The Hub Bicycle Shop closing its doors in Cambridge
Posted Nov 17, 2023 12:58:37 AM.
Last Updated Nov 17, 2023 09:48:38 AM.
After almost 20 years of business in Hespeler Village in Cambridge, The Hub Bicycle Shop will be closing its doors Nov. 30. The shop is located on Queen Street West in downtown Hespeler.
Clifford Vanclief told the Mike Farwell Show Thursday it was a heartbreaking decision that him and his wife had to make.
“Coming out of COVID, the outdoor industry hit a bottleneck that have a few components to it. Saturation in the market of items and the economic slowdown because of financial constraints on people’s household income. Because everybody bought everything outdoors during the pandemic, they didn’t really need to replace items.”
Vanclief said these conversations to close the business have been happening for quite some time.
“It is a very difficult decision to make because the community is what we loved to be apart of and what made us today is all of our customers,” he said.
The shop was called The Hub because Vanclief wanted to make it the hub of the community. That was the shop’s vision and mission statement that helped the health of his business over the years.
“Not just for the cycling community but for the community we wanted to grow in,” he said. “Each and every day for the last 20 years, we were able to sustain that and carry that forward. We grew quite a loyal following of fantastic customers that recognized The Hub as an important part of the community.”
He added his staff and suppliers also took that on carrying that same vision of being such a fabric of their community.
“It was great to network and be partnered with like-minded people.”
Vanclief and his wife Meredith said that through all the messages they have received, they have realized how much people loved the business and them as owners.
“For us personally, it is difficult to leave that void in the Hespeler and K-W area,” he said, “that’s a testament that you can’t replace people.”
Vanclief said he never thought that this was ever going to be a decision that he would have to make.
“I never thought that this would happen. Here we are lucky enough to have people lined up at our door during the pandemic to purchase product,” he said, “I assumed coming out of COVID that things would just roll back to the before times and it just [never happened] the saturation of product out there and the rise in interest rates is what really slowed the retail sales down. I never would have expected the dip that happened.”
Him and his wife said the conversations about the health of the business were circular but became more clear that this was the decision that was apparent.
“We are still second-guessing ourselves, we still wonder if we are doing the right thing even though we have made the announcement public. It’s been part of our married life, part of our children’s lives and it’s a hard thing to let go. It was very difficult to have those conversations.”
Vanclief said the shop’s last retail day will be Nov. 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to try and deplete their stock. Their online store will be open for a period of time after the doors close for good.
