MONTEREY, CA (BRAIN) Jan 30, 04:13 MT — Joselyns Bicycles, a presence in Monterey, California, since the 1940s, closed on Jan. 15.
Although Joselyns faced increased competition when an REI moved into the area three years ago, manager Ryan Tibbs said broader economic woes were more to blame for the closure.
“We still had a pretty good following, but anytime any percentage of the market goes away, it’s not gonna be good,” he said of REI’s presence. “The overall economy took a bigger hit and we never really fully recovered.”
In 1995, Frank Pinto took over ownership of the shop, which did a strong business in road bikes and—with a popular waterfront recreational trail nearby—hybrids, Tibbs said. It also fielded a BMX team for a number of years. Bike lines included Giant, Felt, Raleigh, Scott, KHS and Diamondback.
A liquidation sale began in late November, and Tibbs said nearly all of the shop’s inventory has been sold off. That hasn’t stopped longtime customers from popping by, though.
“A lot of people are more sad than anything. We definitely had our following. Our service was one of our big pluses, and we had a lot of people working here who liked what they were doing, and I think that showed. So while we’re cleaning up in here we have people coming up to the door saying, ‘I’m sorry that this happened,’ that kind of thing.”
