The former location of Clinton Street Video will soon be bike shop.
Joe Bike owner Joe Doebele says he plans to open a second location at 2501 SE Clinton late next month. The corner location will put him in the heart of a bustling Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood commercial district and right next door to Pedal PT, a cycling-focused physical therapy and bike fit studio. This section of Clinton is also a neighborhood greenway route and popular cycling thoroughfare.
“One of our musts is to be on a greenway.”
— Joe Doebele, Joe Bike
Joe Bike moved into its current location on SE Cesar Chavez and Lincoln in 2012. Doebele says the new space on Clinton will become his main store with more space for an expansive showroom for new bikes and accessories. The old store will be reorganized into a repair and service-oriented location.
The move gives Doebele more than twice the space he had before — over 2,000 square feet.
“We’ve needed more space for a long time,” Doebele shared with us this week. “One of our musts is to be on a greenway, but it’s hard to find a place on one. For years, every time I passed the Clinton St Video location, I would say, ‘that’s the place’.”
Advertisement
Doebele’s local bike entrepreneurialism began when he started importing city bikes from China in late 2008. A few months later he opened his first retail operation on SE Hawthorne Blvd. In 2009 he tried to ride Portland’s cargo bike craze with a “Shuttlebug” model he created and sold.
Doebele’s ability to spot market trends and then sell the bikes and parts to meet them has served him well. Today his shop has a wide-ranging customer base and he’s built a reputation for custom city bike and adventure riding builds from brands like Soma, Kona, All-City, Surly, Salsa, and Marin. The larger shop on Clinton will allow him to bring in an even wider range of Konas, including their new electric bikes.
I asked Doebele how he’s able to expand when so many other shops have closed recently. “I don’t really know the answer,” he replied. “It seems like the larger shops that tried to compete by discounting have won the race they chose to enter, and their prize was to discount themselves out of business or to go online only.” He says his business has remained healthy thanks to a focus on repairs and by carefully chosen locations. “Location is a little less obvious but also key. We’ve been on a busy shopping street across from a New Seasons (on Hawthorne) and a residential greenway with lots of bike traffic but no other shopping (Lincoln). The greenway is better.”
Keep your eye on the space as you bike by and wish him luck with renovations.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
— Get our headlines delivered to your inbox.
— Support this independent community media outlet with a one-time contribution or monthly subscription.