After what seemed like an eternity I was finally able to interview the owner of Bill’s Cyclery. My first time coming across the shop was when I was wandering the streets of Jackson Heights and admiring all the different kinds of businesses. I chose to walk into Bill’s Cyclery because I thought it was interesting to see a bike shop still in business. As I walked in and asked the worker for an interview, he informed me that he wasn’t the owner and that he did not wish to give an interview. Before I left, however, he informed me that the business was family owned and operated and has been around for over 70 years. After hearing that, I really wanted to conduct an interview of the place because I felt it must have a rich history as well as a good idea of how the neighborhood changed from the 1900s to the present day. The worker gave me the owner’s email address and asked me to email him my interview questions which I did.
After waiting a couple weeks without getting a response to my email, I decided it was time to pay the store a visit again. Luckily, this time when I went the owner was present. The owner, Bill, told me he would be happy to conduct an interview and apologized for not responding to my email. He motioned for me to come to the back of the store, where another worker was working on repairs. After having a seat and introducing myself, I began the interview.
The first question I asked was about the history of the store. Bill showed me a picture of his grandfather, William, and his siblings that they hang up in the store. He told me about how his grandfather started the business and how the store has changed locations twice before moving to the current location. Bill also talked about how as a child he was around the store a lot since both his parents worked there. Bill didn’t go into the specifics about the history of the store, and so I moved on to the next question.
I was curious about the challenges a bike shop faced, and so I asked if business got harder to maintain after the popularity boom of the car. Bill told me that the car didn’t really affect business too much because bikes were used more for leisure. He also said that in the past, the bike used to be the “poor man’s” method of transportation. What he did say was that the main problem that he faced as a business was the internet.
After the internet was established, a lot of people went there to shop for bike parts and bikes and so Bill’s Cyclery lost a lot of business. Bill said to combat the internet, he had to match prices, offer services for free that he would previously charge for, and try his best to maintain and keep loyal customers. While the business had to provide extra services to compete with the internet, they were helped by the addition of bike lanes in the city. Bill told me, “The addition of bike lanes in certain parts of Manhattan have encouraged people to ride bikes more often instead of use cars because now people feel safer biking on the road”, Bill said. “This has helped us attract to our store more customers who enjoy riding.”
I asked Bill about his customers and about the neighborhood of Jackson Heights to see if the bike shop noticed the change in diversity and if it benefited from more people in the area. Bill told me that while he did notice that the area was more diverse, it didn’t necessarily mean anything for the business. His customer base which used to be predominantly Irish and Italian became more diverse.
What Bill did tell me, however, about his customer base is that they are very loyal. He pointed to some kids in the back of the store checking out tires and told me about how they have been shopping there for a long time. He also told me that people travel all the way from Long Island and Brooklyn to visit his bike shop. I asked if the reason was because his bike shop is popular and famous and although he said that was part of the reason, another part of the reason is because of the fact it was around for so long. Bill said, “Kids who had bought bikes from us back in the 70s are now bringing their kids and grandkids to buy bikes from us. Lasting through so many generations is a good feeling.”
I had a lot more questions I could have asked, such as more about the history of the business. I also could have asked more questions about what it’s like running a small business today compared to in the past but I could tell that Bill was getting a bit busy. After checking my watch and noticing that the time was 7:30 I realized I had to go (the business closed at 7:00). After saying goodbye I asked if it was ok for me to take some pictures and then I left. I’m glad I stumbled by and found Bill’s Cyclery because it turned out to be a really interesting business that taught me a lot. I came into the interview trying to learn more about the neighborhood of Jackson Heights and how it changed, but I left learning about how a family owned business runs and how it adapts to the changing times.
