Avenue location in August 2009.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Portland-based used bike shop The Recyclery has closed two of their four locations. The Ladds Addition and SE Madison Avenue shops are now closed, while the St. Johns and downtown Portland locations will remain open.
Owner of The Recyclery, Robby Fenstermaker, confirmed the closures via telephone today. I got in touch with Fenstermaker after several people contacted me saying he had closed all four locations and was planning to leave town with customer bikes awaiting repair. When I shared those allegations with Fenstermaker, he got upset and said that, “After being slandered and totally treated like s***, I’m doing everything I can to keep the stores open.”
Fenstermaker blamed a severe downturn in business due to coverage on BikePortland.org and in The Portland Mercury back in March about allegations that he knowingly sold stolen goods.
Fenstermaker called the coverage “a bunch of bullsh***” that was written without checking the story with him first. “It totally hurt my business.” When I tried to apologize for any negative consequences my stories might have caused, he said, “Sorry doesn’t do me s***, have a good day,” and abruptly hung up the phone.
On March 3rd, I reported on a flyer that had been hung up all over town that contained a number of accusations against Fenstermaker. The flyer urged people to boycott the shop and called it a “bicycle fencing operation.” In that initial story, I included a response to the allegations from Fenstermaker. A day later, I published a story with comments from the Portland Police Bureau’s Troy King, who leads their Special Property Investigations Unit. Officer King said they had no reported complaints from customers of The Recyclery since they started keeping track of the shop in 2006.
On March 18th, The Portland Mercury published an in-depth article on Fenstermaker and the allegations that have swirled around him and his shop for years.
The Recyclery is/was Portland’s largest used bike dealer and is also known for hosting swap meets and vintage bike shows. Read more coverage at our The Recyclery tag.