“I bought an e-bike from this wonderful place during the pandemic. It changed my entire life. I now have a whole group of e-biker friends in Monterey, and we all enjoy riding to the Southfield store, having a little lunch, and coming home. Bike and Board has been wonderful to me. Whenever I have a problem with my bike, they are there for me and even helped me to package and send my bike to Florida.” — Robin Fried, Monterey
Growing up in South Egremont and attending the outdoor-focused Steiner School there, Steffen Root developed a love for mountain biking early in his life. “My first real mountain bike was a Schwinn High Plains. I grew up near Jug End with a lot of kids my age—we rode down to The Gas Light Store for penny candy when we were young and started building trails and exploring the mountain as we grew older,” he recalls.
He went on to Berkshire School for high school, where he joined the cycling club, which allowed him to fulfill his sports requirement on the road. At Green Mountain College in Vermont, he started riding with a student-run club on a new mountain bike with suspension.
Meanwhile, back at home, a bike shop named Berkshire Bike & Blade had opened in the spring of his freshman year (1995) at the former Club Helsinki location. He learned that they were hiring salespeople and an apprentice bike mechanic. Root’s club involvement at college had given him some experience, so he applied for the apprentice position that summer. Back in college the following fall, pressed to state his major, Root responded, “I want to play and get paid for it”—something he admits was true but felt a little snarky at the time—and decided to major in leisure resource resort management.
Vermont proved to be an excellent place for mountain biking. With increasing fervor, he returned to the bike shop the following summer and began thinking, “I could do this better” than the husband-and-wife team who were running the shop. By the spring of 1998, when Root was graduating from college, the manager who had hired him quit. The new manager, Dave Clark, and Root started racing bikes together. Inspired by that passion, Root decided it was time to leave the bubble of his youth and head to Tahoe. However, by August of that year, he learned from his manager friend that the owners had decided to take a job offer servicing submarines in Pearl Harbor. “Do you want to buy the shop?” they asked.
Root wrestled with the decision. Tahoe represented everything he enjoyed—snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking, and scuba diving—all possible in one day! But the chance to run his own shop was equally enticing. “I never thought that kind of opportunity would come so soon,” he says, looking back. It was a classic Clash “Should I stay or should I go?” moment. After a lot of soul-searching, he decided to give it a go.
His father helped him with his business plan, and Dave Clark, his business partner, helped him with the financing. “I was only 22 years old at the time. What did I know about how to run a business?” Root asks now. Still, he had all the inventory and goodwill from the previous shop, plus the name, furniture, fixtures, and equipment. “The former owners gave me a loan for $25,000 to be paid privately over five years.”
While Root and Clark were expert mountain cyclists, they also had to understand the road-biking market to succeed. In 2000 they hosted their first group rides, which he admits were initially “arguably pathetic.” Those rides grew over time, adding “gravel” groups and attracting some 70 people who sign up each week.
The previous owners had moved the bike shop to the Price Chopper plaza in 1997, and there Root stayed, concentrating on growing the business for a while. In 2003 he started looking for a permanent home for the bike shop. His mom, who was always a strong advocate of owning real estate, warned that he would get priced out of the market if he didn’t buy soon. (Her own mom, who owned a clothing boutique in New York City, had taught her that there was no money in retail unless you owned the building.)
When Kimco (owner of the Price Chopper plaza) raised rents in 2006, Root grew more determined to find a different location—ideally, one he could buy. He learned that the property at 29 State Road was for sale but that Ray Almori (then owner of Plaza Package) had bought the land hoping to build a liquor store there. When the neighboring synagogue opposed his plans, he initially listed the property for $280,000 but decided to keep it and build something to rent. “After looking at Plaza’s current location, I went to him and said I wanted it, and he told me the new price was $450,000,” Root explains. “Our previous spot had no place to test ride and was tucked in the plaza, so the location on Route 23 was very appealing. Visibility is everything.”
Finding financing was challenging, but eventually, Root and Clark got a loan from Salisbury Bank. “They believed in us and helped us finance the loan that winter,” he says. By the beginning of 2007, they were breaking ground; on July 4th weekend they moved in, and on July 6th, they opened. With the new location came a new name, Berkshire Bike & Board—rollerblading had lost its zeal and was replaced by snowboards to offset the winter downturn for bikes.
“We immediately saw a huge sales increase,” Root notes. “The crash in 2007 didn’t affect us as much as it did many other businesses. As more people moved here and the store gained visibility, business continued to grow. “At that point, my business partner and I started to step on each other’s toes,” he confides. “I was handling the back of the shop, and he was handling the front. We started probing, ‘How could we add a shop in Pittsfield?'”
Coincidentally, in 2013, Greylock Outfitters in Pittsfield announced that it would be closing its doors at 502C East Street in six months, so Bike & Board took over the lease. Clark moved to this location, and Root ran the Great Barrington store. “I began to see the value in what we had created,” he notes. A 2015 dealer event with much bigger players and the book Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less convinced him that they needed to systemize the business more to grow or sell. “We’d reached the point where we had to choose between putting out fires and building silos so the business could run on its own.”
Thus, they formed their standard operating procedures so anyone off the street would know what to do. “Jared Cowing, general manager, and I made developing our systems a top priority,” Root acknowledges, “and in 2019, we had our first really good year.” They also hired a consulting firm (The Mann Group) and started conducting an in-depth analysis to identify weaknesses, examine systems, and gain more control over their purchases—among other facets of operating a successful business.
Then the pandemic hit. “We had a small existential crisis at that point,” Root admits, “wondering what we were going to do, whom we would lay off, how we would keep working inside and providing service.” He was returning from a trip to Cuba in March 2020 when the world started to close in on itself. A Boston bike shop reached out looking for support from other store owners to petition the governor to grant them “essential business” status. Once that was given in April, the demand for more bikes raced at an alarming speed. People ditched nearby cities (part of the two-million migration from 2020 to 2022), calling Root with desperate requests for more bikes. As service staff returned, Root rented (and later bought) tents from Taylor Rental and started running the business outside.
He then faced a new problem when manufacturers started canceling purchase orders at the beginning of COVID, creating epic scarcity as demand ramped up and supply slowed down. By July, the low inventory prompted him to lean into the e-bike initiative simply because there were more of them. “That helped keep us afloat,” he acknowledges. “The inside of the store looked like a warehouse,” he says. “We bought every e-bike we could.” Early models cost $2800; current ones range from $1500 to $15,000.
How did they make it work outside? Benches, fans, carpeting, kiosks, iPads, TVs, using Square for credit card sales and their phones to pull up websites for specs and colors, and so on. By April 2020, they had curated the outside with 20 display bikes, which they brought inside each night. They also applied for and were granted a PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loan, which allowed them to retain employees and give them the bonuses they deserved for their extra effort.
In November 2020, they reopened their doors. “We realized that it worked so well, we should continue with the tent set-up outside,” Root explains, “both because it increased the showroom footprint and served as a great visual cue.” Customers sensed that “the deals were under the tent,” he adds. And so they kept it up.
After a strong year, sales started slowing toward the end of 2021. As demand fell, they were able to be more conservative with their purchasing to control inventory. “The pandemic helped us hone our systems and run a well-oiled machine,” Root continues.
But there was still room for improvement—and motivation for him to keep growing to provide for his family. The partners looked at the potential for buying more stores. “We hired a consultant and did our due diligence using market statistical analysis (MSA)—examining market growth, demographics, economic indicators, and more,” Root says.
“Great Barrington doesn’t make sense on paper,” he admits. “We’re a tiny bike shop in a town of 7,000, but the local and second-homeowners population have discretionary income, and people are willing to drive farther for e-bikes, giving us a larger sphere of influence.” While looking to add a third store, he noted an article in The New York Times tracing where people moved during the pandemic-induced mass exodus from the city. The answer? Hudson Valley—an underserved market with growing demand.
After an exhaustive search, they found the right location at 195 Healy Boulevard in Hudson, N.Y., and built the shop to their specs. “We chose that spot because we wanted to serve the locals who lived in the surrounding area more than the vacation traveler. We also needed adequate parking,” he recalls. They planned to open in January 2021, but “everything took longer than expected, which was not totally unexpected,” he adds. They opened in June of 2022 instead.
Although they had no plans to expand to a fourth location, an opportunity to buy the Bloomfield Bicycle and Repair Center at 38 Tunxis Avenue in Bloomfield, Conn.—a 70-year business owned by a husband-and-wife duo—offered an incredible opportunity due to population density. It proved too good to pass up.
Facing new economic challenges head-on, with very little “coasting”
“Because Dave and I are business people, we use every opportunity to keep learning—taking courses at Berkshire Community College, seeking out mentors, constantly reading to keep up on retail, and most importantly, remaining flexible,” Root states. “The key is adapting. The way we’re going to weather the downturn is by having more doors and putting every dollar we earn back into the business.”
That isn’t so easy to pull off. It means paying themselves a decent salary, keeping margins small (1 to 5 percent net profit), ensuring they compensate the staff so they stay, and continually improving operations. “There’s always refinement—each department getting better as we learn and grow,” Root says, noting another book—Traction: Get a Grip on your Business by Gino Wickman—which gives a road map for how to run a business, help it scale, and anticipate future trends.
The commitment to service resonates with buyers. Besides offering zero-percent financing for new purchases, clients get free tune-ups for the first year. Plus anyone can stop by if their tires need air—or if they want to find out about interesting routes.
One of the most significant issues in the Berkshires is finding (and retaining) good help. You don’t have to be here long to notice the ubiquitous “Help Wanted” signs and how the staffing shortage has impacted store and restaurant hours. “We’ve doubled our payroll percentages because of that and also due to the more technical skills needed now to attract quality bike mechanics who can also handle the software demands of electronic shifting,” Root shares. The most technically advanced bikes today are almost like cars, requiring more knowledgeable pre-sales advice and post-sales support.
Finding and hiring people who are genuinely passionate about cycling has been critical. “We work hard to make it a fun, challenging team culture here and to share our passion with the community by organizing rides and events that build lifelong friendships.” He also emphasizes the importance of knowing and being involved in the community and engaging in the local culture. “That’s one of our biggest priorities,” he notes. “I’m constantly tasking my managers to go to the farmers’ market, high school musical, and local fundraisers. We put a lot of time and energy into that aspect of the business for good reason.”
What’s down the road for Berkshire Bike & Board
“We’re at a good place with all of our stores— established in each community we serve and operating smoothly,” he says. “As more and more bike trails are created (most recently, the Pittsfield State Forest trails and 36-mile Albany-Hudson Electric Trail), more people will be on bikes,” he predicts, noting the many advantages of no longer having to share the road with cars.
And as more people become educated about e-bikes, they are drawn to the sport. What once felt like “cheating” (for the purist or exercise fanatic) is now appreciated for actually promoting biking in unexpected ways.
“You ride your bike three to five times more due to the style and ease of riding,” Root claims, echoing devoted e-bikers (some of whom were former skeptics). “Evangelists will tell you the wind and heart-pumping experience of an e-bike makes riding far more exciting.”
As a good businessman, Root isn’t relying on the emotional high to carry his operation forward. “If you look at Taiwan, where people rely on bikes for everything, you realize that (since 2015) e-bikes are everywhere,” he adds.
“I have a schedule where I visit every store on a regular basis,” he says. “It’s fun experiencing the different environments and slight quirks of each one.” The Great Barrington location will continue to serve as the “mothership” or headquarters, with the recent expansion adding storage space for bikes and accessories, though he hopes to buy a building (with land) to serve as a permanent location in Pittsfield in the next five years.
Beyond that, the goal is to keep enjoying the ride. You can join in the fun, too (if you haven’t already). Check the Berkshire Bike and Board website for trails, group rides, and other ways to help you celebrate National Bike Month—and every day, on two wheels. Per the website: “We open our doors for anyone who has a lingering thought that a bike might just be a little bit of fun…”
