BALTIMORE (BRAIN) — World champion mountain biker Marla Streb has announced that she will open HandleBar Cafe and Bike Shop with her husband, Mark Fitzgerald, in Baltimore this summer. Streb and Fitzgerald were recently approved for a $500,000 state renovation loan to transform a 7,000-square-foot warehouse into an urban retail bike shop, cafe and full bar, a plan the couple has been working on for more than four years.
“It’s so exciting to see it’s finally going to happen after so many years. It’s something I’ve wanted to do my entire career,” said Streb, who retired from full-time racing in 2009 following the birth of her second child. “Getting the loan approved was a huge hurdle for us because it’s very hard as an ex-pro athlete to get any kind of bank loan.”
Streb also said that a zoning change in the neighborhood where HandleBar Cafe will open was also key to the plan moving forward. Fitzgerald worked for more than a year to get the change approved. “Nobody thought it would be possible to get the zoning changed from residential to commercial in this neighborhood,” she said. “We really wanted to be in this part of town. It’s undeveloped right now, but it’s very desirable with great potential.”
Renovation on the building starts mid-March, and will include a remodel of several offices on the second floor. The couple intends to lease the spaces to like-minded businesses, which could include indoor cycling and yoga studios. The restaurant and bar will be on the first floor, complete with pizza oven and freshly roasted coffee. A service-oriented urban bike shop will be in the same space, and will have indoor and outdoor bike parking.
“We really wanted to create a community-oriented space where people can hang out before and after rides,” Streb said. “They can sit at the bar and have a beer or coffee while their bike is being worked on, and the bike shop will be open for longer hours than the typical shop has so will be convenient for people.”
Streb said they’ve already filled most positions, including a celebrity chef whose identity she could not yet disclose. “We found a chef who is also a cyclist, which is nice. The food is going to be great,” she said.
In the bike shop, Streb plans to carry the brands that supported her throughout her racing career, including Orbea. But as a cargo bike family, Streb said they will focus mainly on transportation cycling, and that pizza and beer growler deliveries will be done by bike.
“We try to be car free as much as possible. It just makes so much sense,” said Streb, who also works part time with Bike Maryland. “We hope to inspire more people to live that way too.”
