Another large Portland bike retailer has decided to shut down its brick-and-mortar location. Western Bikeworks is set to announce today that their 10,000 square foot shop on the corner of Northwest 17th and Lovejoy will close before the end of this year.
Jay Torborg, CEO of Western Bikeworks’ parent company Velotech Inc, told us via email yesterday that the move comes as their lease is up for renewal and they’ve decided to prioritize their online business. “The expected future costs of operating the store have cast doubt on our ability to operate this store profitably,” he shared. [Read more…]
Portland has a new bike shop whose owners hope to be a part of the local fixed-gear and track riding scene.
Retrogression (2315 SE 11th Ave, just north of Division) is owned and operated by Dave Gattinella and Angie Beaulieu. Fixed-gear riders themselves, Gattinella and Beaulieu couldn’t find track-related parts and gear at local bike shops, so they started sourcing their own.
Retrogression started as an online-only shop in 2009 and opened a brick-and-mortar location in Massachusetts shortly thereafter (they are both from New England). They moved the business to San Diego a few years later; but quickly outgrew their space and went on the hunt to find a new location that would offer them a combination of warehouse (for the online business) and retail shop. [Read more…]
A neighborhood bike shop in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood will close its doors next month after over a decade in business. Owners of A Better Cycle announced their decision last week. [Read more…]
Block Bikes owner Ben Helgren is on the lookout for seven bikes after being hit by thieves on Sunday night (3/10).
In a post on his Facebook page, Helgren said the theft happened after the shop celebrated its sixth anniversary over the weekend. “As a small local business, our margins aren’t as big as some of the other shops and this certainly makes a dent right as the season is starting,” he wrote.
The thieves grabbed seven, yet-to-be assembled Marin bikes from the shop’s storage trailer. Here are the models and sizes: Marin Muirwoods size XXL in Red/Gold/Green fade; Fairfax SC1 sizes XL and L in Black; Marin Four Corners sizes M and XL in Black; Marin Stinson ST7 size Med in Light Blue/tan.
Keep in mind the bikes hadn’t been built up yet, so it’s hard to know exactly how they’ll look when built — and it’s possible they might be resold as-is or for parts. [Read more…]
Martín Acosta inside the new space. (Photos: Naomi Fast)
Naomi Fast is our Washington County correspondent.
Not everyone believes in the oft-quoted movie mantra, “If you build it, they will come.” But out in Hillsboro, the adage holds true — and not just for Hillsboro Hops baseball.
Less than two years after I wrote about a new separated bikeway that parallels Cornelius Pass Road between Cornell and Highway 26, a new bike shop has moved in less than a mile away: Rock Creek Cyclery. [Read more…]
But the news wasn’t all bad: A new shop opened on Mt. Hood and Golden Pliers, that opened in June on North Skidmore at Interstate, has quickly become a favorite of many.
We’re sure to see more evolution in the local bike shop scene this year. Before we get too behind on this beat, I wanted to share a few news updates that have been accumulating in my notebook… [Read more…]
Signs are up at the Beaverton store. (Photo: Andy Kutansky)
Some people hoped a bankruptcy filing last month by the parent company of the Performance Bicycle might not result in the closure of all stores across the country.
But today the list is out and the news isn’t good: Advanced Sports Enterprises says it will close all 102 of its stores in the United States. That includes locations in Portland (Mall 205, 9988 SE Washington St.), Tualatin (7690 Montgomery Rd.) and Beaverton (3850 SW Hall Blvd.). The closure leaves Portland with just one bike shop (Outer Rim Bicycles) east of I-205.[Read more…]
E-bikes, like this one crusing on the Eastbank Esplanade, have become very popular in Portland. A new tariff could chill the market. (Photo: Will Vanlue for BikePortland)
“Our forecasts predict that a 25% tariff will cause a 65-75% drop in sales as consumers postpone their purchases until sanity returns to our trade policies.” — Wake Gregg, The eBike Store
In their ongoing effort to achieve more “fair and balanced” trade conditions with China, the Trump Administration has finalized a list of $16 billion worth of products that will be hit with a 25 percent tariff that will go into effect August 23rd.
Among those products are electric bicycles and e-bike motors. Bikes imported from China previously had no tariff. The tariff on motors will be 29 percent as the new tariff will be added to the existing one 4 percent. People for Bikes, a national bike industry advocacy group, fought the move, but has so far been unsuccessful.
This is bad news for the e-bike market. As we shared last week, sales of the pedal-assisted bikes have been a major bright spot for bike companies and retail shop owners. Here in Portland, we have a thriving e-bike scene and shop owners report brisk sales. There’s been a sense that — after years of challenges due to an educational and cultural bottleneck — the U.S. market for e-bikes had finally matured. And like many bike trends, Portland is at the tip of the spear.
Here are reactions to the new tariffs from three local shop owners: [Read more…]
