Division store will be December 4th.
(Photo: Bike Gallery)
With so many bike shops in the Portland region (70 or so at last count), it can be tough keeping track of them all. Lucky for you, I happen to cover this beat full-time and it’s sort of my job to know this stuff. On that note, read the updates below for the latest bike shop news I’ve heard about…
Joe Bike to open second store
Joe Bike, a commuter/utility and cargo bike specialty store, is opening a second location. Joe Bike owner Joe Doebele has outgrown his small, 600 square-foot storefront on SE Hawthorne Blvd (at 39th) that first opened back in late 2008. The new store will be just a 1/2 mile south of the Hawthorne store at 2039 SE 39th (at Lincoln). The original store will remain, but only for repairs, accessories and clothing sales.
The new store is a former corner grocery market. Check out the street view image of the new location below…
The larger store will allow Joe to stock more bikes and more brands. The location is prime for bike traffic. Lincoln is a popular bike boulevard and right outside the door is a small public plaza space that Joe Bike will maintain. Joe says he plans to spruce it up and use it as a gathering spot for group rides, as a place to serve coffee and bagels on Monday mornings, and so on.
One final note, Joe has hired bike-based contractor Chris Sanderson of Builder By Bike to do the renovations and improvements on the new store. Look for a soft opening in January.
Bike Gallery on the move
Bike Gallery has closed their location at 10950 SE Division and plans to open a new store about five miles south in the Johnson Creek Shopping Center at 9351 SE 82nd Ave. The new location offers Bike Gallery a much better retail environment, says store owner Jay Graves. The new location is right next door to a Trader Joe’s and across the parking lot from a Fred Meyer. It’s also just two blocks off the I-205 bike path.
The existing location on Division will be open through December 5th. The new store opens for business on Saturday, December 8th.
Green Garage is gone
The Green Garage, a shop opened by Oregon native and former Bike N’ Hike employee Bill Fasano in October 2011, is no longer open for business. The shop was located in a brick building on N. Mississippi Ave, across the street from Widmer Brewing on Interstate. However, I’ve noticed all Bill’s signs are gone and the shop looks to have been packed up. I haven’t heard anything from Bill about it, so I assume he’s moved onto other endeavors. If anyone knows more details, please let me know.
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(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
Sunset Cycles closes Beaverton store
Sunset Cycles owner Roger Colwell said a mix of economic concerns and unfavorable new lease terms on his Beaverton location (16305 SW Barrows Rd) have forced him to close it down. Colwell will consolidate his offerings and his energy into his original location in the Bethany Village Shopping Centre (15320 SW Central Drive). The Beaverton store, which opened in May 2011, will be open through January and you can find up to 60% discounts on remaining bikes and accessories.
— Catch more bike shop news in our archives.
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Hmm, Bike Gallery’s vacating that Division space just like Bob’s Bicycle Center did before them. I wonder what it is about the “retail environment” there that’s so unfavorable. I mean I can hazard a few guesses, but none of those factors seem better down in Clackamas.
C’mon now, people living in Clackamas deserve bikes too. Not everyone voted against Portland Creep.
That’s fine, I’m more trying to look at it from the Bike Gallery’s perspective, like what makes the new spot better? Maybe it’s just that it’s surrounded by other retail stores and close to Clackamas Town Center?
My guess is the new location will have more traffic driven by other sources. The current Bike Gallery location that is closing didn’t have other things around it to draw people in or make them notice it.
The Division location is pretty much all by itself, and on Division. Unpleasant to ride to, and nothing else to shop there once you ride or drive there. Little parking if you drive there. Its across the street from a gravel company.
The Clackamas mall is… a mall. People go there for other reasons and might stop in. I don’t think its any worse to ride to either. Ample parking too.
I always thought that the current Bike Gallery store on Division was easier to access via bike than the Trader Joe’s on Johnson Creek… but maybe that’s because I always came from the south side and never had to cross over Division whereas with Trader Joe’s I was usually coming from the I-205 path and always had to cross the auto-meca that is Johnson Creek Crossing…
I bought my first brand new bike (Electra Townie) there about 4 years ago… the people were very nice…
is that scrapper art cruiser still chained up by the new Joe Bike location? love the colors every time I ride by… I hope they keep some sort of bike art out there in the public space…
Yes, the new Bike Gallery on 82nd is in a pretty aweful spot for bikes to get there. I have taken my bike trailer down to Trader Joes once or twice and it was prety rough (at least Johnson Creek has a bike lane from the Springwater). Other than that you’re just riding sidewalks everywhere.
I always hate when bike shops open in locations that are so bike unfriendly.
Not so bad, at least if coming from the west: leave the springwater at Linwood or Bell, a block or so south to Overland, go east on Overland to 80th or 81st and you’re there.
This is as good of a place as any to give bike thanks to my local bike shop UpCycles in Woodlawn. A few months ago, they donated a bunch of bicycle repair tools and attached them to the public kiosk at 13th and Holman for all to use. Thanks Upcycles!
Rumor has it, St. John’s is about to lose a long time bike store.
I was wondering if something was happening. I have noticed that the inventory at W***’s is a third of what it normally is. Kind of weird considering it is just about christmas. A real shame. There is such great potential in St. Johns being so close to Forest Park and the urban growth boundary but I never found the bike shop to be very engaging. No group rides, no local trail building, etc. etc.
I heard from a little bird that Steve Wier sold the building to Mark New, a local developer.
Wiers is a shadow of its former self. Competition, the realities of getting older and disinterested heirs, I hear. Unless BG decides to buy it up..?
but then Performance Bike (about a mile away in Mall 205) seems to be busy every time I go there. Then “The Outer Rim” is just a little further and is usually deserted.
I don’t think the location is the factor. My guess is it’s a “Full Retail” vs. “Discount” kinda thing. Also you can check products on PB website, whereas on BG’s you can’t.
There is a product search area on the Bike Gallery website: http://shop.bikegallery.com/product-list/browse-our-catalog-pg54/
Is the 39th and Lincoln node Portland’s first instance of bike boulevard-oriented development? I guess it’s not really (re)development per se unless they’re putting money into the building, but it’s impressive to see new businesses wanting to relocate to a corner with no on-street parking (gasp).
That said, they’re going to have a hard time providing enough bike parking in that location, because a super hot new restaurant is going to be opening right next door in the same building.
You can’t put any racks along César Chávez because the sidewalk is too narrow. I’m guessing they’ll install an on-street corral just to the west of the “public plaza” curb extension on Lincoln.
A bike corral next to the “public plaza” (did not know it had that status, if it does) would be super duper and wouldn’t affect drivers going to any other businesses, as there’s an amply sized parking lot for them. For bikes, there’s just a single staple rack for the whole intersection.
That “plaza” was also the site of last year’s most popular bike breakfast during PDX Bike Month. Great place to greet the families riding their HOV’s (bakfietsen, tagalongs, longtails – the variety was amazing).
This building at Lincoln and 39th/Cesar Chavez is actually an old Fred Meyer store from the 1920s! There’s a picture in the city archives (which also shows two lanes with parking and planting strips on 39th, not today’s 4 lanes and narrow sidewalks) If not the first, this will be the most substantial bike-oriented business on a bike boulevard.
There IS a bike shop on 82nd , almost straight across from CTC ..Clackamas Cycle Ctr. (empty too) (hope that’s the correct name)
Clearly Jay Graves does not want his Trek Transport competing in close proximity to Joe’s Yuba Mundos. He was wise to clear out of SE and cede the battlefield to real urban utility bikes. Sun-Tzu would be proud.
Every hipster knows that the “real’ SE is only west of 82nd…
39th…
Gresham is barren of bike shops. Not clear why Brad closed Shilo. The shop up in Sandy is very thin on selection and doesn’t want the local club meeting at his shop for weekly rides. BG’s division st store was the closes one for Mt Hood community, Sandy and Gresham. BG’s store in Gresham only lasted a year or two. How about a shop in Boring at the end of the Springwater Trail …
Gresham still has Gresham Bike shop located in TriMet’s Gresham Central Transit Center parking garage.
CTC Promenade has (had ?) a small LBS …REI has a full service shop and fair accessory inventory (not far from new BG)
I’ve heard from several places that Bike Gallery has recently changed hands.
I think Bike Gallery will do great in that location – the Trader Joe’s is always humming, and I imagine the demographics are similar.
I live a few blocks away from the new location, bike nearby every day, and don’t think the area is particularly bike-unfriendly as Clackamas goes. I-205 path to Johnson Creek to 82nd to – well, then you have to improvise a little. I’m psyched that they’re opening in my neighborhood, even if my purchases will probably just be tubes and accessories.
We should all appreciate the time, energy, money and support Bike Gallery donates back to the cycling community and to advocacy organizations working to make streets safer for everyone. I’ve worked with dozens of bike shops in nearly 40 cities and Bike Gallery is one of the most community-engaged bicycle retailers in the U.S. Thank you, BG!