Shop name: Soulcycle BMX Shop
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Years in business: Rollin’ since 99
Best year yet: 2020 (Best vibes in the store, Amsterdams scene is tight)
Worst year yet: 2021 (Haven’t been able to open our doors yet because of the current Dutch lockdown).
What were your first thoughts on Covid-19 when it hit?
Emile Bouwman: The end is near.
Did you take any action from the start or were you thinking this would be over in a few weeks?
Shop name: Circuit BMX Shop
Location: Pawtucket RI
Years in business: 15
Best year yet: 2020
Worst year yet: 2009
What were your first thoughts on Covid-19 when it hit?
Victor Bettencourt: Personally I thought, oh shit. This is it, we are shutting down and we will be struggling for a little while. It ended up being quite the opposite.
Shop name: Signature Bmx
Location: Vantaa, Finland
Years in business: 15
Best year yet: 2010
Worst year yet: 2020
What were your first thoughts on Covid-19 when it hit?
Signature Bmx: A bit worried if we can keep the shop open.
Did you take any action from the start or were you thinking this would be over in a few weeks?
Signature Bmx: We stocked some sanitizers and disinfectants immediately. It was pretty obvious this will take some time. Finnish people keep distance naturally and don't socialize too much so it's been quite easy. We're definitely not a hugging nation.
Shop name: Gnarly Bikes
Location: New Braunfels, TX
Years in business: 2 1/2
Best year yet: 2020
Worst year yet: 2018
What were your first thoughts on Covid-19 when it hit?
Galen Church: First thought was, no big deal. That quickly changed to “we can’t make it a month if we have to shut down”
Did you take any action from the start or were you thinking this would be over in a few weeks?
Shop name: Kings Rideshop
Location: Cathedral City, California
Years in business: 17 years as of May 2021
Best year yet: Financially 2020…riding I peaked a while back
Worst year yet: I fucked my shoulder up bad in ’98 I think. Financially.. like 2011? A few years were pretty fucked up.
What were your first thoughts on Covid-19 when it hit?
James Colella: I remember thinking it was going to get interesting, I was trying to think how I could make business still work and I had KR masks made really early, I think ordering them late February but as a joke, within a couple weeks people were lined up outside the shop waiting in the morning to buy one.
Shop name: BROS BIKE STORE
Location: LYON, France
Years in business: The shop was born in May 2014
Best year yet: 2020
Worst year yet: 2014
What were your first thoughts on Covid-19 when it hit?
Fabien Conry: Like always a new crisis is showing up, it’s always scary and it brings stress. And maybe a bit more for stressed people which we are part of hahaha. We navigated through an international financial crisis over the year but this new health crisis brings a bit more anxiety as it was new
Shop name: Powers BMX Shop
Location: 3119 Williamsburg Road, Richmond, VA 23231, USA.
Years in business: 16
Best year yet: Every year gets better and better
Worst year yet: Will be when people stop riding BMX
What were your first thoughts on Covid-19 when it hit?
Chad Powers: I freaked out! Told the dudes we were all working a rotating schedule and if they wanted to file unemployment then to do so. That only lasted about a week.
Shop name: Entity BMX shop
Location: Poole UK
Years in business: 7 years woop
Best year yet: All the best, work in BMX
Worst year yet: 2020 due to Covid
2020 has been, well, different. When did Covid-19 turn up and start influencing your business?
Matt Nicklen: Lockdown started March in the U.K, it’s been a hell of a rollercoaster!
Did you take any action from the start or were you thinking this would be over in a few weeks?
Matt Nicklen: We’re always ready for war! To start with I removed all the items I was drop shipping online as I thought everyone was gunna stop working and just uploaded the stock I was carrying in store.... turned out the industry didn’t stop so had to completely rebuild the site.
Name shop: Source BMX
Location: Hastings, UK
Years in business: 16 years in March 2019
Employees: 54 including part time and everyone at the Source Park and Café.
What was the reason for you to start a BMX shop?
Source BMX: It was a combination of not having a shop serving BMX shop in our area (they had all closed) and my brother and me looking for something to do. It was just a random set of circumstances that fell in to place rather a master plan. A small BMX shop in Bexhill wasn’t really a viable business so we had to figure out a way of making it work – by making the scene bigger and selling mailorder.
What was your first location like?
Source BMX: Small!! It wasn’t much bigger than an average bedroom with room for about 30 t-shirt’s on a rack, 6 completes and a cabinet and wall full of parts.
How did your first year turn out?
Source BMX: It was hard - we had a turnover of £68,000 which didn’t really breakeven or pay me a wage but I was 18 and living with my parents so didn’t need much money. Rich was at Uni so the first