A local bicycle shop that has been doing business in Jacksonville for 15 years is expanding by franchising the concept. Open Road Bicycles will open its second franchised location, and fourth overall, in northern St. Johns County in June.
Owner Scott Summey started the business 14 years ago in a small space in the Miramar Shopping Plaza. He opened a second location in Avondale in 1997 and started thinking about expanding via franchising a couple years ago, in part, as a way to retain good employees.
“We had a pool of talent, some good individuals,” Summey said, “and we were trying to figure out what to do about retention.”
The first franchise opened on Fleming Island in April 2006, and the second will be on County Road 210. The upfront franchise fee is a modest $7,500, but franchisees are required to have $70,000 to $100,000 for startup costs, including land acquisition, buildout and inventory. And with Open Road being on the higher end of bike shops — the more expensive bikes in the shop cost several thousand dollars — inventory is a major expense.
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