Sometimes, things come full circle.
Such is the case with Iola’s Southwind Cycle & Outdoor shop.
The business got its start after a Lenexa-based bicycle shop, Velo+, opened a location on South Washington Avenue just off the downtown square in April 2017.
Ben Alexander was among a group of local leaders who encouraged Velo+ to establish the Iola location. He ended up buying the store in October 2018, not long after it moved to its current location at 17 E. Madison Ave. He renamed the business in honor of the Kanza Indian tribe; Kanza translates to “people of the south wind.”
Now, Southwind Cycle & Outdoor has purchased the Velo+ store in Lenexa. It’s the latest expansion for Alexander’s business, which opened a new bicycle shop in Pittsburg in 2022.
“We’ve been talking about buying the Lenexa store for awhile, but it finally came together this summer,” Alexander said. “I’m really excited about it.”
Alexander has other ties to the store.
He first got to know the original owners of Velo+ when the store opened in 2013. Alexander runs a nonprofit that collects old bicycles to refurbish for children, and Velo+ gave donations to that effort.
He also grew up in the area around 87th and Pflumm where the store is located.
“Around every corner is a memory. I do test rides with customers past the houses of high school classmates. I know every inch of the trails there. Even the building where the store is located used to be a Blockbuster where I used to rent videos,” he said. “It’s cool to be in the old neighborhood and engaging on a different level as a business owner.”
THE LENEXA store has a well-established customer base and solid reputation among bicyclists in the Kansas City-metro region.
But it also has more competition than Alexander’s other stores. The locations in Iola and Pittsburg are the only bicycle shops for miles around.
“We need to make sure that we’re truly providing an excellent experience,” Alexander said. “The hallmark of an independent bike dealer is having a personal touch and really good customer service with experienced, knowledgeable staff. And that’s our calling card. The staff there has been in the bike industry for decades.”
The demographics for all three stores are similar. The Southwind shop sells lots of motorized “e-bikes” in Iola and Pittsburg; those bikes are also popular in the city. Alexander expects Lenexa to sell more road bikes instead of gravel bikes because there’s more pavement there. But Johnson County also has a lot of trails, similar to the Lehigh Portland trail system in Iola.
He also expects more crossover between the locations. Southwind has organized many bicycle events in Allen County, including a weekly Thursday evening bike ride and the new, first-of-its-kind Octagon Gravel Race in June. He’ll be able to promote those events to a wider audience in Kansas City.
