Spoke-n-Sport Tuthill: How it all began

One year ago we opened up Spoke-n-Sport Store #3 (store #2 is in Brookings). It has been such a crazy trip. Here's where it started.

About six years ago we started dreaming a bit bigger. If Spoke-n-Sport were to add another location in town, where would we add it and what would it look like? We did the most logical thing, we opened up a map. We had some criteria. It had to be accessible by bike trail. It had to serve the community that it was in. 

There are some obvious retail spaces. Near Olive Garden or maybe Johnny Carinos. Although that corridor is full of retail AND is adjacent to the bike trail, we didn't feel there was a cycling community there. Lots of pavement with zero residential.

We looked at downtown. At one time we were so close to signing a lease at the Jones building. At the time the Cascade hadn't been built and the Jones building wasn't finalized either. Certainly no public plans for the Steel District or Cherapa expansion. Not much residential but certainly adjacent to the bike trail.

We found one spot we really liked. 3405 S. Cliff Ave. At the time it was a bank right next to Get-N-Go convenience store. Do banks ever move? 

In the fall of 2020, a real estate friend had been sending me listings he thought I'd be interested in. I wasn't. In fact I was a bit frustrated. When picking up my daughter from Lincoln High School I chose to go south to snap a picture of Get-N-Go. I sent it to my friend with the text, "If you are serious about getting me in a building, get me in here!" I was half-joking, half-frustrated and half-serious. His response, "LOL." That was the end of the conversation that day.

A week later I got a text from my friend. "You're not going to believe what I'm going to tell you!" I was half-expecting one of our favorite bands was coming to town or he was going to buy me dinner. Neither was the case. "Get-N-Go is ready to sell!!!!!!" I couldn't believe it. The spot we had been looking at for several years, was up for grabs. We jumped at the opportunity.

The next year was filled with all sorts of ups and downs on both sides of the purchase. We were knee deep in the COVID pandemic. Inventory was scarce. We had made the decision to not hire. Displays and fixtures were hard to get. In fact a few weeks before opening I had to drive to Valparaiso, Ind., to pick up display pieces because no one would deliver them by the time we opened.

Fast forward to Aug. 25, 2021. We finally opened. We only had 75 bikes in a building that was designed to carry 150. We were still missing most of our tools. We had minimal staff.  It was awesome. We checked off a lot of boxes that day. We had a new bike store in the middle of a HUGE residential community and we were connected to the local bike trail. We have some plans for the future to actually change our offerings and services a bit. A face lift of the building is also in order. We are also looking forward to a new tenant. Hoping to have some details soon.

We're celebrating this week with some events and a sale at the end of the week. If you're looking for anything bike related, odds are it's on sale. Tons of bikes up to 20% off. Yakima and Kuat Racks 20% off. Clothing up to 75% off. We even have a table of a bunch of super random odds and ends with super low prices. 

The sale is happening at all three stores but check out our Facebook event for more details. Hope to see you there.