Two Wheel Tango bike shop to open Canton store, sell east Ann Arbor building
Two Wheel Tango owner Dennis Pontius is expanding the store into Canton, and listing his existing east Ann Arbor building for sale.
Laura Blodgett | For AnnArbor.com
The store is launching a third location in Canton at 6111 Canton Center Road that's scheduled to open Jan. 3, causing Pontius to rethink its distribution model, which also includes a second location at 4765 Jackson Road in Ann Arbor.
“The new Canton location will be quite large -- 10,000 square feet --- and we will be storing our inventory and handling receiving from there for all three stores,” said Pontius.
“We very much plan to stay on this side of town to serve our customers in Ypsilanti and Pittsfield, but no longer need a 6,000-square-foot building,” he said.
Pontius says he would like to trade down to a 4,000-square-foot location in a space with higher visibility, while still doing the same amount of business - if not more.
“Ideally it would be nice to have a more modern retail space, and moving to Washtenaw Avenue makes sense to us for more visibility and traffic.”
Located at 3162 Packard, the store contains 4,000 square feet on the main floor as well as an additional 2,000 square feet on the second floor that's used as office and storage space.
“The building has a two story glass front that’s a great spot to display product,” says Bela Sipos of Reinhart Realtors, who is representing the commercial property. The property is listed for $550,000.
“If someone comes along and is interested in buying it, they will go ahead and sell. Otherwise, they are in no imminent hurry to move,” said Sipos.
The Two Wheel Tango building on Packard in east Ann Arbor.
“We have recovered completely from the economic downturn and returned to 2008 numbers.” He adds that Ann Arbor is a great town for the bike business as the second largest bike consuming community in the Midwest behind Madison, Wis.
In fact, Pontius has succeeded in meeting all of his business goals in the last five years.
“We have attained the sales at the Jackson Road store that we were looking for when we opened there," he said. "Everything has really worked out to how I envisioned it and we just keep wanting to do more.”
Comments
Cathy K
Tue, Mar 8, 2011 : 6:09 p.m.
Although I've read positive comments about this shop, I have found this to be a shop that I don't really like at all. Repairs cost more, the atmosphere is very uptight, and there frankly isn't much of a practical approach to every day commuting. I guess if you're a racer and/or can afford paying extra for repairs, etc., then this shop would be okay. But if you're a serious bike commuter, you may want to go elsewhere. This one's too "yuppified." (But then what shops can compare with certain shops in New York City or almost any shop in the Bay Area? So maybe I'm not being fair in making such a comparison). Of course, any shop is better than no shop. Happy cycling!
Jay Hemdal
Sun, Nov 21, 2010 : 4:03 p.m.
IIRC, one of the first stores there was called "The Peak" - Hence the peaked roof. I bought a bicycle there in the late 1960's or early 1970's. They also sold ski equipment. An auto store was there for a bit, then Age of Aquarium moved from a few doors west into the front half with the engine shop in the back (and the auto store built a new shop next door). Eventually, Age of Aquarium took over the whole store.
1bigbud
Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 11:35 a.m.
I looks as if the writer of this post has interest in this shop It has been the first story on the web for last 3 days It has not been moved down the line yet as most stories doooo Do ya think the writer is a ped rider??? W / them tight pants (yuk)
markguy
Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 8:38 a.m.
Definitely my favorite bike shop. I seem to recall having read somewhere that Age of Aquarium was not the first tenant in that building. Seems like it was a real estate agent or an insurance agent. Check out this pic: http://www.aadl.org/gallery/pictureAnnArbor/a2signs/A2signs886.jpg.html
dannarbor
Sat, Nov 13, 2010 : 7:10 a.m.
They're the best! I love to support the local enonomy and buy all my Pearl Izumi and Shimano products from them.
Kurt
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 3:19 p.m.
Two Wheel Tango is the *best* bike shop in town! Well, make that plural: best bike "shops" in town! Or in Canton, too, for that matter.
Barb
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 9:48 a.m.
Age of Aquarium but I don't know who the owner was.
Brad
Fri, Nov 12, 2010 : 9 a.m.
Ann Arbor trivia time... What business was there when front of the building was remodeled into its current form? What was previous name of that business? Who was the owner?