Local retailer starts staff commuter challenge

[Sacrificing valuable floor
space for bikes.]

The Ecotrust building in Northwest Portland is one of my favorite places to work; it’s quiet, connected, and caffeinated.

It’s also home to eco-friendly global retailer Patagonia. I passed by their storefront the other day and noticed an in-store bike rack and curiously bikey signage. I had to investigate.

I met employee Tim Reinhardt and he told me that as of June, they’ve started their own bike commuter challenge. According to Tim, at a recent managers meeting, each store was asked to come up with three initiatives to “reduce the store’s ecological footprint.”

[Nothing works like
peer pressure.]

Since Portland is bike mecca, it seemed fitting to start a bike commute challenge.

To promote cycling among their employees, they’ve put a bike rack in the store and they’ve got a running tally of how many days each employee has biked to work. Tim said 52% of the store’s employees ride to work on a regular basis and he himself puts in the long haul, riding from Vancouver to downtown 3-4 days a week.

Apparently the response has been so good (even among newbies) that Tim said they’re thinking of expanding it to other locations (Seattle is already in on the fun).

They’ve also carried the bike theme into their window displays with cool bikes (donated by Veloshop) and mannequins dressed with messenger bags.

Rock on Patagonia…thanks for taking the initiative!