The bike boom of 2020 was so bountiful for Greenstreet Cycles, it opened a third shop in Aksarben Village. “The first year of the pandemic for us was very, very different than the second year of the pandemic,” Greenstreet Cycles owner Ben Swan said.The year 2021 turned into the year of spinning its wheels for bike shops. Swan spent his time searching and waiting for parts. “We used to order from a warehouse and now we order from a hypothetical back-order list,” Swan said.He said the staff was juggling inventory between three locations, so to relieve the pressure, Swan decided to close his downtown Harney street store.”I could see the early signs of burnout,” he said. “I just didn’t want to put our community and all three shops in jeopardy, so I thought, ‘Let’s take one off the table, let’s streamline and simplify our operations’ until inventory and staff can return to some form of new normal.”Omaha lost another beloved bike shop in the early stages of the pandemic.Olympia Cycles first opened in 1971 at 40th and Hamilton streets. As a smaller shop, the owner said it was just time to close. Larger shops, like The Bike Rack, said they’re succeeding, even though some parts are hard to find.”Bikes are made up of hundreds of different parts and if one of those becomes unavailable or is back-ordered or stuck on a container ship, that bike’s not going to get here,” store manager Robb Hiatt said. Hiatt said manufacturers are taking new routes to deliver as much inventory as they can. “I may not be able to ship the bike if I don’t put something on it. So let’s put something on it that’s going to be close enough to satisfy the customer,” he said. There are a lot of bikes in the Bike Rack now, but if 2022 is anything like the past two years, all of it could be gone by summer, said Hiatt. He said there are even some bikes that are back-ordered and could potentially arrive in 2023.”We are planning by default for 2023 because a lot of ETA dates are in 2023,” he said.The bike shops don’t know how long this ride is going to last, which is another reason why Swan decided to pack it up downtown, for now. “We don’t want to overextend ourselves to the point where a decision is irreversible,” Swan said.Now is also the time to get your spring tune-up or if you are looking to buy a new bike, don’t wait.Greenstreet will close its downtown store at the end of February.
The bike boom of 2020 was so bountiful for Greenstreet Cycles, it opened a third shop in Aksarben Village.
“The first year of the pandemic for us was very, very different than the second year of the pandemic,” Greenstreet Cycles owner Ben Swan said.
The year 2021 turned into the year of spinning its wheels for bike shops. Swan spent his time searching and waiting for parts.
“We used to order from a warehouse and now we order from a hypothetical back-order list,” Swan said.
He said the staff was juggling inventory between three locations, so to relieve the pressure, Swan decided to close his downtown Harney street store.
“I could see the early signs of burnout,” he said. “I just didn’t want to put our community and all three shops in jeopardy, so I thought, ‘Let’s take one off the table, let’s streamline and simplify our operations’ until inventory and staff can return to some form of new normal.”
Omaha lost another beloved bike shop in the early stages of the pandemic.
Olympia Cycles first opened in 1971 at 40th and Hamilton streets. As a smaller shop, the owner said it was just time to close.
Larger shops, like The Bike Rack, said they’re succeeding, even though some parts are hard to find.
“Bikes are made up of hundreds of different parts and if one of those becomes unavailable or is back-ordered or stuck on a container ship, that bike’s not going to get here,” store manager Robb Hiatt said.
Hiatt said manufacturers are taking new routes to deliver as much inventory as they can.
“I may not be able to ship the bike if I don’t put something on it. So let’s put something on it that’s going to be close enough to satisfy the customer,” he said.
There are a lot of bikes in the Bike Rack now, but if 2022 is anything like the past two years, all of it could be gone by summer, said Hiatt. He said there are even some bikes that are back-ordered and could potentially arrive in 2023.
“We are planning by default for 2023 because a lot of ETA dates are in 2023,” he said.
The bike shops don’t know how long this ride is going to last, which is another reason why Swan decided to pack it up downtown, for now.
“We don’t want to overextend ourselves to the point where a decision is irreversible,” Swan said.
Now is also the time to get your spring tune-up or if you are looking to buy a new bike, don’t wait.
Greenstreet will close its downtown store at the end of February.
