CONCORD, N.H. (BRAIN) — Following its purchase by Trek Bicycle, New Hampshire's Goodale's Bike Shops will retain the 100-year-old name, former owner Brad Hill has told the local newspaper. Trek also plans to re-open Goodale's location in Concord, which Hill had closed in March due to difficulties retaining employees during the pandemic.
BRAIN reported in July that Trek was in talks to buy the chain from Hill, who had owned the business for nearly 50 years.
HIll told The Concord Monitor that Trek will re-open the Concord store on Oct. 1. And he said the Concord store and locations in Hooksett and Nashua will retain the Goodale name. “It’s the first place in this country where Trek is going to keep the name of the store,” Hill told the Monitor. “They just bought some places in Rhode Island and it’s Trek-Warwick, Trek-Providence, but with their market analysis they decided to keep Goodale’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw new stores in New England using the Goodale’s name.”
Hill said it was difficult to retain employees in the Concord store because of COVID unemployment benefits. A lack of inventory also contributed to his decision to temporarily close the location, which opened in 2006. "(Some employees) were getting that COVID money from the federal government, which was a phenomenal amount of money, plus whatever they were getting from the state,” he told the paper.
“I feel great about selling to Trek,” Hill continued. “They took all 63 of the employees with it, and they’ve even hired a fair amount of additional employees. (Trek) is the largest supplier in the industry and I think they probably have the most retail stores in the country. So, they know what they’re doing and what they’re getting, and I think people will be happy with them.”
