Two Orillia businesses are riding out the COVID-19 pandemic together.
Pedal People and The Bike Stop have teamed up to offer a deal with the goal of supporting each other and getting people out cycling.
Pedal People, owned by Kathy Manners, offers “globally handcrafted and wearable art products that bring beauty to your bike.”
Manners approached Paul Belanger and Thomas Hulton, of The Bike Stop, to see if they’d be interested in joining forces to promote cycling. The result is a “bike bundle” that combines products from both businesses. With a regular value of $85.88, it’s being offered for $49.95.
“It seemed like a good way to promote collaboration and cycling,” said Manners. “We’re hoping people start to look less competitively and look more collaboratively to support each other. It’s in the spirit of what we need to do as businesses in the community. We both want people to be out and enjoying riding.”
It’s a good pairing because the Pedal People website is configured to allow for e-commerce, while The Bike Stop’s is not, though Belanger said that will change eventually.
When Manners approached Belanger with the idea, he was sold.
“We started talking about it when there was uncertainty about whether we’d be able to stay open at all,” he said, noting his business has remained open as it is deemed essential. “We need to look at other avenues to sell product, and it seemed like a natural fit to partner with someone locally.”
Belanger has seen increased interest in cycling during the pandemic. That could be because people are more reluctant to take public transit, but it’s also due to the fact schools are closed, so he has noticed a spike in sales of kids’ bikes.
People, he said, are also looking for other ways to stay active.
“We’re seeing a lot of people who aren’t able to go to the gym or their yoga class, and some people have said they haven’t been on a bike in years and they want to get back to it,” he said.
Belanger agreed with Manners’s comment about businesses needing to work together to support each other during a difficult time like this.
“We’re all part of the cycling community and we want everyone to succeed,” he said. “Although it’s been a terrible situation, hopefully there’s a number of positives that will come out of it — one being people getting more active and also this collaboration between local businesses.”
While it’s been “challenging to do business in this new environment,” he thanked his customers for their patience.
The bike bundle can be purchased on the Pedal People website. For more information, email [email protected].
The Bike Stop website can be found here.