There's a question that I wish I had the answer to.
According to this story in The Waterloo Region Record, the liquidation of the assets of the Kitchener cyclery begins today (Thursday) at 10 a.m. The venerable Kitchener store closed just a week ago, apparently due to a $77,000 unpaid rent bill.
Over the years, I've plunked down my share of money at Braun's. My touring bike came from there. My spouse's Rocky Mountain is from Braun's. The jog-stroller that we will be taking my grandson out in today for an afternoon walk is from Braun's. When my spouse decided to find a home for an antique tricycle she owned, she donated it to Braun's for their collection of vintage bikes.
Add in various bags, pumps, tires, etc that we've bought from them over the years, and there's a significant Braun's presence in our lives here at Chateau Bean.
It's a tough time for cycle shops in Canada. Perhaps either of Roger or Robert will go public on what happened.
Best wishes to the Braun family.
Not being present in the KW scene any longer, and just reading about this, I found it quite strange that the property management company owned by the Braun family foreclosed on the store lease. Braun family members are both lessor and lessee. It smells like a carefully planned legal strategy.
In any event, it's sad to see a full-line independent bike shop close the doors, especially one with a rich history in the community like Braun's.
Posted by: Alan Medcalf | 03/02/2014 at 05:57 PM
Wonder why the bike store wasn't doing well --when K-W is expanding and there are more bike lanes/paths than I knew the place...3 decades ago. :)
By the way, you might be remotely interested in Jack Becker's initiative with the B.C. Cycling Coalition on promoting cycling tourism in BC.
http://www.cyclotouringbc.com/wordpress/
Posted by: Jean | 03/08/2014 at 10:14 PM