In the past few weeks, Darby Pool has been busy turning former law offices in downtown Olathe into a bike shop.
His store, Bikes for the Likes of Us, has occupied a space at Olathe’s Town Square shopping center for roughly a decade.
But he found out about a year ago that his shop needed to relocate due to the coming Interstate 35/Santa Fe Street corridor overhaul project.
Pool eventually settled on a downtown space for his next chapter.
The shop opened at its new location at the end of January, and so far, Pool said business is already finding a steady rhythm.
Bikes for the Likes of Us is now at 105 S. Kansas Ave.
- The bike shop moved into a space just off Park Street and Kansas Avenue, near Johnson County Square.
- There, the shop will eventually neighbor incoming cafe Hermetheus Coffee once it opens later this year.
- Bikes for the Likes of Us is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The shop offers a variety of brands and sizes
While Bikes for the Likes of Us has plenty of options for the seasoned biker, Pool said a lot of his clientele tends to be families — particularly children and older adults.
“We do cater to the racer, but the majority of my business is just regular people,” he said. “A lot of the (customers) we know on a first-name basis.”
Though the shop’s new space is roughly 1,500-square-feet smaller than its previous digs, Pool said the new layout of the downtown space is a plus.
In addition to its retail inventory, bikers can also bring their rides in for maintenance and repairs.
With an open service area in the center of the store instead of the back, he can now talk to customers as he works on repairs.
“It’s a little bit more open and more inviting,” he said.
Pool has been in Olathe for nearly three decades
Pool purchased Bikes for the Likes of Us from its Missouri-based owners nearly 40 years ago.
He later moved it across the state line in 1998. (Bikes for the Likes of Us had one other Olathe space before it moved into the space on Santa Fe Street and I-35.)
This next chapter of Bikes for the Likes of Us may be its last, since Pool said he’s eyeing retirement in the next several years.
For now though, he said he’s excited to keep doing what he loves and getting to know his new neighborhood.
“I enjoy this work, and I enjoy the people that come in,” he said. “I’m here early in the morning, and I stay late sometimes, just because it’s fun. It doesn’t feel like a job.”
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