Since 1957, the Sibthorpe family has owned and operated Bow Cycle, which has been a large part of the Bowness community. In 2005, longtime employees John Franzky, Darrell Elliott, Kurt Christensen, Kevin Senior and Dave Leung joined the ownership group to add long-term stability and grew the shop into the largest bicycle store in Calgary. “We have people who have worked here for decades, so there is a huge amount of knowledge here.” With that kind of experience you know you’re getting the expertise to find the right bike for you. “We have people who want to be here,” says Bob Grunewald, the marketing manager for the store.
That knowledge is combined with personable service to help answer questions and guide customers toward the right fit. “When a customer comes in and they don’t know what they want it’s a matter of the salesperson getting them the right style of bike and then giving them the right options to choose from,” explains Bob.
Being the biggest bike store in the city has its advantages. “We do a lot more service than anyone else does,” says Bob, “plus having the bigger supply of parts, clothing and accessories brings people to us because they can find things later in the season when our competitors are out of stock.”
