Well its official, we are all moved in to the new Campfire Cycling location on 120 E. Phoenix, in good ol’ Flagstaff, AZ. It was quite an endeavor to move an entire business in one weekend, but with some long hours we pulled it off. Its been quite a change to have moved from the East side of Flagstaff to downtown; quite an increase in the quality of life. The new shop is quite amazing, besides the fact that we have more then triple the space. Along with all the added space, we have a new addition to the company,Wandertec Fabrications.
The masterful metal creations of Stu Henderson, formally know as Silvertone Fabrications, are now a part of the Campfire Cycling. The back half of the new space is dedicated to Wandertec fabrications. Not only will Stu continue to fabricate his own projects but he will be working to develop future bike trailer creations along with other bike touring and bike commuting innovations. So if you need a weld laid down, stop on by.
The larger space is great for us. It is allowing us to expand on multiple fronts. We are in the process of hiring two new employees, an internet marketer and a inventory manager, now that we have a proper office space. But don’t worry it’s no Penatrode. With added space comes added organization as well as the ability to expand the brands we carry to ensure we are always offering the most complete spectrum of bike touring, bike commuting and family cycling product available on the market, after all we are the experts.
One of the most interesting yet odd things that we have acquired is our new ladder. A ladder… Exciting, you say. Well kind of. The new building has ceilings that are 16ft, and we bought really tall shelving to maximize the space. Well we need a really tall ladder to get to the stuff that is stored that high. And by the way 16 ft is a lot taller then it sounds. We purchased a giant blue ladder to access everything a.k.a. Big Blue. Well it turns out Big Blue is really big and kind of a pain to maneuver around the aisles of the shop. So it mainly just stays in one place and allows us access to the soon to be break room above the office. We are looking for couches and lawn furniture to donate the the break area. Oh, and a water cooler as well.
All things considered, going from a 1000 sq ft garage to a 3700 sq ft warehouse is quite a liberating experience. Everyone has their own little space, and even Robin, pictured below, our special-needs employee is enjoying the new space. I should add to that, Robin isn’t really our special-needs employee. He is special and needy but certainly not special needs. The shipping department has had plenty of room to expand which will help us get your cycling products to you even faster.
Having the downtown location has increased our foot traffic as well. We used to only have people stop by the old shop a couple of times a month, but now it seems as though people are popping in twice a week. Of course a large part of those are the “bro visits,” but hey, everyone loves company, right? I would have to say that the growing pains have been minimal and we are all very happy to be in the new space. We are looking forward growing into the space, and we being able to accomplish even more in bringing exciting new products and specialty shops to utility cyclists, family cyclists and bike touring enthusiats.