By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The new location for CycleWerks puts the BG bicycle shop right where it needs to be, co-owner Jon Hoag said.
Three weeks ago, the business moved from its downtown Bowling Green location to the former Family Video site at 816 S. Main St., Bowling Green.
The move has been in the works for about five years, said Hoag, who owns the shop with Julie Theroux. His wife, Laura Hoag also has a hand in the business.
The building at South Main had issues that as a renter the bike shop owners couldn’t address. Also the limited parking in front of the shop was a problem because customers are constantly coming in and out with their bikes, sometimes more than one, and bags.”It wasn’t very functional.”
Most importantly, Hoag said, the new location is at the head of the Slippery Elm trail. Being right on a trail is where bike shops do best. That’s the case with CycleWerks’ shops in Whitehouse on the Wabash Cannonball Trail and in Sylvania on the University Trail.
Being near the Slippery Elm Trail has already made a difference, Hoag said. On the first weekend they were opened, the shop was busy, and November is when business starts to cool off. About half the customers who came through, said they’d never been in the shop before.
The grand opening, Hoag noted, was on the 10th anniversary of when he and Theroux purchased CycleWerks from founder Dave Pickering.
Pickering had opened his first shop in 1984 near the university after starting the business in his home.
The Bowling Green shop has its own distinctive consumer base. “A higher number of our customers use their bikes for transportation,” Hoag said. That means a greater demand for walk-in service, but not such a great demand for top of the line sales. “That doesn’t mean it’s not needed,” he said.
Of the three CycleWerks shops, BG has the lowest sales behind the Whitehouse and Sylvania operations.
“Bike shops are in general are not just a place of business but a social center where people come hang out. That’s a huge part of the business,” Hoag said.
CycleWerks hosts a number of training sessions, clinics, and group rides, including a Monday night ride from Bowling Green.
“This location is a lot more friendly,” he said.
This shop has the same amount of retail space as the downtown location with room for service in the back. It does not have the a large warehouse space, but that doesn’t matter because the Hoags have warehouse space at their Whitehouse home.
Hoag had 30 years of experience in fitness business. He managed American Fitness in Toledo and was an independent sales representative for bicycles made for triathletes. He competes in triathlons.
It was through one of those cycling companies that he met Theroux.
Hoag said that he grew up in Nebraska with the people who went on to start the Valdora bike line. Just over 10 years ago, Theroux, a triathlete, moved back to her hometown of Whitehouse from Arizona to help care for her father. Hoag said the owners of Valdora reached out to him and asked him to seek her out and help her connect with the local triathlon scene, which he did.
Theroux ended up working for Pickering in Whitehouse at the time he was interested in selling the business. She let Hoag know when they happened to meet on the bike trail.
He had extensive retail experience in the fitness sector. She had extensive business experience though not in retail.
They’ve expanded CycleWerks by opening the Sylvania shop. And the Hoags own and operate Aventus Climbing gym in Toledo.
CycleWerks also sells indoor fitness machines. Its product line now includes e-bikes.
“Cycling in general has gone ups and downs,” Hoag said.. Business doubled during the pandemic as people looked for an activity to replace those they could no longer participate in. Now that they are able to return to other activities, business has waned somewhat, Hoag said. But it’s still better than 2019 before COVID-19. “The volume, we think, will be sustainable.”
