SW 18th and Alder this weekend.
Google Street View)
Performance Bicycle, Inc., the nation’s largest chain of retail bike shops and a juggernaut in the industry with their online and catalog sales, will have a grand opening for their new downtown Portland store this weekend.
As we reported back in February, Performance will open their doors at 1736 SW Alder St. (just a few blocks from PGE Park).
To mark the occasion — and perhaps to try and make a big splash in a city with stiff bike shop competition (there are already about 10 shops in the downtown area) — Performance has unleashed a host of offers and events for this weekend. But unlike the usual discounts and free donuts, they’ve got some pretty big things planned.
A press release said that “the bike market is BOOMING in Portland” and to celebrate, Performance will have their first annual “Bike Month Blowout”.
“We are delivering a new kind of retail experience that is fun, informative and easy to understand…For casual cyclists and beginners, we really want to demystify cycling.”
— Jim Thompson, CEO
Saturday and Sunday they’ll team with Seattle-based Alchemy Goods to host the “Bike Tube Blowout Drive” and they’ll give away thousands of dollars in prizes.
Claiming that five tons of rubber end up in Portland-area landfills every year as a result of people throwing away bicycle inner tubes (not sure where they got that statistic), the Performance folks will give you a $5 gift card in exchanged for your old tubes (and then give them to Alchemy to make stuff with).
They’ll also have “Spin Doctors” (a.k.a. mechanics) available to do a “Bike Maintenance Check-Up” (their quotes, not mine).
And here’s an ambitious promotion: They’ll launch a “Commuter Rewards Program” as part of their “commitment to environmental stewardship and quality of life in the communities it serves”. The program will give a $20 gift card to anyone (all “Portland-area business, non-profit and government workplaces are eligible to participate”) who bikes, walks, runs, or takes transit to work for at least 20 days (the press release didn’t mention a timeframe — do they realize they could go bankrupt doing this in Portland? ;-)).
Performance CEO Jim Thompson says that the new Portland store will deliver “A new kind of retail experience that is fun, informative, and easy to understand,” and that will “demystify cycling” for casual riders and newbies.
- Performance Bicycle Store Grand Opening
1736 SW Alder St.
The “bike tube blowout” will take place from 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday, May 16th and from 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday, May 17th