Maplewood Bicycle Persists Through Down Economy

In spite of the recession, which has certainly affected St. Louis County, at least one area of business is holding steady, if not growing.

A local bike shop used Facebook last week to dig up sales candidates.

Maplewood Bicycle is now accepting resumes for up to 5 full, part-time, or seasonal positions for the 2012 season. 2011 was the record breaking year in our 38-year history…

Calls to St. Louis bike shops indicate that isn’t the only one doing well. Two factors could be responsible.

One is that St. Louis is becoming more bike-friendly, and the other is that St. Louis County’s economy is looking up.

“We’ve seen some pretty encouraging numbers the last few months. It’s certainly trending in the right direction,” said Kathryn Jamboretz, vice president of marketing and communications with the St. Louis County Economic Council.

(Keep up with Maplewood business news on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MaplewoodBrentwoodPatch.)

In addition to a decreasing unemployment rate for the county, now at 7.5 percent, St. Louis County has consistently remained below the national average, which is now at 8.2 percent, Jamboretz said. According to the United States Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for the area was 9.5 percent in Nov. 2011, just over a year ago.

Then there’s the aspect that St. Louis is becoming more welcoming to bikers.

Advocates from international to local are promoting the biking habit. Last year, Trailnet, a St. Louis bicycle advocacy group, opened its Downtown Bicycle Station, with 120 bike racks, showers and locker rooms for bike commuters.

“We’re becoming a more bike-friendly city,” said Tom Iannarelli, manager of the bike shop in Brentwood's . “With all these bike organizations and advocates, all your bicycle riders are really trying to live the life on a bike.”

When Iannarelli moved to St. Louis four years ago, he feared for his life when he rode. Now he said he's witnessed a big improvement in bike awareness, as well as more bike lanes.

At , owner Stewart Munson attributes the good business to his staff.

“I’ve been in the bike industry over 20 years,” he said. “We just have a perfect mix of employees right now. It’s mainly a good staff being nice to people.”

His shop specializes in high-end bikes, which he said is not as affected by the economy as lower-end markets. Bikes in his shop run into the multiple thousands of dollars.

Business is doing so well at , in Webster Groves, that it’s tearing down a wall and expanding by 40 percent into the space next door. Shop employees are doing the work on the expansion, so when it’s finished in February or March, those workers will go back to selling bikes. No new hires.

“We’ll have a dressing room, a fitting area, and the displays will be much more appealing,” owner Ron Clipp said.

Fulltime employee Devon Clark said they had their best December ever in 2011.

“We carry the whole range. The bulk of what we sell is for people to ride around town for fun,” Clark said. He said they sponsor a racing team, and a lot of mountain bikers that come in.