Editor's note: This week we are featuring retailers who received Interbike Retailer Innovation Awards at the Interbike show this month. Staff from the National Bicycle Dealers Association, The Mann Group and Interbike selected 10 retailers from a pool of self-nominated businesses. Stores were asked to apply and share strategies and ideas that they have implemented and which have yielded positive results over the past 12 months. Interbike Innovation Award winners also were featured in the Sept. 1 issue of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.
Frisco Bikes Shop in Willard, Missouri is owned by Cari Harrison, who opened the business in the spring of 2018.
Cari Harrison thought that the town of Willard needed a small bike shop directly on its popular 35-mile rail trail. The challenge was that the landowner didn’t want a permanent structure on the property.
The solution: convert two shipping containers into a store.
In its first season, Harrison said the store has been a raging success.
“It’s been fantastic; it’s more than we ever imagined,” she said.
The shop offers rentals, service, bike sales and food and drinks for bike path users. One surprising success has been the store’s weekly mountain bike rides at a local park. The shop brings a fleet of rental bikes and leads rides for various skill levels. They attract about 40 people, most of whom rent bikes.
“We have rentals booked out a couple weeks in advance” for those rides, Harrison said.
The shop has been such a success that it’s outgrowing its space.
The solution: Harrison will insert a third shipping container between the first two. “All we have to do is pull down some decorative and pop one into the middle,” she said. She plans to make the addition this winter.
Shop website: friscobicyclerental.com.
