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Bicycles Unlimited wants to be the best bike shop in the U.S.

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

The best little bicycle shop in America might be closer than you think.

Bicycles Unlimited in Peachtree City has recently received some national recognition from Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, which is significant because it is the industry insiders commending the store for its staff and services.

Bicycles Unlimited opened its doors in 1996 and has grown significantly over the years. The shop expanded to its current size of 6,200 square feet in 2003, which now includes a 624 square foot fitness center for spin classes. In 2004, the Andersons, owners of Bicycles Unlimited, added the Breakaway Cafe next door.

Bicycles Unlimited is a family affair. Among the staff that presides over the store are store president Mark Anderson, his wife Holly, who heads up sales and merchandising, his mother, Karen, sales and general manager and father, Jon, who is the cafe manager. Visitors are also greeted by the family’s canine comapnion, Leigh. Even the staff members without a surname of Anderson are part of the family atmosphere that has helped grow a loyal customer base.

“We’ve grown and expanded over the years but we have not lost our person to person appeal,” said Mark Anderson. “We aren’t interested in becoming a chain because we couldn’t duplicate our staff in other places.”

Over the past several years, the shop has taken a serious interest in the area’s triathletes, offering training and coaching to those getting introduced to the sport, participating in a number of events themselves and also attending the events as bike technicians. Though Bicycles Unlimited receives a great deal of support from the area’s triathletes and serious cyclists, the bread and butter of the business are families that use bike riding as a family activity. One of the unique things that the shop offers are group rides for all levels of riders. Those rides continue to grow in popularity, as do the spin classes. The staff also has high hopes for the Yoga classes which are now offered twice a week.

“We always knew we wanted to be a lifestyles facility that would aid and support an active and outdoor lifestyle,” said Anderson. In fact, Anderson would like to see the store grow to offer products and services for other outdoor activities such as rock climbing, hiking and camping. There is no determined schedule for when those things may be added but it will come, as the most recent expansion did, inch by inch and penny by penny.

“Our intent is to be the greatest bike retail shop in the United States or at least one of the best,” said Anderson, who feels they have achieved their success by following the golden rule and modeling the shop on what they would like in a bike shop.

“Not only do we always work to improve the shop but we are also interested in improving the industry,” said Anderson. It can only be good news if bike shops across the nation decide to follow Bicycles Unlimited’s business model, providing a friendly place for a person to shop, get their bike serviced and be encouraged in their cycling.

For more information on Bicycles Unlimited, phone 770-486-9252 or visit www.bicyclesunl.com.