Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Abraham.
Brian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The dream for the Trek Bicycle Store West Phoenix began many years ago. Both Brian and Brandon realized in their teens that cycling would be a lifelong passion, but it wasn’t until they met while attending college together at the University of North Dakota that they started to dream of making it a career path. While working at the Ski and Bike Shop, nights were often spent talking about what we would want our ideal shop to look like. We didn’t know when it would happen, where it would be located, or even what brands we would carry…we just knew that we wanted to make it a reality someday. Fast forward a few years. Now with 30+ years of combined time working at shops and in the bicycle industry, we started to get the wheels in motion to actually get our own shop rolling! We found an excellent location and were extremely happy to be given the opportunity to carry Trek Bicycles as a concept store (one of the common misconceptions about concept stores is that they are owned by Trek; our shop is actually independent and family-owned by Brian and Brandon…Trek is simply the primary brand that we carry). A few years ago we thought of a new dream…of owning our own land and building. That plan started to come to life in July when we closed on a great piece of land right off I-10 and Litchfield Rd in Goodyear. Building construction is currently underway with a hoped opening date of February 2018 at our new store location!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing is ever completely smooth, haha! When we first opened our biggest struggles related to delays with construction and finding an entire new staff that was knowledgeable about bikes and friendly. Our hardest struggle was securing a loan for our land and building. We started that process about 2.5 years ago and it was a roller coaster ride of trying to line up funding. A couple times we thought about abandoning the effort and maybe trying it again in a couple years. But we finally secured funding through a combined SBA/Bank loan and were able to purchase the land and begin construction on our dream shop! That was a stressful couple years but it’s so amazing to be able to watch our building go up from just a bare piece of land.
Please tell us about Trek Bicycle West Phoenix.
We are a full service bicycle shop that sells new bicycles, accessories, clothing, and components, and also repairs and services all makes and models of bicycles. We are known for providing a friendly atmosphere and great customer service. I would say the thing that I am most proud of is the way that we’ve grown into a community bike shop…I think people know that they can trust us to provide the best service possible and we’ve been able to make so many great friends along the way.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Haha, most of my favorite memories (not even from childhood) revolve around cycling. I’ve been racing mountain and road bicycles since I was 13 years old…so about 26 years now. It’s been such a huge part of my life. My favorite memories are just traveling to races with all my friends and co-workers. Those were the best times…I may not remember a particular race very well, but I sure remember the trips and fun times that we had getting there and camping out, etc. Those are the same type of memories that I hope my kids can have if they get into cycling as well.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1428 N Litchfield Rd Suite E1, Goodyear AZ
- Website: trekwestphoenix.com
- Phone: 623-536-8454
- Email: info@trekwestphoenix.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/trekwestphoenix
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/TrekBicycleWestPhoenix
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