Barney's Bicycle opens shop on Park Ave.
By Michael J. Ballway TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
That bright blue �Barney�s Bicycle� sign on Park Avenue is attracting a lot of attention.
Visibility is why Peter Howard, who has owned the city�s oldest bicycle shop on Chandler Street since the 1980s, decided to open a second location at 582 Park Ave., the former Wurlitzer Music store near Webster Square. It opened May 7.
�Everybody knows this building,� Mr. Howard said last week. �We just have so many more people driving by.�
The new shop has 15 parking spaces and access, via Coes Street, to the Mill Street bike route. With a millpond and waterfall out back, Mr. Howard said he hopes his store will become a frequent gathering spot for group rides.
He even has a long-term vision for the neighborhood � a park along Coes Pond and wide bike lanes on Mill Street, with families strolling and biking on Sunday afternoons.
Interest in cycling has been growing for years, Mr. Howard said.
He recalled that when he was entering the sport in the 1970s and 1980s, it was rare to see a bicyclist along the country roads of Worcester County. Now, he said, people are buying bikes for fitness, to save the environment, to save on gasoline costs and because of �the Lance effect� � Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.
One of the biggest growth areas in cycling has been the rise of amateur cross-country races and �mini-triathlons,� particularly events marketed toward women, Mr. Howard said.
He sees a niche for his store in supplying equipment to cycling enthusiasts � riders who want a better bike, and more knowledgeable service, than they would get at a department store, but don�t want to spend several thousand dollars on race-quality equipment.
�We can cater to that, but it�s not our specialty,� Mr. Howard said. �I always love getting people involved in the sport and selling them their first bike.�
Mr. Howard�s father, Barney, a math professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, founded the business in 1974 as Shrewsbury Cycle. Two years later, it adopted its current name and moved to Park Avenue near Pleasant Street in Worcester. Peter Howard took over the business in 1983, and supervised the construction of a shop at 165 Chandler St. in 1988.
Barney�s Bicycle will continue to operate its Chandler Street store, Mr. Howard said, although that store will focus on used bikes, bargains and vintage parts, and he may change its name. Both shops offer bike servicing, including a $50 tune-up, and he plans to start offering bike rentals in both locations.
Mr. Howard said he�s naturally cost-conscious. He said he tends to stock the models that offer the most value, and likes to buy closeouts and previous-year models to take advantage of manufacturer discounts. He points to several 2011 models on his Park Avenue showroom floor and details how much more the 2012 edition costs, and how the manufacturer has degraded the newer product by using lower-quality materials. It�s a trend that he hopes will boost sales of used bikes.
To keep both locations open, Mr. Howard said he has been able to hire some of his part-time staff as full-timers. He thinks the investment will pay off with an increased interest in bicycling, particularly in the sort of used bikes and vintage parts that will now be featured on Chandler Street.
�It got to be a pretty big chunk of our business, so I dedicated a whole shop to it,� he said.