Bicycle sales bouncing back despite COVID-19

The list of activities you can safely take part in is a whole lot shorter this spring than it was a year ago, but there’s at least one item on the list that’s the same: Cycling.

The outdoor pastime seems even more popular this year than last, and that’s good news for bike sellers in the city like Dutch Cycle.

Freddy Vandelinden is the vice-president of Dutch Cycle. He said the first couple weeks after the store closed its doors were slow, when people were uncertain and maybe a bit panicky about the pandemic.

“And then after a couple weeks, things loosened up a little bit and we saw a lot more happening with sales. The last week that just passed I would say rivals as good a week as any spring we’ve had,” said Vandelinden.

Of course, Dutch Cycle isn’t on the list of allowable businesses to have open storefronts right now, so it has had to modify things quite a bit.

“We’ve had to change to curbside dropoffs for repair work and we’ve also had to do curbside sales. And we do all our appointments one on one because we simply can’t have people in the store,” explained Vandelinden.

Staff also make sure to keep social distancing and to sanitize everything, including the bikes after test rides.

This way of buying a bicycle can be tough as Vandelinden says touch is a big element, but he’s really appreciative of the customers.

“The local community support and the way people are rallying behind businesses in this city, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s humbling.”

For the first couple of weeks, he said there were a lot of parents coming in to get bikes for their kids who were stuck at home.

“I haven’t sold that many kids bikes in five years,” said Vandelinden.

Now, he said it’s more adults who are looking to get a bike for the first time since they were kids, or they want to go out cycling with their kids, or they want to start a fitness program.

Vandelinden just thinks it’s cool that people are trying to get out of the house.

“You’ve got a lot of open road to ride,” he said. “Nice thing is, there’s not a lot of traffic on the road now either so as far as a cyclist is concerned, it’s a great, safe time to ride a bike.”

Dutch Cycle will be opening the front doors on May 19 for the second phase of the province’s reopening plan, but Vandelinden says staff will still be sanitizing everything, they’ll keep the directional arrows on the floor, and they’ll make sure everyone keeps their distance.