Editor's Note: Since this story was written and published, it was announced that Fridrich Bicycle will permanently close in August.
Owning and operating the family bicycle shop wasn’t part of the plan for Chuck Fridrich. Despite spending time working in the shop as a child, he didn’t grow up dreaming of carrying on the family business, but when his father passed away in 1992, that became his reality. Since then, he’s been the caretaker of Cleveland’s bicycle enthusiasts at his Ohio City shop on Lorain Avenue. As Fridrich now looks to step away, Cleveland Magazine paid him a visit at his shop to discuss the past, present and future of Fridrich Bicycle.
"When I was a kid, my dad used to bring me down here. We lived in Lakewood, and I started coming down here when I was 8 or 9 years old. I had three brothers and a sister.
Saturdays and Sundays were good times for us to come, and actually just mess around. We’re just kids, we really weren’t doing much except getting in everybody’s way. After a while, you start to kind of get into it a little bit. You know where things are. Maybe you grab a broom and start sweeping, or if he needs a box moved, I knew where it had to go.
After a while, you maybe answered the phone, or actually talked to some kids that came in wanting to buy a baseball glove. We used to have a sporting goods department over there, which I immediately pronounced myself the manager because I was into baseball.
Slowly but surely I got into bikes because you have to be knowledgeable in order to take care of a customer when it comes to a bike sale.
It was 1992. My father was 75. He had an apartment right up above the shop. And he passed away up there in his little apartment.
The company attorney, who was very close to my dad, walked me over to that window and said, 'You know, there’s really nobody else here to do this, you’re gonna have to run this place.' And of course, that was not part of my life’s plan.
There’s a fine line between learning and injecting your own ideas into something, especially in a situation like this. My brain told me to do something. And yet, I knew we were doing it another way for many, many years. So, I went along with the program.
I realized that, 'Hey, I think I’ve got a better idea.' And that was the adjustment period that I had to go through, learning to trust myself.
I made mistakes. But the one thing I never had any problem with was getting along with the customers. I’m a people person. I like people, and I enjoy taking care of their problems.
People are easy to get along with if you give yourself a shot. That’s why I feel like I’ve been successful here. Because I just get along with everybody.
As the years rolled along, I injected more and more of my own thinking. I accepted what my employees had to say, too, if they had good thoughts, good ideas, and they showed me that this would work.
One lady in particular who was with me for 23 or 24 years. Her name was Jane Alley. She was here and helped me when I was sick, stepped up to the plate. I can honestly say that without Jane and her influence on this business, Fridrich’s would not be here today. I’m sure of it.
One of my dad’s employees who used to run the bike room. He was interested in harness racing at the old Grandview track, at Painesville fairgrounds, and the newly built Northfield. He asked me if I’d like to go out with him one night.
I was bored out of my mind. I couldn’t believe how slow the action was. That quickly changed. Now, I’m a die-hard harness fan. I own horses. I visited the winner’s circle many times at Northfield. And now, I’m about ready to get back in. I go to the races four nights per week."
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