The Hub
Since 2002, the HUB Community Bike Shop has been catering to Bellingham’s cycle-friendly community. But now, after 15 years, the neighborhood looks very different.
New apartment buildings surround the HUB’s location at 903 1/2 North State St., and Kyle Morris said it’s a different view than the one he saw when he first founded the HUB.
“There were no apartments around us,” Morris said. “We watched it grow.”
With the neighborhood continuing to change, it could mean new locations for the HUB and other businesses renting space are right around the corner.
“It’s the talk of the town,” he said. “We’re bracing our – selves because the writing’s on the wall.”
Morris said he’s been looking at some new areas and trying to figure out what the HUB’s next step is. But even if that next step is moving, Morris said he doesn’t see it as bad. The location is ripe for a housing development and he foresees new businesses and even an underground parking garage taking the HUB’s current place. He hopes its next location will be a step toward establishing more permanence for the business.
But the biggest challenge will be finances.
“We’re trying to figure out how to be able to support our next move financially,” Morris said.
The HUB serves as a full-service bike shop, a self-service station, and a bit of a gallery. Art pieces made from old bike parts hang on the walls along with decorated mannequin heads and signs.
It’s part of the vibe Morris said the business has built over the years.
“I think it’s very colorful; it’s very honest,” he said. “We definitely have opinions, but [we’re] not trying to push anything one way or another.”
That vibe is what Morris said he wants to preserve wher – ever they go next, and that part of the HUB’s mission is preserving the community flavor. But he does have plans to make the HUB even bigger and better.
He would like to expand education about recycling unus – able bike parts and create a larger fabrication shop to repurpose parts.
But whatever happens, Morris is grateful to be able to do what he loves. While it can be overwhelming and emotional at times, he couldn’t even fathom doing anything else.
“This is just like one giant, crazy story where everything was woven together,” he said.
903½ N. State St., Bellingham
360.255.2072 | thebikehub.org
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