Jacksonville, IL Bicentennial & history of bicycles

[ogre]

Carl Keener moved his residential shop at Superior & Goltra to a large new brick showroom at 219 N East St, on the eastern edge of the burgeoning city square.

Vagt's & Superior may have co-existed briefly in the uptown business district, though I've only newspaper clipping dates to confirm.

Featuring Servi-Cycle, Schwinn, Whizzer, Cushman

1949

1959

 

[ogre]

Credit to @cyclingday on the Phantom Reference Thread for the shop photo of owner Carl Keehner and a Phantom winner:

More Superior Cycle Shop pictures and information here, and as of this writing (01/13/25), the space is indeed currently occupied by Bahan's Tavern. Stop by and show them some love if you're in the vicinity.

Then came a local BF Goodrich outlet, urban renewal, suburban exodus & Schwinn's "Total Concept Store."

 

[ogre]

Superior Cycle Shop must have done a brisk business through the 1950s.

1959

BUT by 1960, a corporate tire store chain, in a big, well-lit, new building, by the new 4-lane commercial corridor, with ample automobile parking and service, had entered the business of selling Schwinn bicycles to central Illinois baby boomers.

1960

Tough to argue with corporate-funded, flashy graphic advertisements featuring the latest Schwinn models.

And celebrity approved! Post-war midwest was ready to buy bikes!

So long as they could drive to the bicycle shop.

 

[ogre]

For many years, Jacksonville's town square sat at a crossroads of 2 major US trails, and was the center of area commerce. Bicycles were mainly sold and serviced at various surrounding shops.

Post World War II, automobile traffic increased. The local commercial corridor slowly shifted southward. First to set up shop selling bicycles on 4-lane South Main Street (US 67) was BF Goodrich. These stores featured large, bright showrooms & ample parking.

In Jacksonville in the 1960s, BF Goodrich sold Schwinns for a while. Superior Cycle Shop left the business. Eventually, BF Goodrich would, too.

 

[ogre]

Nowadays I can barely give a middleweight Schwinn away
back in the day they used to covet them at the local newspaper office

 

[ogre]

Soon, the enterprising Gotschall family opened Village Cyclery in South Jacksonville, IL.

1966

1967

1969

1979

Chicago Schwinn was way late to embrace BMX, what could go wrong?

They fudged on the mountain bike movement too?

This and more spells doom for bicycle shops in my hometown!

 

[ogre]

In my opinion, Schwinn's "Total Concept Store" was a great idea.

Perhaps, to a growing family in the 1960s, the dingy, dirty, downtown bike shops, ran by eccentrics & prone to explosion, weren't the ideal showcase for your large selection of bicycles.

(also IMO, Harley Davidson cribbed the idea with favorable effect)

 

[ogre]

1966

1978

1981 20th anniversary

1985

Superior sold Cushman, Whizzer & Servi-Cycle & Village dealt Motobecane

None could save them

 

[ogre]

Following general housing and traffic patterns, Village Cyclery opened in a newly-constructed plaza on South Main Street, which also featured a new supermarket, and lots of automobile parking.

Kresges moved to Morton Avenue and became K-Mart. Sears and other major mechants moved, too. Walmart opened a small store on the new US 36 bypass.

The local BF Goodrich closed.

Jacksonville's square, losing many businesses to automobile outflow, was further hobbled by an expensive and generally poorly-received "urban renewal" project in the 1970s.

Schwinn went into decline and eventual sale(s).

Dealer support declined. Village Cyclery pivoted to Wisconsin's Trek, but not in time or great effort to benefit from late 1990s/early 2000s mountain bike trend.

Blade sharpening, power tool service and sporadic bicycle repair did not save the business.

2017

 

[ogre]

Lots of people bought lots of great bikes in Jacksonville and forgot them, left to rot
Some were scrapped, some were saved
Owners perish, brood drive everywhere
No bike rack at local fitness club, parking lot is HUGE
Tried to keep local bike guy in work, to no avail
Now I've gotta fix my own stuff
RIP FARRELL MEANS