Business & Tech
Fair Haven Bike Store Closing Down
The profit margins on bikes can't keep up with local rents, Bike Haven owner Cliff Wittenberg says.
Fair Haven, NJ - Beloved Fair Haven bike store Bike Haven will be closing down by the end of September, RedBankGreen reports.
A number of factors are behind the closure, Bike Haven owner and Little Silver resident Cliff Wittenberg, 62, told Red Bank Green:
- Landlord wants to charge higher rent. “They’re basically doubling the rent,” he said of Metro Commercial, a Philadelphia-based commercial real estate company that bought the Fair Haven Shopping Center two years ago from local owners.
- The economic crash of 2008, from which his business never fully recovered. Prior to that, the bike shop had been profitable in its first nine years of operation.
- Online competition. The shop went from three year-round full-time employees to one who’s full-time in the summer only, he said.
- Down-the-road competition. Shrewsbury Bicycles started carrying Giant Bicycles, Bike Haven's strongest brand.
Laird's Stationary has to relocate to a smaller space in the Fair Haven Shopping Center after a rent hike from Metro Commercial.
Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Photo: Morguefile/Story reported in RedBankGreen
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
