Here. Now. What it means to be local.

Hi. My name is Justyna. Together with Chris, my husband, we own Rapid Transit Cycleshop. We live in Chicago in a modest house with our two kids and four cats.

My husband grew up on the south side. His family was active in First Presbyterian Church, and experienced first-hand the effects that redlining had in the early 70's on communities, neighborhoods and relationships. Transplants from the real south-side, they couch-surfed for a while in Hyde Park before finding a more or less permanent perch.

I am a first-generation immigrant from Poland. My grandparents cleaned and served meals at Chicago's Catholic churches. My dad delivered bakery goods to Polish delis at 4 am. My mom worked as a live-in nanny. We basement-surfed until my parents found more solid employment and bought a bungalow in Portage Park.

Chris rode his bike for a living and I was in graduate school when we met at a local watering hole. Our first good idea was to get married, and, a couple of years after that, to start a business. A bicycle store with a mission of promoting alternative transportation in Chicago.

As it says on our website, we wanted to create a store that would invite, not intimidate the beginner, listen, not preach to the curious, and salute, not marginalize the commuter. With this in mind, in March of 1994 we threw open our doors at 1900 W. North Avenue, and waited for the customers to pour in.

And they did. Slowly at first, but the pace picked up, and nearly everyone that came in thanked us for opening a local store in their neighborhood. Pretty soon, we found ourselves in need of extra help, so we hired our first employee. And then another. And another. Over the years, we have provided both seasonal and long-term employment to Chicagoans from all walks of life. Our youngest employee was still in high school. Our oldest qualifies for an AARP card. We have employed people who were students, single moms, addicts, veterans, suburbanites, immigrants; some have gone on to become PhD's, police officers, artists, musicians, account executives, frame builders; quite a few have used the experience of working at our shop to leverage a job with Chicago-based Sram Corporation; some even, we humbly concede, went on to start other local bicycle shops, hoping -- no doubt -- to do what we do, only better.

These people did not come to work here for the fabulous riches. No one I know ever got rich working in a bike store. They came, because they loved bikes and they wanted to help others who shared that love. They came, because they liked the way we interacted with you, our customers.

The customers, who always have been at the heart of it all. In the eighteen years since opening Rapid Transit, we've had the privilege of interacting with thousands of customers, and most of you have something in common: a dream of independent travel. A vision of yourself doing something extraordinary. Something that maybe others thought could not be done. You came to trust us to understand and validate your dream, help you give it shape, and make it real.

Through helping you reach your dreams, we have lived ours: to be self-employed, autonomous, doing what we believed in and rooted in the community. By building Rapid Transit, we have built our livelihood, maintaining our home and garden, raising our kids. We have felt keenly the peaks and valleys of the national economy, eagerly reaping the fruits of the good years, and struggling, worrying and losing sleep through the recent, leaner months.

Hard times or not, we cannot imagine ever doing anything else, or a life without Rapid Transit. We are thankful for all that we have experienced through the shop. We are grateful for the group of dedicated people who come to work here every day, some for almost two decades now. We are grateful for the trust and loyalty that you, our customers, bestowed in us. We appreciate not only your business, but also your stories and advice, and you continue to be our main source of inspiration.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Comments

[A. P. Urizar]

Happy Thanksgiving! My friends' mom owned the arcade and candy shop that was kiddie corner to your store 20 years ago. We spent a great deal of time playing free games, eating candy, reading at Quimby's and eventually walking in your store. We knew nothing of bicycles outside of our BMX bikes we grew up with. We were in awe of the alien looking recumbents you had and all the 'parts' that were just as alien as if anyone would buy just bike parts. We hadn't a clue why or what you did mattered at that time, thinking you were a sign of the times that was changing the neighborhood.

Several of my friends and I now are some of the most avid and vocal cyclists in our City. If only we knew then what we love now - we would've taken greater advantage of your budding presence 20 years ago. I'm happy to see your success in Wicker Park, for it's rare anything stayed long there.

[Justyna Frank]

Thank you so much! It's very strange to me that young people in Wicker Park have actually "grown up" with our shop.
And, of course, I forgot to mention that we are also grateful for the amazing bike culture that has blossomed in the city of Chicago.

[Lee Katz]

Justyna and Chris,

From a generation earlier and an almost identical story, thank you.

Lee Katz

[Tommyaitch]

Hi Justyna!
Not only that, Justyna rode in the 1996 AIDS Ride from Minneapolis to Chicago and I know that because we were fellow recumbent riders that year, along with Debbie from Rapid Transit.
You make me so proud to be part of the cycling culture in Chicago!
Tom

[Justyna Frank]

Love it! People coming out of the woodwork. Lee, exciting to hear you might have a new venture. And Tom, hope you are still riding laid back. Many thanks!

[harvey t lyon]

my serious biking began at turin on n. clark, decades ago, when lee katz and his partners brougt a new level of concern for the customer to the area. you have done the same thing, lovingly and successfully-not without some of the same difficulties turin faced-opening one store too many, etc. all this led to an enriching part of my life-overseas bicycling touring, for years behind the iron curtain when there was one. that meant, among other things, solo bicycling in poland five times. so yours is a story we all love to hear, to share in, to say, simply, "well done." my grandson's fellow student at the school of the art institute worked as a wrench at brand's in new york while in high school. need a part-time wrench?i'll send him over in a heartbeat to work for folks like you.

[pila]

Great post. Viva small business.

[Justyna Frank]

I've been away from the computer for the holiday, and I'm happy to see that my post is still being read. I find it reassuring that, in the era of irony, people still seek out and respond to sincerity. Thank you for sharing your story, Harvey. I'm gratified that mine resonates with you.
Come early spring, we will be on the lookout for more mechanics. Send your grandson's friend our way.
Cheers!