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20 years old this month

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Hal and I opened Bicycle Habitat on a shoe string budget, a dream, a lot of desire and honor, and absolutely no bike store experience

20 years old this month

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This article first appeared in the Spring 1998 edition of the Bicycle Habitat newsletter
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Hal and I opened Bicycle Habitat on a shoe string budget, a dream, a lot of desire and honor, and absolutely no bike store experience. This led us to believe we could do things differently from everyone else. Test rides, a repair area in plain sight and teaching people bike repair were our first three innovations, all of these brought calls from competitors telling us we were crazy and we would be out of business in a year.

A shop newsletter to help keep in touch, repair classes, flat tire seminars, community activism, shop rides, merchandise where you can actually see and touch it, video rentals, child's bike buy back policy, a great web site, these are few of my favorite things. It seems we are always going where others don't think to tread.

Many of our innovations have been driven by our customers and friends. Two suggestions that we will be trying in the near future is a gift registry (bridal, Bar Mitzvah, retirement, birthday etc.), and a weekly e-mailing with specials, and upcoming events. So...


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Twenty years later Bicycle habitat is still open to new ideas and hope you will contribute a few ideas for the next twenty years.

Charlie: charlie@bicyclehabitat.com

PS: Thanks to all of you who dropped me a line or stopped in to ask how my hip replacement went. I really appreciated it. The hip is doing fine, the bad news is that as you read this I'll be recuperating from knee replacement surgery. It seems getting the hip fixed unmasked some knee problems. I guess this is my year for a total overhaul.

P.P.S.: Remember the police are out in force ticketing cyclists. Ride safely and legally. You can complain and it might do some good. Try writing to Mayor Giuliani c/o City Hall, New York, NY 10007





Copyright © 1998 Bicycle Habitat. All rights reserved.
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