customers like best about shopping at your store? What makes Perennial Cycle special?
The selection of products.
I’d love to say that it’s because our customers get all kinds of great service (which we try hard to accomplish… and sometime succeed magnificently, but not always. See yelp for every unhappy customer ever)
3. What does Po Campo bring to your product assortment? Why do you like having us in your shop?
Like I said, product selection is the biggest reason people walk through our doors (3 if you count the one into the coffee shop). And bags are a huge piece of that product selection. We love, love, love bags. What an awesome, yet simple way to get more value out of your biking experience. With bags on your bike you will fit the bicycle into your transportation life. How amazingly cool is that. Po Campo bags are fun, practical with a soothing aesthetic. Rock on Maria!
4. 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?
Such an easy one. E-Bikes are so awesome. Being a big cargo bike shop, we have been quick to see mega world changing opportunities in adding power-assist to a bike. I’ve helped out plenty of 112 pound moms that want to get out of the damned minivan and feel the wind blow in their face, but to be honest 2 kids and their loads of unintentional stuff makes for a challenge that most can’t handle and they end up back in that frickin’ minivan.
EBikes and Cargo Bikes are going to disappear crap like the DAPL Pipeline and the loads of other crap the oil industry has been force feeding us for years. Talk about empowerment, eh? I’d say it’s a bit intoxicating, but I’m a recovering alcoholic and that’s probably not appropriate.
5. Share a short story about a time when something happened at Perennial Cycle and you were like, "Now this is why I do this!". A good experience with a customer, employee, vendor, etc.
Every day is like that. Honestly. This morning it was a guy having some balance issues due to some inner ear thing (that was also stealing his hearing) and he came in looking for ideas and went racing away away on a trike with a big smile.
Earlier this spring we sold a power assist cargo bike to a Mom and Dad that have 4 kids (oldest being about 7) and that bike was in preparation for them going car free for one complete year.
That reminds me, remember when being without a car put you in the lowest social category imaginable and now “car-free” is truly a badge of courage and honor!
