New bike shop opens doors and adds to downtown growth

Today’s the day.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic – the owners of Cyclotherapy decided to move forward with their years-long dream of opening a bicycle shop in downtown Springfield. And today is opening day for the business at 40 W. High St.

“This is something I’ve been planning on doing for well over a decade now,” says Jon Francis, who co-owns the shop with Paul Cross. “Then lately, we saw everything happening downtown, and we knew we wanted to be a part of it.”

The shop offers full-service repairs, bike sales and accessory sales, and it’s happy to answer questions from both new and experienced cyclists.

Francis first took an interest in bikes when he worked at a bike shop while attending Wittenberg University. He became passionate about cycling and committed to finding a place downtown where he can not only build a business but also build community.

“We want the vibe to be friendly, cool – hopefully impossibly cool,” Francis says, chuckling. “We want people to feel comfortable coming to us for quality bike equipment and also coming to us with common questions people have when entering this world for the first time. We’ll be grateful for people who are curious and come through our doors. Hopefully people feel it’s welcoming.”

Though the doors are open and Cyclotherapy has been recognized as an essential business, Francis says they are taking cleanliness and social distancing seriously. They are limiting the number of employees and customers and available to set up one-on-one store visits in the evening.

Ultimately, Francis says he’s excited for Cyclotherapy to join the uptick in the downtown atmosphere in recent years and hopes the new shop will help attract more businesses to open up and sell goods in the area.

“Hopefully more people will jump on the bandwagon,” he says. “Hopefully we can be an example for more people to want to make investments downtown.”