Community Spotlight: Kevin Craft

We wanted to learn a little bit more about the community surrounding Brooklyn Bicycle Co. bikes, so we created a section of our journal dedicated to some of the people we’ve been fortunate to call our customers.

Each month we feature a different member of the Brooklyn Bicycle Co. community and share what makes them tick. Read on to learn about the most recent member of our community spotlight...

 KEVIN CRAFT - CITY BIKE TAMPA, OWNER AND PROUD NEW DAD

Where is your shop located and explain some of your favorite things about the community surrounding your shop?

We are located right in the center of a wonderfully growing downtown here in Tampa. It is really pretty special to be part of the growth and developing personality of the city around us. Tampa is a great place to be outside and an even better place to be on a bike. The city is increasingly becoming more cycling friendly and there seems to be a new restaurant or place to explore opening every week. We have a core little group of small businesses surrounding and working with us to help create a feeling downtown, and despite the growth, you still get a great neighborhood feel where you walk down the street and know people.

Tell us about City Bike Tampa. How did you get started and what drew you to selling bikes?

We are going to be 10 this summer! I was not the original owner of City Bike Tampa. The Cyrs opened the shop in 2009. I started working for them about a year after they opened, and we started slowly transitioning after that. I’ve always had the dream of having my own shop. It’s about having a place where people can come together and better themselves. A place where they can be among friends (even if they haven’t met us yet). It’s educational, it’s about helping people, serving a community, and enabling. Bikes are pretty dang transformative and our job is to show people how.

What makes your shop unique? Why should customers buy a bike from you?

A whole bunch of things. For one, our staff is second to none, I dare you to find more personality in an employee base. I’m not kidding. And every single one of them cares so much about each person that walks in that door. You can’t train that. Our shop was built from all the things that we’ve ever wanted in a shop experience, tweaked to make sure we were always doing something different than anyone else around us, and honestly, refined by a simple list of all the things bike shops typically do wrong. We’re family, your bike family.

What impact have you and City Bike Tampa had on the overall bike culture in Tampa?

We are always working on that. From one side it’s just about enabling (we say that a lot) and constantly trying to get more people outside on bikes to explore our blossoming city. From the other, we get to help really influence the culture and style that is going to define biking in Tampa.

Our team adores Macey the Guard Dog. What is the story behind City Bike Tampa’s mascot?

Macey is part greeter, part supervisor, part Ybor Street Dog, and an immediate welcome into a store experience. I jokingly say my wife had Macey before she had me. She is a rescue that was found in Ybor and has been with us for the past nine years. We made her the official logo to be a disarming and inviting symbol as we felt too many shops were intimidating places for anyone that wasn’t a seasoned rider.

Run us through your ideal day biking around Tampa.

I love any day when you can leave the car in the driveway and just live on the bike. There are great bike routes to get anywhere in the area and sometimes it’s about finding a new one. It always starts with coffee, and probably a ride to not  the closest coffee shop. From there, a couple of errands to feel accomplished, then take a stroll down Bayshore Blvd which is a beautiful path and bike lane on the water attached to downtown. Follow that up with some coconut shrimp from Jackson's or a wrap from SoFresh. Then ride over to Coppertail Brewing for a beer, and a nice easy stroll home via the bike path and the Riverwalk.

I think my ideal day is still to come! I am a brand new dad, and cannot wait to be able to just cruise around town with the little dude, visiting the bike shop and stopping at every park along the way to play and run around (and maybe the aquarium because of all the fishes). And in the evening maybe riding to dinner with the wifey at our favorite restaurant Boca, and then all across town to Coppertail Brewing for a beer to cap off the night.

Share something that you are really excited about right now. Could be a favorite book, recipe, cocktail, movie, taco stand, upcoming shop event, etc.

I hear there’s a 10 year anniversary party in the works, don’t worry Brooklyn Bicycles, you will surely be getting an invite.

But also this city is growing so fast. The excitement is that there is always something happening, and the sense of community is so great to head out and support what everyone else is doing.

Congratulations to Kevin, Allison, and Macey on your new addition! We can't wait to meet Brixton.

City Bike Tampa

208 E Cass St, Tampa, FL 33602