10/23/2020
Sometime in October of 1995, I'm not sure which day, and I'm not sure it really matters, Woody's Bicycles opened its doors at 115 2nd Ave. N.E. in Wi******er, TN. It was just me in the store, though in a few months I hired a young lady named Jennifer Goodwin, who, if all has gone well, is no longer a young lady, but rather a mature woman who has entered middle age. When I started, I was basically a satellite store of J&M Bicycles in Tullahoma working with my friend Mike Wooten. A few months later Mike announced he was going to try and sell his store. I decided I better set off on my own. Fast forward to 2020, and I or anybody could never imagine a 25th anniversary such as this year. Due to age and an underlying condition, I stopped going into the shop on any regular basis (for now). This hurts, because I always felt like when I entered my shop, I was walking into an extension of my home. I miss the people the most by the way. The shop has been in the more than capable hands of Brian Schaefer who has taken on this very difficult task (pandemic retail) and made it very successful. Business at the shop like all bicycle shops and other outdoor activity retail businesses throughout the world has been record high. This is actually very little consolation (though I admit, it's a small consolation) do to the ravaging and heart braking personal and economic damage this pandemic has done to my area. my state, my country, and my world. So,.... Happy (weird) 25th Anniversary to Woody's Bicycles. Here are some timeline events:
October, 1995, the doors were opened on 115 2nd Ave. NW Wi******er. Mid 1996, broke away from J&B Bicycles and became a Schwinn and GT dealer. 1999, I purchased the old Knies Hardware across the way on N. High St. and moved in. Schwinn got sold to Pacific Bicycles (Walmart) so I became a Trek and Gary Fisher dealer. 2000, Brian Schaefer came to town and started working at the shop. Approximately year 2003 I sold the Knies Hardware building (it was a much bigger space than what I needed) and moved back two doors down from the original shop location on 111 2nd Ave NW. In August, 2008, I made the move to Sewanee to the building in which I currently inhabit. If you do the math it comes out 13 years in Wi******er (3 locations) and 12 years in Sewanee (1, same ol'- same ol', location)
The people I got to work with and am still friends with is Werner Nowack (late 90's), Mark Asmussen (right after Werner), James Dunaway (after 2010) Sam Smith (after James Dunaway), Aidan Smith (the last few years) and of course Brian Schaefer. (Who did I forget?)
So, here's hoping the 26th year in business will be better than the 25th year. There are so many customers who became friends and I miss every one of you. I'll catch you all later on the mountain.
