Bicycle business booming in Amherst
It’s a unique time to be in bicycle sales and repair for Basil Hicks.
Hicks has been operating Bicycle Specialist & Sport in Amherst now for just over seven years.
The business started as a simple “shoestring” operation he ran out of his shed but has grown and grown.
Hicks got his start working at a bicycle shop, just out of high school, for about seven years before he moved on to other things.
However, he always kept a hand in bicycles in his spare time, committing himself to the occasional repair.
That work grew until he was able to open his own bicycle shop at home.
It closed after the third summer because he found he was unable to keep up with the demand.
“It was getting too busy and it was interfering with my day job,” he told The West Coast Wire.
After an interlude of a few years, he pushed forward again, setting up a business in his shed outside his house. He found success once again and was able to expand into skate sharpening as well.
After another three strong years of business, during the winter of 2013, he moved from his shed to his current location on Church Street.
“We started with a small assortment and did repairs in the first year,” said Hicks. “And we’ve never looked back.”
The store has also diversified its product line. Hicks looked to his past, as a bicycle shop employee, for ideas. He was also receptive to thoughts from customers and suppliers.
For example, he expanded into snowshoes after a suggestion from a supplier’s sales representative.
“Once we got into this space, business increased quite a bit,” said Hicks. “Just based on visibility and the fact that we are a retail space. Every year, it’s been great. Great to be your own boss – I mean it’s been challenging but we’ve had a lot of really good local support.”
PANDEMIC
According to Hicks, bicycle shops all over have been seeing more business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hicks says bicycling is both a good activity where you can stay fit and social distance.
“Bicycle shops, based on those two things, became really popular,” he added.
Last year, he says they went through a three-month period of “extreme” business.
“There were a lot of people looking to buy new bicycles,” he said. “As summer started to come on, people were looking to get on bicycles and get out and do some fitness stuff. There weren’t a whole lot of other things you could do outside.”
Additionally, there was plenty of repair work to be done.
However, Hicks believes he would be seeing even more activity if not for supply shortages.
Demand is simply outstripping supply on a global scale.
“Anything to do with outdoor recreation was becoming scarcely available because the suppliers were running out and the retailers were selling it like crazy,” said Hicks.
Mid-summer last year, they ran out of bicycles.
Hicks also estimates about 30 per cent of his business in a typical year comes from customers from just across the New Brunswick border.
With the border shut down, he’s lost those customers; however, he believes increases in local demand has offset those losses.
All in all, Hicks estimates they saw two to three times their regular business, despite losing the opportunity to grow even more due to supply shortages and the border closure.