March 16, 2008 (Edmonton, AB) – After a long and “hard pressed rebuild process” the guys at River Valley Cycle in Edmonton “hammered hard to get [the shop] back on it feet,” says Sales / Marketing / Brand Manager Syd Jacklin. Back in October of 2007, RVC’s old location on 75th street tragically burnt to the ground. As far as the Fire Department can determine, the blaze was started by an errant cigarette that blew into the storage area just adjacent to the store, igniting the cardboard boxes stowed inside. The fire quickly spread up the outer wall of the building to the rooftop.

The roof was on fire while customers and staff were still inside but the building was swiftly cleared of people and everyone got out safely. From there, the Fire department just controlled the fire and let it burn down. Nothing could be done to save the building.

According to Jackin, 300 bikes were in stock at the time of the fire and the heat was so intense inside the cinder block building that we only found enough bits of aluminum tubing to make about 1/2 a bike. Most of the bikes in the shop were completely vaporized from the intense heat. One of the only things that was salvaged from the fire was about 6 inches of the top tube attached to the head tube of a Santa Cruz Nomad – that’s it. More details of the fire can be found [here].

Since the fire, the boys at RVC have been busy recovering, regrouping, and ramping it up to re-open. The “first couple of months [we were busy] contacting customers with bikes in [the shop] for service” at the time of the fire. Once that was taken care of, RVC got busy replacing the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of inventory that was lost.

According to Syd, it was important for RVC to stay on the east side of Edmonton with a location that provided easy access, a ton of free parking, and enough space to hold lots of inventory. “Lots of room [means] we will have more product on the floor and less special orders to fill.” The massive sales floor provides a lot of space for bikes, clothing, accessories, and snowboards. Lots of room is definitely an understatement as the first reaction you’ll have when you enter the doors is wow, this place is huge! As Syd says, it’s the “right amount of space to have a good time”.

The 11,200 square foot, Moto-Industrial inspired shop features a large service and parts area to get customers up and running fast, complete with custom carbon fiber counter tops. The new space also provides an excessive amount of storage room for bikes in for service. More space + more staff means RVC’s customers will be up and running again fast.

The gem of the new location is the lounge area where customers can relax and kick back while they wait. The customer lounge features a 40″ plasma TV & leather couches to relax on while service your old bike gets serviced or your new bike is prepared.

The soft opening of the new RVC shop is today, Saturday, March 15th, with a Grand Re-Opening planned for early April. Now that the doors are open, Syd and the rest of the RVC family can “get down with what we love doing”¦helping people get good bikes”¦get out there and enjoy what cycling is all about”.

The new River Valley Cycle can be found at 6716 50th St. Edmonton, AB. More information about RVC can be viewed at www.rvcns.com. For more on this story visit www.bikealberta.com.