JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A two-day bike buyback event wrapped up Sunday on Jacksonville’s Westside.
According to organizers, 35 bikes were donated to the community and 47 bikes were traded-in. Organizers said the vouchers totaled over $5,000 and at least one customer had the gift certificate made out to the Boys and Girls Club.
Lakeshore Bicycles teamed up with The Trade-In Guys for the event.
“If you have old inventory, old things in your garage that you are not using -- a bike that you are not riding -- we give you the option to bring it in, to trade it in to get store credit,” said Brant Waldron, with The Trade-In Guys.
Lakeshore Bicycles has seen thousands of bikes come and go since 1979, according to office manager Cathy Fetzer.
“We can get high-end road bikes. We sell bikes for the enthusiast, the comfort city rider, kids bikes, electric bikes and recumbents for people who are not comfortable on a standard bicycle -- either special needs or older or just different needs,” Fetzer said.
And since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for bikes has grown as the sport has peddled in popularity, Fetzer said.
“Our sales are close to double what they were last year,” Fetzer said.
Jacksonville resident Jay Smith donated and sold back bikes at this weekend’s event.
“One’s a recumbent bike and a land cruiser,” Smith said.
He received store credit.
“More than I thought, frankly, a couple of hundred bucks,” Smith said, adding that he will be buying his niece a new bike for the holidays.
For those who missed the event, Fetzer explained one way to donate a bike.
“We have a charity. One of the guys who works for us part-time works with a charity, and they fix them up and donate them,” Fetzer said. “They will give them to homeless people or needy people who don’t have transportation. If they do get a kids bike, they will pass it on to them, too.”
Lakeshore Bicycles is located on Blanding Boulevard near San Juan Avenue.