Longtime Lawrence retailer to open bicycle shop on south Mass Street; keep eyes open for new Asian market

Forget Dennis Hopper. Maybe there is a new image of an Easy Rider: A bicycle with big fenders and maybe even a bell, with a pair of Birkenstocks providing the pedal power. A Lawrence business is set to find out. Footprints, the longtime Lawrence retailer of Birkenstock sandals and shoes, is adding a bike shop to its business.

Actually, it may be more accurate to say that the business once again will be selling bicycles. Perhaps you remember about 35 years ago when Footprints owner Mick Ranney opened his business. Back then it was called Mick’s Bikes. Shortly thereafter he also started selling Birkenstocks. He was selling a lot more sandals than bikes, so he sold the bike business after about five years.

Now, he’s ready to get back to it. Footprints, 1339 Massachusetts St., will continue to sell Birkenstocks, but the shop will be rearranged to carry about a dozen styles of bicycles too. In time, the store also will start stocking bicycle accessories such as helmets, bike racks, whistles, lights and other such gear.

“We won’t sacrifice any of the Birkenstock business, though,” Ranney said. “That is our bread and butter.”

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In terms of the bikes, no, Birkenstock has not created a bike brand. Instead, the shop will carry the Electra brand.

“They’re basically city bikes,” Ranney said. “They are bikes that you would use for local transportation.”

That means wide tires, high handlebars, fenders and lights. Some have a rack to strap down a small sack or such.

Ranney said he thought the bike market was well covered in Lawrence when it comes to mountain bikes or racing bikes, but he thinks there are plenty of residents looking for bikes to use to get around town.

Ranney said his desire to start riding around town again is what caused him to restart the bike venture. For years, Ranney said he had to drive his truck to work every day because he frequently had to pick up shoes at Footprints’ off-site warehouse. But Ranney recently sold the off-site warehouse. Now he can ride his bike to work.

“I realized I had gotten sick of driving my truck and missed riding my bike,” Ranney said.

Ranney also found a good partner to help with the venture, he said. Mike Combest, who used to own TerraPlane bike shop in Lawrence, will be part of the Footprints business, Ranney said. Combest had been out of the bike business for a few years but “got sick of the corporate world and wanted to get back into bikes,” Ranney said.

“We will have two former bike store owners operating it,” Ranney said. “We do have a few decades of experience.”

In terms of timeline, Ranney said the shop’s first bikes had arrived and were being assembled now. He said he hopes to have the bike side of the business fully operating in the next couple of weeks.

In other news and notes from around town:

• In talking with Ranney, I did get word about another building to keep an eye on. As I mentioned, Ranney sold Footprints’ warehouse near Sixth and Colorado streets. He said his understanding is the building is being renovated to serve as an Asian food market. The folks who previously operated an Asian food market on Ninth Street are set to open up a market at the Sixth and Colorado location, he said. So, keep an eye out for that.

Ranney, though, said local Birkenstock fans shouldn’t be worried that Footprints is selling its warehouse. He said the company plans to be selling shoes and sandals in Lawrence for years to come.

The warehouse was critical when Footprints was a major mail order retailer of Birkenstock shoes. At one point, Footprints was sending about 1 million catalogs to customers across the country. Then Amazon and Zappos and other online retailers became part of the marketplace.

But Footprints has mainly gotten out of the mail-order business and is focusing more on the Lawrence retail store. That means a warehouse isn’t required. Revenues have gone down, but profits have gone up for the business, he said.

“Last year was our best year in terms of profitability,” Ranney said. “It was fun to be in business again.”