Before March 2020, business had slowed down quite a bit for Bernie’s Bike Shop in Ocean Beach—which isn’t uncommon for a small shop that’s been around for 53 years. But owner Roger Lovett says that all changed as soon as the stay-at- home order was issued: “We es- sentially cleared out our inventory, and our wholesaler’s inventory, the moment it went into effect.” He and his wife, Yasuko, continue to ride that wave well into this year, noting that even a random Thursday at the shop saw a line out the door and around the building. “It was worse than the line at Hodad’s,” he says. Lovett is the fourth owner of the OB institution, and has been running the shop for 31 years. But his memo- ries of Bernie’s go back long before that, to when he’d visit the shop as a kid. Though things have quieted down on the sales side (due solely to low inventory), Lovett says the demand for tune-ups and repairs is keeping them busier than ever. “We almost turn away more repairs than the ones we take.” s l ow b e rn BERN I E’S B I KE SHOP 1911 Cable Street, Ocean Beach bernies_bikeshop
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