The Willamette Week’s Best of Portland issue hit the streets today and if you turn to page 60 you’ll see something pretty cool: BikePortland has been voted Best Local Blog!
Nike announces first Biketown branding campaign: Sneaker bikes
https://youtu.be/qs6m9lQ9qRE
Tucked into Nike’s exclusive $10 million bike share contract with the City of Portland is a clause that allows the company to put its considerable marketing prowess on display.
Nike has the right to place occasional “wraps” on 100 of the 1,000 Biketown bikes. This means they can change the color scheme of the usually bright orange machines in order to promote whatever they please. Today they announced their first wrap scheme.
Say hello to “sneaker bikes.”
When Biketown launches next week some of the bikes will echo the stylings of three historically significant Nike sneakers.
Here’s the announcement from Nike:
City responds after bike share station locations spur complaints
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Besides the bikes themselves, the stations are the most visible part of the Biketown bike share system that’s set to launch six days from today. And not surprisingly, as the bright orange stations are installed on streets and sidewalks throughout Portland, their presence has stoked anger and confusion.
We’ve already covered the confusion: People are locking their own bikes to the racks which are intended solely for Biketown bikes. That issue is likely to disappear once the Biketown bikes show up next week.
Then just as that story died down a bit, we heard concerns from readers via comments that the City of Portland has torn out existing bike parking corrals in front of businesses and replaced them with bike share stations. Also yesterday, I fielded a call from a southeast Portland resident who was angry when she woke up, looked outside her house and saw that the space where she used to park her car was now a row of 18 Biketown racks.
What’s going on? Here’s what the city says…
Views from campers about the future of the tent city on Springwater path
The Springwater Corridor near SE 82nd.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)
It’s been a week since someone living on the Springwater Corridor survived a gunshot and months since it became maybe the largest single tent camp — tent suburb? — in Oregon.
Consciously tolerated by the city government under an uneasy compromise brokered by Mayor Charlie Hales and his (now former) chief of staff Josh Alpert, the encampment has gotten more and more complicated as it’s become a more common place for people without a roof to look for refuge. It’s also gotten harder for people biking on the Springwater to ignore. With Alpert gone from the city as of July 1, the camp’s future is newly uncertain.
Thacher Schmid (who I should disclose is also a personal friend of mine) is a freelance reporter based in Portland, writing in this case for his own website. He rode his bike to the camp last week and spent a few hours talking to people there about their lives and the city’s efforts to reduce, manage and regulate homelessness.
BTA will ask members to ratify name change at annual meeting
BTA head Rob Sadowsky at the member’s meeting in 2012.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
The Portland-based biking advocacy group that is transitioning into a biking-walking-transit advocacy group plans to unveil its proposed new name on Wednesday, Aug. 10.
It’ll happen at the organization’s annual members meeting, which will be 5:30 to 7:30 at Velo Cult Bike Shop, 1969 NE 42nd Avenue.
Bicycle Transportation Alliance Executive Director Rob Sadowsky said Monday that the organization’s board and staff will then ask members present for an up-or-down vote on the name proposal.
After 83 cars park in Mississippi Ave bike lanes, city issues 83 tickets
Somebody started it and many others decided to follow suit. Bad idea.
(Photo: Portland Bureau of Transportation parking enforcement)
(Photo: Portland Bureau of Transportation parking enforcement)
When an urban neighborhood holds a beloved street festival, space becomes scarce — and less space-efficient transportation options become a much worse way to get there.
City has authority to impound privately-owned bikes parked at Biketown racks
(Photo: Peter Koonce)
In case you haven’t heard: Don’t lock your bike to one of the orange Biketown racks. If you do the City might cut your lock and impound your bike. Why? Because those racks are only for Biketown bikes.
After docking stations were installed last week they were almost immediately used by people looking for a place to park their own bikes. The issue forced the City to post a relatively aggressive tweet that was picked up by the local media. After that dust-up we asked the city if there was any city code that specifically covered this issue. There is.
People keep talking about a regional transportation ballot measure for 2018
The region’s biking and walking goals (green line) are far cheaper to build than its auto or transit goals, but at the current rate they won’t be built until 2209.
As Oregon legislators start talking about the statewide transportation bill many hope to pass in 2017 (look for some reporting on that soon), others are starting to think locally, too.
We’ve heard from various sources recently that some people in the Portland area are looking toward November 2018 as the right moment for a region-wide bond measure for transportation. The idea is to create a burst of new money for public transit, roadways, biking and walking.
How much of each, you ask? Those negotiations would probably get underway over the next year.
Job: Buyer – Velotech
Job Title *
Buyer
Company/Organization *
Velotech
Job Description *
Velotech is looking for an experience Buyer for it’s e-commerce and store front cycling retail business.
The position is full time with medical, vision, dental, 401k, and PTO benefits.
JOB OVERVIEW: Works under the supervision of the Director to manage merchandise categories. Includes maintaining optimum stock levels, increasing gross margin and inventory turn, and managing vendors. Emphasis is placed on communication with cross-functional teams to maximize customer service with the ability to effectively prioritize and multi-task with extreme attention to detail. It is expected that this role will groom the high performing employee into a Senior Buyer position as business needs dictate.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
• Manage inventory and stock levels and communicate status between vendor and Company on a routine basis.
• Forecast and order replenishment and seasonal stock based on product history and vendor performance to maximize sales and minimize out of stocks
• Meet and maintain department KPI’s
• Shop and analyze the competition to understand trends, pricing opportunities, marketing concepts, and the customers’ perspective.
• Research and evaluate suppliers based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier’s reputation and history
• Study sales data and inventory levels of current stock to develop strategic purchasing plans
• Liaison with Receiving, Accounting, Customer Service, and Marketing for assigned category products and issues.
• Manage New Product Set up across all assigned categories with the assistance of the Purchasing Coordinator
• Keep abreast of competitive pricing and market conditions and communicate changes to marketing and retail organizations as appropriate
• Meet and provide progress reports for all projects/deadlines as assigned
• Curate website appearance and discounts for all SKUs within assigned categories
• Consistently and aggressively challenge vendors for opportunity buys and better terms, co-op, rebates, discounts and freight rates.
• Follow all rules and guidelines set forth in the Company Employee Handbook
• Assist department in other duties and special projects as needed.
• Maintain a regular and punctual work schedule as agreed upon with Director
MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:
• Four+ years Purchasing, Procurement, Buying experience.
• Proficient in MS Word, Excel, and data entry.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English
• BA/BS degree preferred.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES:
• Strong knowledge of road and/or mountain bike products and lifestyle.
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to multi task with changing/conflicting priority levels
• Strong relationship building, communication (both verbal and written), and presentation skills.
• Desire to provide stellar customer service for both internal and external customers
• Strong time management and organizational skills
• The ability to problem-solve and present ideas and solutions
• Keen analytical and decision-making skills and the ability to accomplish objectives.
• Solid command of retail math, including understanding of calculations for OTB, forecasting, gross margin, inventory turn, and ROI.
How to Apply *
Please apply by clicking on link below:
The Monday Roundup: A threatening float, Pokemon Go, walking while black & more
Happy Independence Day, kids.
(Photo: Spencer Hackett)
(Photo: Spencer Hackett)
This week’s Monday Roundup is brought to you by the Brompton Urban Challenge, a citywide adventure game/ride coming to Portland this Saturday July 16th. All bikes (and humans) are welcome and all proceeds benefit BikePortland!
Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Ready, set, Pokemon Go: Nintendo’s new “augmented reality” game has taken over streets worldwide. Expect many interesting headlines in the days and weeks to come.
Parade threat: An anonymous float at a Columbus parade depicted an SUV-bike crash and carried a handwritten sign saying “I’ll share the road when you follow the rules.”
Longevity advice: The oldest U.S. resident, Goldie Michelson, died at 113 in Massachusetts. “I never used a car if I could walk,” she said. “One of the great joys of life was when I sold my car.”
Yearning for change after a painful week
No week passes without violence somewhere. And as we’ve watched the horrific deaths this week in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas ricochet around our country, it’s been impossible to ignore the ways violence shapes and constrains human lives — for some of us far more than for others.
Jonathan, heading back from a family vacation today, wrote me this morning to suggest that even for a site that’s proudly obsessed with bicycling, it’s worth acknowledging the number and depth of the other problems in the country and the world. And it’s worth considering what actions each of us can take to help solve them.
We don’t have answers. But we’ll see you, as usual, on Monday.
Safety advocates uneasy about striping bike lane across Steel Bridge onramp
New striping near the Steel Bridge at Naito will be done in the next few days.
(Image: Portland Bureau of Transportation)
(Image: Portland Bureau of Transportation)
Safety advocates are trying to balance enthusiasm for the city’s newly announced Naito bike lanes with concern over one key detail.
After nine years of delay, the plan to close the “Naito Gap” in the next few days drew joy from people like Reza Farhoodi, planning and transportation committee co-chair at the Pearl District Neighborhood Association and a member of the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee. But Farhoodi said it would be a “terrible mistake” for the city not to use a right-turn arrow signal to protect bikes from right-turning autos as the bikes head north across the Steel Bridge onramp.