Bison Bikes New On Forest Hills Blvd.
Kendall McCann and his family moved to Bella Vista recently to open Bison Bikes on Forest Hills Blvd.
McCann and his wife, Jennifer, and their two daughters formerly lived in California, and they wanted a better life for their family. For a bike shop owner, Bella Vista was the perfect fit.
“I did not see a very good future for my kids in California,” he said. “Politically, financially … the crime problem was getting bad.
“People here have good, strong Christian values that we strongly agree with,” he continued. “It doesn’t hurt that they have 400 miles of trails. I live on the Bamboozled trail, and here at the bike shop, we have Lago Vista and Tunnel Vision. Amazing trails, amazing family values, good common sense here. It’s beautiful.”
He added when they were thinking of moving, they researched this area, and “this was a home run.”
He said his older daughter would be looking at colleges in a couple of years, and there are good colleges in the area as well.
McCann said he has loved bicycles since he was six years old. He started working at Golden Spoke Bike Shop in Placerville, Calif., in 1992, when he was 15, and worked there until 2002, helping run and manage the shop.
“I’ve had some great mentors in the business,” he said.
He did a short stint as a police officer and determined that line of work was not for him.
In 2006 he started Bison Bikes in his basement as a side job. He worked out of his basement and then out of his garage, and then moved into a small shop. It was a side job for the first eight years, he said, and then it became his full-time job.
He said he loves the positivity of the work.
“The majority of it’s very positive in this business, whereas doing police work was definitely not that. I would say this is 99 percent positive. I did automotive paint sales for a long time. That was about 60% positive and 40% negative,” he said.
He added, “Getting more people on bicycles is a positive thing.”
Bison Bikes provides sales and service, working on most types of bicycles.
McCann had more good things to say about his new home.
“We have world-class trails here. Everybody’s been so welcoming, and everyone’s a lot more sincere here in the South. The mayor stopped by. This stuff just didn’t happen in California. We’ve even had our competitors come in here and say welcome to the area. Bella Vista is amazing,” he said.