As Shore Cycles entered its fourth year of operations, it became clear that we needed a bigger store. With growing sales and community impact taking shape, I began our search for a new location — a process that ended up taking about two years.

As anyone who has ever searched for commercial real estate can attest, the process of finding the "perfect" location can be quite laborious, especially for a specialty retail/service operation like Shore Cycles.

After about two dozen property tours and a few offers, we landed a 5,000-square-foot mixed-use space with great visibility on the busiest road in the city. Surrounded by automotive dealers, plenty of garage space, and 60% more room, I began the process of demolishing and constructing our new location over six months — all while our current store was still 100% operational.

With a background in home renovations, basic woodworking, and many skateboard ramps constructed after school in the 2000s, I took it upon myself to refresh my skills in demolition, framing, drywall, and carpentry to create a fantastic new store for my team and our customers.

None of this could have happened without the incredible hands-on support of my team at the time — lending a hand when I needed to lift a sign, paint a wall, or carry hundreds of pounds of old building materials out of the store, and for keeping our old store running smoothly as I focused 100% of my attention on the new location for 180 days.

Below are pictures from the construction phase and the first days open at Shore Cycles' Store #2. See my other portfolio projects for the pictures and stories of our opening day party and what the store looked like after a few years of changes.