BEAVERTON, Ore. (BRAIN) — Kevin Chudy, owner of three Bike N Hike stores in Beaverton, Milwaukie and Hillsboro, plans to retire from the business after 31 years. Chudy is putting the three stores on the block as he transitions into retirement by the end of this year.
The Bike N Hike stores in Corvallis and Albany, owned and operated by the chain’s founders Al and Dorothy French, are not affected by this transition. The Frenches founded the Northwest Oregon chain in December 1971 to sell quality outdoor products at reasonable prices.
"I have in excess of 480 consecutive months of doing this,” Chudy, 57, told BRAIN. “That’s a long time. I really have had an awesome and great ride. We’ve got a building that’s paid for and the business has helped feed me and my wife and I’ve created this machine that’s fed my employees.”
Chudy leases two of the buildings and owns the third. He said over the next few weeks he’s positioning the business for sale by reducing inventory and is holding storewide clearance sales to liquidate older models.
“The bike business has been a little bit challenged, that’s no secret,” Chudy said. “But if there’s a retailer looking to expand or broaden their market or move, we have a pretty good reputation and customers have been riding to our storefronts for many years.”
Chudy has worked in bike retail his entire adult life. Al French hired him at the tender age of 16 to work at Bike N Hike’s original Albany location. Shortly after he turned 20, Chudy was promoted to manager of the Corvallis store. He became a partner in the business five years later, when he opened the Beaverton store. Chudy has owned as many as four Bike N Hike stores in the Portland metro area.
In 2014, Chudy closed the 7,500-square-foot Portland store due to soft sales and increased market saturation. His suburban stores have fared better. Chudy said sales this year have been up thanks to lifestyle and 700c flatbar city bikes as well as mountain bikes.
Chudy said he and his wife would like to travel more. “But more important, I have three bikes that need to be worn out and I’ve got friends to ride with,” he said.
Interested buyers can contact Chudy at (503) 7804991 or kevinchudy@bikenhike.com. Chudy has also hired a broker to help with the sale. Randall Bogrand can be reached at (503) 7997067 or bogrand@westerncap.com.
