Want to Start a Beverly Hills Bike Shop?

The folks at Pioneer & Lucerne Hardware in Beverly Hills (315 N. Crescent Drive) have an offer for you: Establish a pop-up bike repair shop in their store to help them increase foot traffic and they’ll help set you up as a bike shop entrepreneur. The ideal candidate will have a passion for bikes, a knack for fixing them, and an interest in a capital-free start up opportunity. What’s not to like? You won’t find an easier entry into Westside market!
It’s like this: Pioneer & Lucerne Hardware is a beloved institution in Beverly Hills. Located on Crescent Drive, the under-appreciated retail strip on the east side of the Business Triangle, the shop rents a nice space at a good rent from the city. To stay viable, though, the store needs foot traffic. Founder Joe Tilem thought to supplement the shop’s modest bike sales with service and accessories, and that suggests an opportunity for the aspiring bike shop entrepreneur!

From your perspective as a bike mechanic & would-be bike shop owner, you will simply not find easier entry into the Westside retail market. You’ll start with free or very low rent and enjoy shop owner Jeff Tilem’s support to get you up and running with stock. You won’t even have to provide a bank note to secure a commercial lease.

From a business perspective it’s also all upside too: Beverly Hills will certainly see an increase in cyclists over the coming years, and you have no competition anywhere in Beverly Hills. We’ll know more on this soon, but the city may well put an official bike route right in front of the store. Your only obligation is to treat this like a real shop: regular hours, good service, and a mechanic’s chops.

This could be the toehold that cyclists need here in the ‘black hole for bike planning.’ Over time, the opportunity could expand into a nearby below-market retail space and be the next Flying Pigeon shop here on the Westside. In fact, this is such a good opportunity that we at Better Bike would take advantage ourselves with a branded retail outlet, but we’re more interested in transportation policy and bike planning here in town. Where bikes are concerned, we just lube-n-go.

To Pioneer Lucerne founder Joe Tilem’s credit, he saw the opportunity too and brought the idea to Better Bike. In his words:

“We will give them window display area and signage, put bike racks in front of the store, develop bike storage racks in the garage immediately behind the store, do cooperative advertising, make contacts with city officials, school district and city staff to promote the bicycle as a preferred means of transportation, and eventually become the center for bicycle activities in Beverly Hills from which to begin group rides and bike races.”

You simply can’t beat this offer. Drop us a line with any general questions or ring store founder Joe Tilum at 310-273-3313 or email Joe with specific concerns. Working together we can put cycling on the map here in Beverly Hills!