At Adams Avenue Bicycles in Normal Heights, owner Chuck Cofer has all the business he can handle, and he says that’s the case at bicycle businesses everywhere.
“I think a lot of shops saw as much as, you know, 20, 30, maybe 50% increase in sales during the pandemic," Cofer said.
When we visited Cofer last August, the problem was a pandemic-inspired spike in sales, and not enough inventory to meet demand.
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“I probably have eight new bikes to sell," Cofer said last year.
Fast forward to today, and now Cofer’s still dealing with inventory issues, but he’s got plenty of bikes to sell these days. Now the issue is parts.
“We’re missing both high end parts and everyday consumable parts," he said.
That means Cofer can’t sell a lot of the parts that he actually has in stock.
“If I was just to sell every part I could get my hands on for walk in sales, that leaves me with no parts to do service and service is a big part of our business," said Cofer.
So while the City of San Diego invests big bucks to make America’s Finest City a fine place to bike, the pandemic continues making it a challenge.
First to get the bikes, and now to get them fixed.
