Great Lakes Bicycle Company

COVID-19 taketh away and COVID-19 giveth back. When the pandemic hit in 2020, it meant Andrew Colborne had to shut down the family business, Great Lakes Dance Academy. With nothing but time on his hands, Andrew turned his attention to making a long-time dream come true by starting the Great Lake Bicycle Company in Point Edward. "My wife and I run Great Lakes Dance Academy and because the business works with children and we do physical activity, they locked us out and said, 'Thanks for coming. You had a successful business and now you have nothing.'

'I had a long run at a bicycle shop when I was in college,' Andrew says. While attending Sheridan College in Oakville for musical theatre in the late nineties and early 2000s, Andrew was in the market for a job. 'I have always been into biking and I always wanted to work at a bike shop. The shop I landed in really changed my life. The owners really took me under their wing. They instilled into me how to run a business, how to treat customers and how to be successful in the bicycle industry.'Aside from the pandemic, Andrew has hit other snags as he tries to establish a new business. "Well, for starters, we've been open a few weeks and we're still waiting for our first shipment of bikes," Andrew says. "All my bikes were supposed to be here in the middle of March and here we are in the middle of May and I haven't received the first one yet. It's frustrating, but there's nothing you can do about it. If the company could get them here, we'd have them here. It's nobody's fault." The good news is the bikes arrived May 19.

Andrew says he wants to make his shop accessible to all levels of riders. "We're a totally friendly place to learn about bicycles and we're stoked about riding," Andrew says. "We're also stoked about the community as a whole. We're excited about what cycling brings to the community and we want to contribute to people's enjoyment of the sport."Andrew says some bike stores can be intimidating to walk into, but not Great Lakes Bicycle Company. "Our products aren't different from other shops," Andrew says. "The thing that sets us apart from everybody else is the vibe of the store. It is the care of our customers that we are focused on. We give them great service."

Andrew insists what makes his shop different from others is its philosophy. "The shop is really nice," Andrew says. "It's bright and sunny and really open. I didn't want to stuff the showroom with lots of stuff and make it overwhelming. Keeping with the beach vibe that Sarnia has in the summertime will allow people to pop their head into the store and say, 'Hey, this is really cool.'