Celebrating One Year at Piccadilly Cycles

Piccadilly Cycles (525 A Street) recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, and owners Blaine Pickett and Gus Janeway have stayed true to their mission: "To help people of any age and any fitness level make riding a bike part of their everyday life."
"Gus and I met when our kids were in kindergarten together at Helman," Blaine said. "We discovered we had a mutual love of bicycling, and in the fall of 2013 developed the plan for a bike shop focused on electric-assist and traditional bikes."
Gus and his wife Julia moved to Ashland in 1999 during a Valentine's Day snowstorm. He worked as a winemaker in the wine industry for a long time, many of them at Velocity Cellars where he developed a wine named "Velo."
"Ever since I was a kid I loved the idea that a bicycle was something you could make work with just a few simple tools, that having a bicycle was the ultimate in self-sufficiency," Gus said. "I should have known that when I insisted on producing a wine named 'Velo' that my passion would lead me to bikes as a bona-fide career. Now, I love the daily challenges of helping people achieve the self-sufficiency that comes with owning a fun, dependable bike."
Blaine and his family moved to Ashland nine years ago, attracted to the town's "easy access to trails, country roads and general outdoor activities."
"I have always been an avid cyclist and worked in several bike shops over the years," Blaine said. "When I first experienced an electric bike, I realized it had the potential to redefine what a bike shop could do for people and for a community."
The two spent a great deal of research before opening. "We wanted to be sure we were offering only bikes from reliable, established manufacturers," Blaine said. "We've chosen to be authorized dealers for Felt Electric, Haibike, and Currie IZIP electric-assist bikes, as well as bikes from two long-established traditional companies, Jamis and Breezer."
The Felt and Haibike electric-assist bikes feature an incredibly intuitive, efficient and powerful Bosch mid-drive motor system, while the IZIP bikes use more traditional but equally dependable hub motors.
The shop also does repair, service and tune-ups on all brands of both traditional and electric bikes, plus carrying a wide selection of accessories from some of the most respected names in the industry.
Service, though, is Piccadilly's main focus. "We work to understand your needs so we can figure out the best solution for you," Gus said. "We know that if you feel confident and comfortable on your bike, you will make the choice to ride more often."
For more info, the phone number is 541-482-9500. Website: piccadillycycles.com.

Thirty-five Years and Counting at Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury Books (290 E. Main Street) is celebrating 35 years in business with an "Anniversary Party" on Sunday, April 19, from 2-4pm. There will be refreshments and plenty of war stories to tell, and owners Karen Chapman and Sheila Burns will be there to lead the way.
"The year 1980 was not a good year to start a business in Ashland," Karen said. "The economy was in a slump, the Iranian hostage crisis dragged on, and there were empty storefronts along Main Street. We forged ahead, and Sheila and I, along with Denise Harnly and Nancy Peterson, decided to pool our resources and open a bookstore in the newly restored E.V. Carter house by Safeway. We had no idea whether we'd still be there a year later."
Thanks to the resourcefulness of the four ladies, Bloomsbury became extremely successful.
"We filled the old Victorian home with carefully selected titles from bestsellers to classics and started the tradition of writing review cards to call attention to our favorite reads," Sheila said. "This small beginning proved to be so popular that we soon ran out of space and moved to a larger downtown space, and by 1991 moved to our present location. We designed the store to include an area for author readings and a coffeehouse."
Over the years, Denise finally moved to Seattle, and Nancy, sadly, died far too young in 1997. And, of course, competition from the Big Box stores and online booksellers, particularly Amazon, has caused many independent stores to fail over the last decade.
But not Bloomsbury Books! "We credit our longevity to the strong support of the Southern Oregon community of readers and the devotion of book-loving tourists," Karen said. "Many of the tourists have seen their own local bookstores succumb to the pressures."
Sheila agreed. "Bloomsbury offers the book lover a carefully curated selection of titles, a browsing atmosphere with nooks and crannies, a helpful, knowledgeable staff, and the wonderful smell, feel and sight of so many books waiting to be explored," she said.
The phone number at Bloomsbury is 541-488-0029. You can also visit them at www.bloomsburyashland.com.

Brothers' To Be Renovated in November

When Dan Durant and David Newton bought Brothers' Restaurant (95 N. Main) in 2007, they pretty much knew they were buying an Ashland institution. It began in 1976 as a delicatessen with a deli counter, then expanded into a full-fledged restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Along the way, it garnered a loyal following of both locals and out-of-towners.
"We moved to town in 1993 and purchased Country Willows B&B Inn, which we owned until 2004," said Dan, who has a background in restaurants. "After serving breakfast to 18+ guests a day for eleven years at the Inn, I needed to re-invent myself and knew that being self-employed was a must. David's qualifications in this business are that he's been eating breakfast for decades and continues to be the official taste-tester."
David is actually a retired professor and has been a science writer for many years. Dan was a systems administrator for a major law firm in the Bay Area, while also taking classes at the California Culinary Academy.
Brothers' is now their full-time passion. "After purchasing the restaurant, I quickly realized the Brothers' menu was pretty solid and the loyal following didn't want me to mess with it," Dan said. "So I tweaked some things and made them my own, but where I get to be creative is with our specials. We both travel a lot and have lots of opportunities to stay current with what's hot and trendy. I also read all of the major cooking magazines, which leads to some creative options. The weekly specials are updated on our website every Sunday."
If you want to get the specials sent to you every week, simply like them on Facebook.
"We like to think of our customers as family," Dan said. "We are so grateful for the growing number of regular customers. It's like the Cheers show, where everybody knows your name."
The big news is that Dan and David have bought the building, which is in need of a long-overdue facelift.
"We are currently working with an architect with plans to renovate the second floor," Dan said. "Plans include installing some earthquake measures and restoring the exterior to the original 1888 photos we have inside the restaurant. Renovations are planned for November 2015. Wish us luck."
For more info, the phone number is 541-482-9671. Website: brothersrestaurant.net.

A Guarantee from Squeeky Clean

The road to becoming owners of Squeeky Clean Window & Exterior Cleaning was a smooth one for Kiva and Heather Schreiber. After graduating from high school in Coos Bay, Kiva was doing some volunteer work and met a friend who was a window cleaner.
"Donna had been cleaning windows for longer than I had been alive," Kiva said. "During the summer of 1991, she told me she was moving to California and asked if I would like to take over her business. How could I turn her down?"
During training, Kiva got to meet every customer Donna had. "She taught me a lot more than how to clean windows," he said. "She taught me how to care about what is important to people. I'm happy to say that I still clean for many of those same businesses and customers over twenty years later. What a privilege it has been to clean for such loyal, good-hearted customers."
In 1998 Kiva married Heather and she joined him in the business. In 2012 they moved the family to the Rogue Valley to be closer to Heather's family. Their son Jayden also helps with some of the storefront windows.
"I love seeing happy customers who feel that they and their home have been given the best treatment," Kiva said. "But of every quality that I feel a window cleaner needs to have, being absolutely trustworthy tops them all. It has been my priority since 1991. We even have a $1,000 'Trustworthy or Totally Free Guarantee,' in which if a person feels we're not trustworthy, they won't have to pay a penny up to $1,000."
Kiva feels he's built his reputation using the most effective and green cleaning methods he can find, as well as being very reasonable in his pricing.
"Customers can expect a beautiful job cleaning their windows, home exterior, or concrete," he said. "We treat everyone with respect, we take utmost care of their windows, furniture and belongings, and we carry liability insurance for every service we offer. We've also received the Angie's List Super Service Award for window cleaning and pressure washing for the last two years."
The phone number at Squeeky Clean is 541-646-5081. Website: ashlandwindowcleaning.com.