With help from friends, our bike shop status spreadsheet has gone national

Map of bike shop statuses during the COVID-19 outbreak created by Chris King Precision Components and Portland Design Works

Way back on the morning of March 17th, as the COVID-19 pandemic was becoming very real to Portlanders, I emailed all the bike shop owners in Portland (give or take a few I left out at first – sorry!) and asked how they were adapting to the virus and how the community could help them through it.

Their responses became part of a Google Sheet that I’ve continued to update daily ever since. There are currently 53 shop statuses listed along with a link to where people can buy gift cards or shop online. The goal of this little effort is to help would-be customers find out if their favorite shop is open and best to go about getting help with a product or service. It’s also a good business-to-business resource because it allows shop owners and managers to compare notes and learn from each other.

Since it was published, the data has been used and viewed in lots of ways by lots of people.

The site PDX SOS, which sprung up to help bolster local small businesses, imported the data and made a separate page on their site just for Portland bike shops. Bicycling took note of the effort in a March 25th story titled, How You Can Support Bike Shops, Event Organizers, and Cycling Non-Profits.

The thing I’m most excited about is how friends at Portland Design Works grabbed the idea and ran with it. As you might have already read in Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, they teamed up with Portland-based Chris King Precision Components and really put the idea on the map. Literally! They also took it to the next level and now have the status of hundreds of bike shops nationwide listed on a cool, interactive map! Any bike shop can participate by filling out a quick online form.

PDW and Chris King have the same goal as BikePortland: to help bike shops and the people who need them.

I’m very happy how this turned out. It’s at the core of why BikePortland exists: To identify what our community needs in a time of crisis, gather the information from the right sources, then put in a central location where it enlighten and inspire everyone.

Have a great weekend everyone! And remember to keep your distance if you go outside.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Bike Shops, Business, Front Page
coronavirus 2020