Ski Country Sports (Asheville, NC location) has expanded its bicycle business. Previously under the same banner, the business has been a part-time bike shop, part-time ski shop for the past 25 years. Co-owner Craig Friedrich said the time was right to expand.
The expansion added an additional 3,000 square feet of space for bicycles, gear, and clothing and a new identity, Asheville Bicycle Co., right next door to Ski Country.
Friedrich said, “Our bike business continues to grow, but it’s always been challenging with the name, ‘Ski Country.’ When this opportunity presented itself, we decided to give it a new name. While Ski Country Sports always sold skis and bikes, the name confused people.”
Since it’s hard to be a year-round ski shop in North Carolina, and also hard to be a year-round bike shop, Friedrich said he now has the best of both worlds. His eight full-time staff members are well schooled in both activities and he now expects to be busy January though December.
“We’ve been selling bikes for more than 20 years,” Friedrich added. “Our business was continuing to grow, even though we had so many bike shops in town. As more move in, we need to become more relevant by having a bike shop name. You always want to improve business and support your customers.”
Asheville Bicycle Co.’s niche is customer service. It will offer the full range of bicycles, from starter bikes for 2-year olds all the way up to titanium race bikes, as well as a large clothing selection. The shop will also offer full bike service with a brand new service department, as well as rentals and demos of road and mountain bikes.
