Rolling Out of 2020 with a THANK YOU
Before this year had arrived, I realized that 2020 would be our 13th year of operation. I joked about it being “Lucky 13,” with cautious optimism after having closed the Hamtramck location in 2019. There was a sense of failure, but also hope — after all, my life would be a tad easier without running back and forth between 2 locations, right?
The last emails in my inbox from early March are between myself and European tour operators, cruise ship companies, and other such tourism entities. I had been working over the winter with Visit Detroit to grow my outreach to active travelers.
Welp.
The next 2 months were spent pursuing grants and loans and freaking out at our ever-shrinking bank account.
Then we opened in May, and it was like I owned a completely different business. I spent so much energy saying “no” — you can’t come in without a mask…you need an appointment…we can’t get any bikes, saddles, tires, or any of the basic items that we sell…it will be 3 weeks for you to get your bike back from its tuneup…no walk-in rentals at this time…we cannot accommodate that size of a group — it was a real mind-bender as a small business owner whose number one goal is always to grow, to say yes, to enlarge! Suddenly it felt like we were operating from a dark corner.
But we did it and came out the other side breathing. For that, I thank my wonderful staff. We worked less hours, but harder hours. I also decided this was the year that we would begin to pay everyone a minimum of $15 an hour. I figured if that was the reason my business died this year, so be it. That’s not going away.
All my love to the incomparable General Manager, Tatiana — she is a rare bird of so many talents and such loyalty I feel lucky every single day that she is on my team. Linda managed our appointments and bookings like a champ. The number of emails and calls she chewed through with kindness and professionalism is simply awesome. Judith and Rob, our mechanics, faced a daunting amount of repairs and an inability to source all the parts we normally have access to. They are both talented, ingenius, and, most importantly, good people. And I can’t imagine getting through this year without Joseline’s steadfastness, unflappability, and reliability. We didn’t do many tours, but I appreciate the willingness of Mike, Amanda, Chris, and Reg to jump in during such a weird season.
Some silver linings: We developed a Virtual Tour app that we will continue to grow in 2021, and the National Bicycle Dealer Association named us one of America’s Best Bike Shops for the 6th year running.
The amount of support and congeniality among the Detroit small business community never fails to amaze me. And when times were darkest, the collective light shined so bright. There are many that inspired, but I really need to thank the fine folks from Trixie’s Bar and Canine to Five for helping out with our weird pandemic storage needs.
We were fortunate to receive support, financial and otherwise, from TechTown, Wayne County, DEGC, Invest Detroit, Robar PR, our amazing accountant Belal Majed, MEDC, the City of Detroit, Hatch Detroit, and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses. We are also blessed with a friendly landlord in the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.
In conclusion, thank you to every single one of our customers for patronizing us this difficult year. We are moving forward into 2021, our 14th season — and 14 is actually my lucky number, so that feels nice! — with high hopes, the proven ability to adapt, and the wish for peace, health, and happiness for each and every one of you.
Sincerely,
Kelli