Talley said she and her five siblings and their parents opened the original Whitman’s location in the basement of their Dayton home in 1971, subsequently opening storefronts in Dayton, Beavercreek, West Carrollton, Englewood and Huber Heights.
She said her parents instilled in the entire family a strong work ethic and the importance of treating every customer precisely the way they would want to be treated themselves.
“I was 11 years old and building bikes,” Talley said. “We just grew up not only as kids together, but we all worked in this family business together.”
With the bicycle industry in decline by 2000 and some of her siblings opting to move to other cities or careers, the family closed its storefronts, she said.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Fast forward to 2018 and Talley said she found herself walking inside the former Bikeway Bike Shop in downtown Miamisburg only to discover that its owner was Rick John, who worked for Whitman’s in the 1990s. Talley said John requested her help at the shop on a part-time basis, an offer to which she happily agreed.
When John ended up in the hospital for emergency bypass surgery later that year, then recovering from it in the months that followed, Talley said she “jumped right back into” the bicycle business.
“The passion and the know-how still was still completely in my blood,” she said and laughed. “It was weird.”
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Last year, John told Talley he wanted to retire and have her take over the business.
“It was very important to him because he had been here for seven years and established a nice clientele that he wanted somebody who had a passion for it and he recognized that in me,” she said.
Whitman’s Bike Way Bike Shop, which opened in January, offers everything from bikes for children to electric bikes, Talley said.
“Basically, we’re just accommodating any type of rider, any type of style, so that people can just get out and have fun and exercise, get off their couches,” she said.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
It helps that Talley’s late father, Donald Whitman, grew up in Miamisburg and that the 1,800-square-foot Whitman’s Bike Way Bike Shop is only about 100 yards from one of the top bikeways in the country and in the heart of a newly resurgent downtown, Talley said.
“They have completely revitalized this town and it’s still growing by leaps and bounds,” she said. “It’s just an adorable little area to have a business.”
Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 937-384-0337 or email info@whitmansbikeshop.com.
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