Brecksville Patch Profile: Brecksville Velo Sport Owner Randall Ward

Even in a city the size of Brecksville, it’s not too often a business can claim that they are the only game in town.

But it's a claim Randall Ward, owner of , can make of his business.

After all, for about the past eight years, Brecksville Velo Sport has been the city’s only specialty bike shop, offering services from the sale of high-end bicycles to something as simple as a repair.

“Socially, I’m trying to serve the needs of the local cycling community,” he said. “Be it from the local towpath rider all the way to the racers of high-performance bicycles.”

With its hilly terrain and picturesque landscape of the local , Brecksville is a cyclist's dream.

An avid cyclist himself, Ward saw an untapped opportunity to give the community something it lacked when he opened shop in 2003.

“Shortly after moving here, I was trying to decide what kind of job I was looking for and I thought there was a perfect opportunity - with this community not having a bike shop - to try something out that I always thought I had a interest in,” Ward said.

“(This location) helped me extensively with the local people,” he continued. "But also, another reason I’m located in Brecksville is to be between Cleveland and Akron, two larger markets, so I’m trying to tap a little of both markets.”

But the road has been bumpy over the years.

For one thing, Ward relies heavily on word of mouth to drum up business rather than traditional advertising, which he says is “quite expensive.” But even though he’s been in town for years, the word has not spread as far as he would like.

“Even today I get a lot of people who walk in the door and say, ‘I didn’t know we had a bike shop,’” Ward said.

Another problem facing Ward has been the rise in gas prices, which means that his Cleveland and Akron customers might be less likely to make the 20-mile drive to his shop.

To make up for the loss of business, Ward said he’s shifted his focus to be less on the needs of his long-distance base and more on the services popular among his local customers.

“I reoriented myself a little bit and strengthened my inventory more with the emphasis more on the local rider on the towpath and the recreational rider,” he said. “Locals tend to go for the most economical route.”

But this doesn't mean that Velo Sport has neglected the needs of out-of-town customers like John Satory, 45, of Olmsted Falls.

Satory, an avid biker who has been coming to Velo Sport for the past four years, said while there are other bicycle shops closer to him, they don't compare in terms of the type of products and services they offer. 

"I drive all the way from the west side (of Cleveland) to (Velo Sport) because it's unique," Satory said.