New business to blend bikes and eats

Published 2:10 pm Wednesday, December 2, 2015

There’s a new business hybrid out there.

A marriage of bike shop and café that opens a space for customers not only to buy bicycles, get their rides repaired and pick up bike-related accessories, but also to guzzle coffee, gobble grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, savor beer and wine.

As of today, mere weeks separate The Green River Cyclery and Busted Bike Cafe from opening at 8 S. Division S., in downtown Auburn. That is, at the southwest corner of the Trek Apartment building.

Josef Forsberg, owner, president and partner in the business with his wife, Kyla, explained what they’ve got in mind.

“We think we’re going to be a great stop for commuters headed for the train, which is just over there. It’ll be a great lunchtime place, a great place for recreational cyclists to stop on their way through town.

“We think it will be a great place to start your next adventure. A great place to come to on your way to work. And when you begin a bike ride, you can grab a cup of coffee or you can end up here when you’re finished and have a beer,” Forsberg said. “And we’ll have indoor seating. In the spring there’ll be outdoor seating.”

It’s no secret, he said, that for a bicycle shop to succeed today, it needs to offer something more than mere bicycles and bike accessories.

And it needs, he emphasized, to be community based.

“We want to be part of the community, a place for people just to come and hang out, talk about bicycles, whatever,” Forsberg said.

The cyclery’s focus will be on urban-, commuter-, touring-, and mountain-style bikes, with a splash of high-end road bikes thrown in for good measure. And, when possible, it will offer same-day bike repair.

Forsberg’s sister-in-law, Addie Horn, will brew up Stumptown Coffee and sell grab-and-go sandwiches and salads in the Busted Bike Café.

“I’ve worked in quite a few different coffee shops, and I’ve had other jobs, too,” said Horn, a 2004 Auburn High School graduate. “Although working in a coffee shop seems like a simple job, it’s always been my favorite. You get to meet different people every day, which I love, and I just love being creative making drinks.”

Forsberg, a 1996 Auburn High School graduate, comes to the business from 20 years in printing. The man under the felt racing cap, however, is also a lifelong cyclist with a history in bicycle advocacy. Kyla, whose background is in dog grooming, shares her husband’s passion for biking and bike advocacy.

“My wife and I really got back into it about five years ago. She trained for a marathon, and I don’t run, but after she ran the half-marathon, we both decided we really liked cycling. So we really got into it,” Forsberg said. “What we found was that we needed something to call a home base to get more into bike advocacy. We definitely think that bikes mean business, especially for places in downtown areas. In more rural areas like Lake Tapps, where the infrastructure is not keeping up with the amount of development that is going on, there needs to be something done with the roads so people can walk or bike on the roads.”

As Forsberg was speaking, bicycle mechanic Eric Stout pulled bike parts out of boxes.

“I think it’s going to be a great business,” Stout said.

Right now, opening day waits on crucial signoffs from the City of Auburn and the King County Health Department.

Store hours will be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.