LEOMINSTER, Mass. (BRAIN) — When the only bike shop in Leominster, Gear Works Cyclery, closed in March, Nate Jones decided it was finally time to open his own store. Jones, who has been in bike retail since 1997 and worked at Gear Works prior to it closing, signed a lease on a space on April 1 and opened Tomten Biketown in May.
“We spent just six weeks building it out,” said Jones, who has worked in shops in San Francisco and New York, including brief stints at REI and Performance. “I wouldn’t recommend doing it that quickly, but it came out beautifully.”
The former Gear Works staff, which now work for Jones at Tomten, helped build out the 4,200-square-foot space. Jones and his staff also opened a separate warehouse and service center prior to the retail store.
“We were getting so many requests for service after Gear Works closed because there isn’t a shop around for miles,” Jones said. “So we set up service and started working on bikes right away.”
Tomten, named after the high-end knitting business Jones’ mother owned in the 1980s, carries Trek, Specialized, Santa Cruz, Orbea and Haro. Jones said service is already at maximum capacity and that the shop is selling more high-end road and mountain bikes than he expected.
