Biking has begun to surge in popularity on a global scale as people look for ways to remain active but safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Priority Bicycles Founder and CEO, David Weiner, says demand has recently gone way up and bikes continue to sell out. "Phones, and emails, are ringing off the hook. Everybody who doesn't have a bike wants one."
Weiner's Priority Bicycles is also seeing sales stretch far beyond its headquarters in New York. While many businesses are reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the bicycle industry has been fortunate enough to adapt.
"In the past, customers would make appointments to come to our showroom and see bikes themselves. Of course now, with the lockdown, it's a lot harder to have people come in here and the new virtual visit is allowing us to have customers from all over the world check out our bikes," Weiner told Cheddar.
Since the start of lockdown, the demographic of customers has shifted mainly from children to include adults as well. Weiner attributes the spike to more parents staying home and seeking leisure biking as a source of exercise for them and their children.
For Weiner, business has been so good that he started offering limited edition bikes — a service typically reserved for hotel campuses. For customers in New York City, the CEO said Priority Bicycles offers a limited edition bike and a one-of-a-kind service in order to keep everyone safe.
"Here in the city, we're able to offer contactless pick-up service where the bike ships to us, we assemble it, we sanitize it, lock it up outside, and the customer can come pick it up at a predetermined time."
