Duke’s Cycle coming home to Queen Street
Posted May 9, 2011 3:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A family business that survived two world wars, the Great Depression, and a massive fire is reopening in its original home this week.
On Thursday, Duke’s Cycle will move back to 625 Queen St. W., near Bathurst, three years after most of the heritage block burned to the ground.
After the Feb. 20, 2008 blaze, the bike shop moved to a temporary location on Richmond Street while Gary Duke, the owner and founder’s grandson, organized archaeological surveys and soil tests and worked with an architect to design the new building.
“It hasn’t been great for the business,” Duke said. “We need to get back onto Queen Street.
“The bottom line is this is where we’re from, where we’re at. My dad was born upstairs. My brother lived upstairs during the fire. This is where home is, and we need to be back here. It’s been a tough three years.”
Duke says damage to the building and inventory cost the company as much as $3 million beyond what insurance covered, and he considered not reopening.
The new, 5,000-sq.-ft., open-concept store will feature a service area, medium- to high-end bikes, as well as parts, accessories and clothes.
“It’s been a long time,” Duke said on Monday. “I’m still not home yet. I was so used to the old place – the old, creaky floors and the old, bad lights, the cobwebs and the occasional rodent. Having a new fireproof building is quite nice to have.”
With files from Cynthia Mulligan
