LONG BEACH, CA (BRAIN)—Brian Keate invites cycling community members to get in touch with their inner Urban Cowboy when he holds the grand opening for his second bike shop, Long Beach Cyclery, on Saturday, Dec. 3. “We’ll have free tacos and beer, and I have a mechanical bull,” he said.
Keate, who also owns Orange County’s La Habra Cyclery, will open in 1,800 square feet in Long Beach’s Bixby Knolls area, but that’s just the beginning of his plans for the new shop. “It’s pretty small to start, but we’re expecting to expand pretty quick, within a year. We’ll be going to a bigger building next door that will be almost 3,000 square feet.”
The new location means new bike lines for Keate—KHS, Cannondale and Focus, as opposed to the Giants and Specialized he sells in La Habra.
For the beach town, which has recently won praise for its bicycle advocacy, Keate will focus mostly on road and commuter bikes. The latter doesn’t necessarily mean fixies, however. “This neighborhood, it seems they really have a drive for a commuter—more like an Amsterdam-type bike. They’re really promoting for people to get out and ride their bikes to dinner and to the market and stuff like that,” he said.
Keate has worked in bike shops 23 of his 39 years, including as manager of La Habra Cyclery before purchasing it 12 years ago, and has won multiple state road and cyclocross championships. He looks forward to running a shop in his adopted hometown.
“Hopefully Long Beach supports us, and we can grow.”
—Toby Hill
thill@bicycleretailer.com
