By Matthew Nash
Olympic Peninsula News Group
SEQUIM — After more than 15 years selling bikes in Sequim, Mike Wanner, owner of All Around Bikes, looks to ride off into the sunset.
Wanner, 55, intends to close his bike shop at 150 W. Sequim Bay Road by the end of July and focus his attention on making new bike products in Bend, Ore.
The business will offer 20 percent off all inventory with progressive sales through the closure, he said.
All Around Bikes is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
Wanner has posted the building to sell or rent through Brody Broker.
Looking back on his time in Sequim, Wanner said he’s enjoyed his customer base the most.
“Bicycle people are great people,” he said.
“All my customers in all my years have been fun to work with and be with. It’s brought me a lot of satisfaction that I sold products that I’ve used and would use, too.”
Wanner, who grew up in Joyce, purchased D&G Bikes in 2001 and operated Mike’s Bikes by the corner of Washington Street and Fifth Avenue.
He had worked in the bicycle shop industry for years. Before buying the bicycle business, he worked at A-M Systems in Carlsborg.
A few years later, Wanner bought property and built his existing building on West Sequim Bay Road in 2006.
He liked being next to the Olympic Discovery Trail and that the area at the time was busier for businesses.
But a shift in development within the Sequim city limits led to major businesses going in on West Washington Street, which he said impacted him.
“East Washington was vibrant and then all of a sudden, it dries up,” he said.
“Maybe that anchor store [Coastal Farm &Ranch] will bring in more business and it won’t be such an undesirable retail place. Hopefully Sequim can come this direction.”
Wanner opted to change his business’ name from Mike’s Bikes to All Around Bikes in 2013 to avoid legal fees after a Northern California chain called Mike’s Bikes that trademarked the name in 2011 sent Wanner a cease-and-desist letter over name and trademark infringement.
He held a name contest, but he and his wife, Carrie, chose All Around Bikes and changed all of their branding, merchandise and signage.
The transition was hard, Wanner said.
“In the beginning, people thought we sold or someone new came in, but it was the same people, just with a different name,” he said.
Throughout the years, the business made a shift to focusing heavily on repair to compete with mail order sales and other shops.
“With several bike shops on the Olympic Peninsula and only so many bicyclists, it’s not easy,” he said.
In the past year, he’s left the store in the hands of manager Jon Porlier to move to Bend after his wife got a new job.
Wanner now has a patent pending for a new bike product called Funner Bikeworks, which is an adapter that allows bicyclists to attach carrying cages and carry more items.
For more information on All Around Bikes, 150 W. Sequim Bay Road, call 360-681-3868 or visit www.allaroundbikes.com.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
