Woman-Owned Is No Longer the Exception

When Chris and I opened out first bike shop in Wicker Park in 1994, there were not many women bike store owners in Chicago. But there were a few. However some of them played a more supportive role, taking care of bookkeeping or other behind-the-scenes work, while their male partners were the face of the business. A notable exception at that time was a woman who ran a store near Belmont and Racine, and had a reputation of being a bit tough, which is how one allegedly had to be if one was to make it in the male-dominated world of the bike industry.

Portia Masterson in front of her shop

The author’s bike in front of her shop. (Why wasn’t I in this picture?)

My role as bike shop co-owner was never behind the scenes. Since I was not a bike mechanic, and had no thoughts of becoming one, the original business model I presented to Chris was “I’ll sell’em, you fix’em”. And so we both worked the front end of the business, and we both attended to customers’ needs equally from day one. And we had no intention of being tough. Our plan was to win customers with love and kindness.

Justyna of Cosmic Bikes

Chloe of Aerial Dance Chicago

Marian of RepChi

Kasia of Kasia’s Bridal

Though it was commonly accepted in our industry that there were fewer female bike store owners, and that women’s participation in cycling was not at the level as men’s, these pronouncements always puzzled me.

First of all, the industry trade shows we went to seemed to have healthy female attendance. I don’t know the percentages, but I never felt like I was a minority among those large crowds. It’s true that most of the marketing was aimed at men, and often quite oblivious to the needs or sensibilities of women (anyone remember the scantily clad Marzocchi girls?), but we —the female attendees of these large-scale trade conferences— set our gaze beyond that, and gamely conducted business.

Second, our customer community in Wicker Park did not seem to reflect the general findings of the bicycle industry: we had lots of female customers. It may have been because at that time in the mid-90’s, we were an outlier, and focused on biking not as sport, competition and recreation, but as transportation. The rest of the industry wrung their hands about the difficulties attracting female customers, and barriers women women faced in getting into competitive cycling. These are both very legitimate concerns, but they’re not necessarily relevant to members of the population who simply want to get around by bike, or shops who set out to serve them. Because we focused our attention on what eventually came to be called “lifestyle cyclists”, we had a large female customer base from the get-go.

Finally, I personally never made much of the fact that we were a woman-owned business. One of my role models in those early years of running our shop was Portia Masterson, a woman who owned Self-Propulsion, a beautiful, transportation-focused business in Golden, CO. She also served as President of the National Bicycle Dealers Association. She never seemed to underscore the fact that her business was woman-owned, employed women and catered to female customers. She operated a wonderful local business that served its community, and hired the best local talent, and she just happened to be a woman. My view has also always been that there’s nothing inherently “special” about being a woman, or a woman business owner. Regardless of our gender, as small business owners we simply deliver the best that we have to give to meet the needs of our customer community.

Catherine of Fearless Cooking

Elsbeth of Four Star Family Cyclery

Melissa of Perkolator Coffee

Dobra of Delightful Pastries

Today, the conversation in our industry seems to have shifted toward acknowledging and supporting female mechanics, making it easier for women who want to join their ranks, and helping to raise the profile of women mechanics in the industry.

While I wholeheartedly support those efforts, as a woman who devoted 30 years of my life to the bicycle industry without ever working the repair stand, I am a bit dismayed that this seems to be the chief way women in our industry can gain recognition. In my business, I have always worked alongside other women. At one point, we managed a staff of over 20 people, and while the majority were men, a number of women held key positions of Store Manager, Buyer, Sales and Customer Service and Service Manager. I am somewhat concerned that women in these roles don’t receive due recognition from the bike industry. For decades, there have been woman store managers, buyers, promoters, sales people, community builders and event organizers. Though I am not a mechanic, I have personally put literally thousands of new riders on bicycles, both men and women. In my town, I have also practically fostered a generation of new bike riders, whom I introduced to their first bicycle when they were children, and who now, as adults, embrace a bike-centered lifestyle. I’m willing to bet that there are thousands of women like me throughout this country. These women are the unsung heroes of the bicycle industry. Together, over the past few decades, we have literally changed the way people move around our cities.

Liz of CogCycles

Kelli of Wildlight Yoga

Gillian of BFF Bikes

Brenna of Community Tavern

But I am not after glory and accolades. I actually think this is par for the course, and that our industry should simply embrace and acknowledge the full extent in which women have been a part of it. I am thrilled that woman-owned bicycle shops are now quite commonplace. It’s as it should be. I am happy that my current store, Cosmic Bikes is in the company of other terrific, lifestyle-focused Chicago-area bike shops, such as Four Star Family Cyclery, BFF Bikes, Cog Cycles, On The Route, Mack’s Bikes and Goods and doubtless quite a few others that happen to be owned or co-owned by women.

And of course, this is not just true of the bike industry. As part of a new project I’m working on, I’ve been interviewing small, local business owners both in Chicago, and around the country, and it’s staggering how many are woman-owned. Just in our own neck of the woods here in Jefferson Park, many of our beloved local businesses are headed or co-owned by women: RepChi, Fearless Cooking, Community Tavern, Perkolator Coffee, Delightful Pastries, Kit Bar Supply, Tata’s Taco’s, Wildlight Yoga, Aerial Dance Chicago, Kasia’s Bridal & Special Occasion Boutique, Eris Cider House & Brewery, Smakosz Restaurant and many, many more.

Should women get a day of their very own to showcase their gains and accomplishments? I’m not sure, just as I’m not sure if “Small Business Saturday” is an appropriate way to celebrate small businesses. It’s clear that the landscape has changed, and women have seized opportunities to build brick & mortar stores, online businesses, kick open doors that were previously closed and enter fields of expertise once considered the domain of men.

In short woman owned businesses are no longer the exception, and the best way to celebrate that is to find ways to make those businesses a part of our life every day.