- November 23, 2024
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PC Bike, in the Palm Harbor Shopping Center, celebrates a decade in May. And 2012 is on pace to be its top year.
Jake Scully was running a marketing company in Daytona Beach when he met James Clayton, an avid cyclist.
Before long, the two started riding together, and by 2002, Jake and his wife, Kelly, decided to open a bike shop in Palm Coast. Clayton was brought on as a partner and, 10 years later, PC Bike is still pedaling strong. In 2011, it had its most successful year yet. And so far, 2012 is on pace to be even better.
“We kind of saw a need for an all-around rider shop,” Scully said. “Not catering to any particular level of cyclist — really more community-based. … Kind of like the bike shops I remember growing up.”
From the beginning, the Scullys have aimed at making their shop more than just a shop. They hoped to become an established community partner and, so far, they feel they have done that.
They sponsor the Rotary’s Cycle Flagler event; each October, they host breast cancer awareness rides; and every holiday season, they refurbish 60 to 100 bikes for charity. In 2009, Jake Scully also raised $10,000 for the Education Foundation by riding cross-country.
“People now recognize us: the 15 to 20 people buzzing down the sidewalks with the bright yellow and bright pink shirts,” Scully said, referring to their tri-weekly free group rides (from nine to 20 miles apiece). “I think our success the last couple years has just been an overall presence.”
And James, the tall co-owner who is bound to be behind the counter any time a customer walks into PC Bike, has become a city “character,” Kelly added.
Most recently, however, the Scullys attribute their success to a stronger local push. They have increased advertising, created social media outlets, and every Friday after work, they play “pretty bad music” in an in-store happy hour, open to the public.
They also have begun offering bike rentals, which they have never done before.
“We’re not just a store in a shopping center,” Kelly Scully said.
Their location has been another business driver, they added, crediting the city and county for all of its work expanding area sidewalks and trails.
“The point is, people get a bicycle, and the best thing for our business is they use a bicycle,” Jake Scully said. “A lot of people are afraid to ride on roads with cars … and (the area) has really — I assume, intentionally — catered to that.”
Around 2007, though, the recession hit. In two years, the Scullys saw their average bike sale drop $150.
“Bike shops are not get-rich-quick things, but it’s not too hard to survive when you have floor traffic,” Jake Scully said. “Then the bubble burst ... and things were kind of tight. … The focus moved more toward repairing bikes and keeping them on the road.”
They also adjusted their inventory accordingly.
Since PC Bike is not the Scullys’ primary income source, they like to think of it more as a labor of love. Clayton runs the place, and they play more absent-partner roles, which gives them all of the perks of running a bike shop with a little less of the stress.
“That’s one of ours,” Jake Scully said, pointing slyly at a cyclist riding by. Then Kelly laughed, saying he does that all the time. “It’s a good day when over 50% of the bikes on the sidewalk came from our shop,” he added.
It’s clear when the Scullys talk bikes that they truly believe in what they do, although Kelly admits that she did not go into the business with a real passion for cycling.
“Probably, most business advisers will tell you you’re crazy to start a business and have it not be completely about profits,” Scully said, adding that the company remains debt-free. “But I just love it.”
“I think that’s really one of the reasons we opened the shop — so he can buy cool stuff,” Kelly added.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t argue with that,” Jake chuckled. “Boys and their toys.”
For more, call 447-2453.
