The Green Mountain Cyclery bike shop in Ephrata will celebrate its expansion later this month with a week of special events, give-aways and sale prices from Monday, Sept. 15 to Saturday, Sept. 20.
Final building inspection was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The shop, at 285 S. Reading Road, undergone a major renovation in the past six months. The $300,000 project increased the store’s space from 4,500 to 7,000 square feet. The new shop area includes a dedicated road cycling area and and upper level where bike fittings will be done and high-end road and mountain bikes will be displayed.
The area of the old shop has been renovated and opened into several spaces. The former repair area will now be a dedicated women’s area. Where the counter and cash register had been will be an area for rack systems. The front room will be a display area for comfort and children’s bikes. And the former BMX room is becoming a classroom.
Classes will be taught on bike maintenance, nutrition, road and mountain riding techniques and other subjects. A class schedule has not been set, said Jenn Farrington, who owns the shop with her husband, Mike. The first classes will likely begin in early October.
Also in the near future, the Farrington’s plan to purchase a 15-passenger van. It will be used for trips to races, rides and other events. The first trips, to an indoor mountain bike park in Ohio, have been scheduled for weekends in December, January, February and March.
Next month, Mike Farrington hopes to complete a test track behind the shop. Rock and construction materials left from the shop project have been saved to create a circuit of jumps and obstacles where perspective buyers can test bikes.
A coffee bar is also planned for the shop when the temperatures grow colder this fall.
On Saturday, factory representatives from Trek, Gary Fisher and Specialized will be at the shop for demonstrations and special give-aways. One of those reps is Roger Bird, from Trek’s Wisconsin-based retail marketing division. A Baltimore native, Bird raced mountain bikes against Farrington at East Coast venues in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
During the week-long celebration, Green Mountain will hold daily give-aways of $50 gift certificates. The winner of a $250 gift certificate will be randomly drawn Saturday. No purchase is necessary. There will be snack food at the store and all merchandise will be marked down.
On Saturday evening, the week will be capped with a catered gala at the store for invited guests.
