Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop will expand in May with the opening of a storefront in Hamtramck. The store will offer additional retail space, while the flagship store in Detroit’s Rivertown neighborhood will continue to serve as the primary location for tours and rentals.
“We see the two Wheelhouse locations complementing one another,” says Kelli Kavanaugh, owner of Wheelhouse Detroit. “The Riverfront spot will continue to be the anchor for greater downtown residents and workers … (while) our Hamtramck location offers more retail space to increase our inventory of bicycles, accessories, gear, clothing, and a larger service department.”
Kavanaugh says the Hamtramck store, to be located at 9401 Joseph Campau Ave. (at the corner of Florian Street), will carry brands including Detroit Bikes, Sun Bicycles, Kona Bikes, Brooklyn Bicycle Co., Origin8, and Opus Bike. She says the store will also carry accessories from brands such as Green Guru, Chrome Industries, Banjo Brothers, Timbuk2, Park Tools, Topeak, and Saris, among others. Wheelhouse Detroit also has a service department offering weekly special orders for customers.
“The new, larger store will have 2,600 square feet of space to showcase bicycles, accessories, and active wear,” Kavanaugh says. “It will highlight brands that are made in the U.S. and feature products that are unavailable elsewhere in the metro Detroit region.”
Wheelhouse Detroit is working with the Grosse Pointe Park-based architecture firm Christian-Hurttienne Architects and Detroit-based neon sign designer Signifier Signs on the expansion.
Wheelhouse Detroit, founded in 2008, offers bike tours out of its Rivertown store, located at 1340 Atwater St., with themes including architecture, music, public art, and automotive heritage, as well as tours of neighborhoods including Eastern Market, Corktown, and Hamtramck.​
