Saranac Lake bike business changes hands, after difficult journey
SARANAC LAKE — Justin Oliver was surprised by the size of the crowd gathered on the Main Street sidewalk in the rain Saturday to watch him cut the ribbon on Silver Birch Cycles — formerly Human Power Planet Earth Bike Shop, which he recently purchased from John Dimon. But, in hindsight, he said he shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Different people supported me at different times. But this was pretty much everyone together, and I could see them all,” Oliver said, comparing the experience to completing a marathon.
Oliver and Dimon have been longtime friends and after years of hanging out at his friend’s shop, Oliver decided he wanted to take it into the future.
Dimon opened the bike shop in 2013, a couple years after Saranac Lake lost a different bike shop to the recession. Now, he’s handing the business off to Oliver, who has been the service manager at the shop since 2021.
Oliver said he has big plans for the shop’s future. He’s already had to fight hard to purchase the business and knows it is just the start of the hard work. But on Saturday, he said, seeing his support group all in one place, he knows he can make his plans become a reality.
Read the full article in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.