What's the deal with bike shops that don't have bike parking?
What's the deal with bike shops that don't have bike parking?
I've been to a few bike shops that don't have any bike racks outside. It's bizarre. Like, you have to bring your bike in the shop just to pick something up or to have a look around.
I'm not even talking about one place that does this, I have at least three in the area where there are no bike racks at all.
Is this normal? Why???
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The bike shops around me don't own their shop. It's usually some rented space in a car oriented strip mall. No racks is the norm for these car-oriented places.
One local shop solves this with automatic doors and a small inside rack if you don't have a kickstand. And every LBS around me doesn't mind customers rolling in with their rides.
If there's something we can do, it's to show up to city councils and ask for bike loops/staples for all our downtown businesses. Then we'll have bike parking for every local shop, including bike shops.
The bike shops around me don't own their shop. It's usually some rented space in a car oriented strip mall.
That's my LBS but they put two long racks in front anyway. But as you wrote, it's all about available space, what the place they rent from allows, and such. Having the rack inside seems expensive, in terms of making every square foot revenue generating, as most IRL stores try to do.
If your city has mandatory parking minimums you could also try to convince the council to include mandatory minimum bike parking.
I'm super lucky that the cities around me are removing minimum parking laws! Most political drama is around parking meters because, gasp, how dare we charge reasonable fees to keep our limited street parking churning and available!
The bike shops around me don't own their shop. It's usually some rented space in a car oriented strip mall.
Perfect, all they need to do is contact the property manager for the plaza and bike racks will be installed.
I've had to do this myself as a customer and it works.
And as a business, I would imagine these property managers would haul ass at the request.
That's not true in general. Most cities have ordinances around required side walk space and minimum parking requirements which prevents businesses from installing bike racks on the sidewalk or in a parking space.
They don't have to be installed on a sidewalk or a parking space. Nearly every building or plaza will have some free space available for a small rack.
That said, it would be ludicrous for any new developments to not include bike parking, yet this is still something that I see fairly often, and I make sure to let businesses know that it hurts them not to have a rack.
We had a grocery store open up quite recently that took over a previous building spot, and they had no rack at all. In about a week after I made the complaint, they installed one. All that you lose in making the request is a few minutes of your time, so I say go for it.
I've asked and haven't had luck yet. Still, it's good advice as asking costs nothing. :)
"I feel bad going elsewhere, but I won't shop here unless bike racks are installed."