Cute little bike shop and located in our Charming downtown area. Very convenient parking. However, Bicycles East is a VERY POOR choice if you are looking for a KIDS BIKE! I was looking for a bike for my 6 year old son just a few days ago. He currently rides a 16"" Trek and has outgrown it. I walked in the front door and several minutes later a young lady ""finally"" came out of the back room to help me. Well, ""help"" would be a stretch to say the least. Her attitude was one of indifference as soon as I told her I was looking for a kids bike. I would not have thought so given that I told her I was willing to spend over $300.00 on a good brand name bike for a six year old boy. I asked what they had in the way of 20"" geared bikes for my young boy and she answered, ""That's all we have over there"", she said in an unfriendly and indifferent tone. Oh, and she did not walk me over to the bike she just stood right where she was at and pointed to it....no kidding...she pointed to it. She obviously had something she was trying to get done in the back room and could not wait for me to leave so she could get back to it. The bike she ""pointed"" to was a brand I had never heard of. It was white and had red pedals and was the ugliest kids bike I had ever seen. ""I noticed you sell the Specialized brand I said, I love that brand, Do Specialized offer a 20"" geared bike for kids"" I asked? Again with indifference and even contempt she answered, ""The only 20"" geared bike for boys we carry is that one that I just showed you."" So in essence she was saying, you have ONE choice and it's that ugly white bike over there that I pointed to. So at this point I knew she just wanted to get back to what she was doing in the back room and so I thanked her and left. Well, to make a long story short I went to another bike shop and guess what....I found friendly people who actually were interested in helping me. And these friendly people showed me a VARIETY of good options for geared 20"" boys bikes from Trek and Specialized etc. Oh, and they actually had ""A VARIETY OF COLORS to choose from. They measured my son and took a genuine interest in him and they showed him how to use the gears on the bike and he and I felt respected by them--like we were actually important, even though we were not spending $1000.00 on a bike. I won't mention the name of this other bike shop, but I can tell you Bicycles East could learn a lot from these friendly helpful folks. Look I am not saying that every employee at Bicycles East are as unfriendly and as unhelpful as the young lady with the brown hair who waited on us. But to the owner of Bicycles east I say it is your responsibly to hire people who are friendly and helpful and customer service oriented....and this young lady was none of those things. It is also your responsibility as the owner to make sure that you give the customer more that ONE CHOICE when they are looking for a bike. I know for a fact that both specialized and Trek as welI as several other brands carry geared 20"" boys bikes, so why did the young lady who waited on me not offer me these choices as well. So yes I am really disappointed at the poor customer service I received at Bicycles East. I am especially disappointed because I live very close to them and they ""would"" have been a convenient choice. It's really a too bad when you try to support your neighborhood bike shop but are given no choice but to drive to another bike shop much further away in order to find good t customer service and a larger product line......
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