Owners Rob and Sandra McMurdo said the decision to move the 80-year-old business had been one they had been mulling over for years and was not an easy one to make.
Putting the customer experience and business’ needs first ultimately became the catalyst to move to Deveron St.
While city residents had become accustomed to the shop’s location, he believed the move was a positive change.
“It was like any home that you’ve been in for more than a couple of years — you become part of it.
“This has been my life of 44 years … and knowing the buck finished with me, made me lose some sleep,” Mr McMurdo said.
The overall floor area was similar on both sites.
But the Deveron St store was on one level, had a larger shop display area and 12 off-street customer carparks outside the door.
“I’m hoping families would be able to bike to us now, where they can’t here [in Tay St].”
Electric bike models, that were between 10kg-20kg heavier than a road bike, would not need to be carried to upper mezzanine storage.
“I used to love the stairs, but since e-bikes have come — no. You’d walk out the back and there’d be 16-17 bikes to go upstairs.”
“Road bikes you could take [upstairs] all day, but e-bikes you’re buggered by the end of the day … and I’m only a wee fella.”
Staff were completely supportive of the move.
While moving was always on the cards, they had hoped to stay on a main route. Finding the Deveron St site was a chance encounter last year.
“Moving off the main road was quite a concern, but the more you looked into it, the more it had benefits.”
An Invercargill City Council heritage building report says the Victorian classical-style brick building was constructed circa 1878 and was a tier2 site of local significance.
It was originally occupied by Thompson and Beattie Taylors.
The Tay St cycle shop originally opened in 1945 by Jack Wensley and later incorporated a neighbouring dress shop.
It was sold in 1991 to Mr McMurdo’s lease owners, whom he bought the business from in 2007.
The building had not changed since he started as an after-school employee before his fulltime apprenticeship started.
He was a solid fan of character buildings and particularly liked to see all the street’s activity.
“It’s a lovely old building.
“It’s a lovely site with people going past, a lot of foot traffic, lots of cars coming and going … vintage cars and classic cars coming through — we’ll miss all that sort of stuff.”
— Toni McDonald
