Bike-Friendly St. Louis Maintains Area Shops Through Bad Times

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

One area bike shop even used Facebook to dig up sales candidates this year.

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 the Maplewood shop 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, with the St. Louis County Economic Council.

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, unemployment was 9.5 percent for the area in Nov. 2011, just over a year ago.

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

Advocates from international to local are promoting the biking habit. America Online Inc. pays its employees up to $20 a month to bike-commute, and 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.

Debby Seigel with Swim Bike Run in Town and Country stated in an email that the mild winter this year has allowed cyclists to ride longer and this has "certainly impacted bike shop sales."

Seigle also stated that many older adults are also seeking out cycling as their primary form of fitness.

"Cycling is seen as less jarring on your knees and joints than the go-to sport of many adult athletes, running," Seigle stated. "Swim Bike Run offers cyclists the opportunity to ride their bikes indoors throughout the winter in their CompuTrainer studio, a 15-station facility where riders sit on their own bikes and ride or race each other on a virtual course on the wall in front.  Swim Bike Run also houses the area's only Dynamic Fit Unit, a computerized, modern bike fit technology just entering cycling community."

As Swim Bike Run touts being ahead of the curve, may other St. Louis area stores are certainly not far behind as the popularity of cycling continues to grow.

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

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

At The Bike Center, in Des Peres, owner Jim Chappuis said last year was flat. Bike business goes with the weather, he said.

“We had all the rain in the spring and it was too hot in the summer,” he said. “I’ve been in business 45 years. That’s the way it is, and it’s still the same."

Jim Chappuis and his daughter, Becky Chappuis-Heltibrand own and operate the shop, which he opened in 1971.

Adam Wall, manager at Sunset Cyclery in Chesterfield, said business isn’t what they’d really like, but it’s staying steady.

“We saw it take a hit, but it’s taken a hit and stopped,” he said. “In the past couple years, we haven’t seen it go up or down, it stayed pretty level. We would definitely prefer more growth, but not growing is better than decreasing.”

He said they sell mainly to what he calls Creve Coeur Lake families–people looking to spend in the realm of $300 for a bike.

“My $1000 road bikes really aren’t selling as well,” Wall said. He said the high end bikes are now only about an eighth of his stock. Sunset Cyclery has been at the Chesterfield location about 12 years and in St. Louis for 15.

*Local Editor Gabrielle Biondo contributed to this report.