At the Hawthorne Asylum food cart pod.
(Photo: Chrome Industries)

Portland based Chrome Industries, a brand known for their iconic messenger backs and backpacks, has installed a mask vending machine in southeast Portland.

The move is part of what company President Steve McCallion says is an attempt to maintain a connection to the community as Covid-19 restrictions have crimped their usual way of doing business.

Chrome calls their stores “Hubs” as a testament to how important in-person gatherings are to their operation. Chrome’s Portland Hub has long been a popular hang-out for professional bike couriers and in 2018 we shared how the company has also helped the local fixed-gear freestyle riding scene.

Chrome opened a Hub in Portland in 2012 and moved their entire company headquarter here in 2017.

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With all retail moved online, Chrome sees vending machines as one way to stitch the brand back into the urban fabric. Their first machine in Portland is installed at the Hawthorne Asylum food cart pod (1080 SE Madison St).[Read more…]

Go By Bike now offers e-bike test rides at their showroom in South Waterfront under the tram.
(Photo: Go By Bike)

Electric bike sales are skyrocketing nationwide and Portland is doing its part to stoke the boom. Now a new partnership between local bike shops, Oregon’s electric vehicle advocacy group, and Portland’s largest employer will make it even easier for people to purchase one.

According to market research firm NPD Group, e-bike sales were up 84% in March, 92% in April, and 137% in May. It’s no surprise given how the bikes have evolved in recent years. When they first arrived on the scene they were clunky and mostly the realm of early adopters and garage-tinkerers. Then they trickled into local bike shops, but there were only a few brands, battery technology was subpar, and prices were relatively high for what you got. Lately the bikes have made massive leaps in quality and affordability and there are tons of great brands and models available.

Now the nearly 13,000 people who work at OHSU are eligible for a $200 subsidy and there’s even a convenient place to take one for a test ride.
[Read more…]

Bike shops have had to adapt to COVID-19.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Local bike businesses were among the hundreds of thousands of U.S. companies that asked the federal government for assistance to weather the coronavirus storm.

Data released from the Small Business Administration last week revealed that at least four Portland bike shops and two other bike-related businesses received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Here’s the list (company name, loan amount, number of jobs retained (if available)):

Fat Tire Farm
$150,000-350,000
14 jobs

Bike Gallery
$350,000-1 million

River City Bicycles
54 jobs
$350,000-1 million

[Read more…]