Brownsville's only bike shop to reopen under new/old ownership

With all the yellow paper on the windows and the "store closed" sign, a passerby couldn’t be blamed for thinking Bicycle World of Brownsville had ridden off into the sunset.

But that’s not the case. The city’s only bike shop will reopen with new owners around mid-February, according to Kelly Roberts, one of those new owners along with her husband, Henry, who’s busy remodeling the store for a fresh look.

"We’re not going to reopen without a ‘wow factor,’ " she says. "Anyone who was a customer before will be pleasantly surprised."

The Robertses own the building that houses the shop, and owned the business itself until they decided to sell it nine years ago to a longtime employee. Brownsville’s Bicycle World was formerly part of the Roberts’ small chain of stores that began in Harlingen in 1977 and includes a location in McAllen. Today the Brownsville location is back under the couple’s ownership after the shop under the previous owner "just didn’t make it" financially, Roberts says. Noting that the selection was a bit on the lean side, the plan now is to "stock it to the brim," she says.

"We’re going to reopen with Specialized and Trek, the top two brands," she says. "We’ll do a few Cannondale."

They’ll also continue to stock Raleigh and may hang on to Electra — a cruiser brand carried by the previous owner. Roberts says "the numbers are there" to keep a Brownsville store in business, but concedes that having multiple stores makes it easier: If one store is underperforming, the others can help carry the load. Multiple stores also means higher volume purchasing, which equals more buying power compared to a single store.

Like every retailer, Bicycle World has been impacted by the recession. Roberts says her company will survive the current economic gloom, though she’s glad she doesn’t have to start over.

"I wouldn’t go into the bike business today from scratch with today’s dollars," she says. "I started in 1977. I bought my properties. I could never afford the property values now. But we’re glad to be back. We’re really excited. We really love the people in Brownsville, and I think they’ll be looking forward to us coming back."