Hi everyone,
I'm writing from the Cycles of Change APC Bike Shop in Alameda, California (near Oakland, CA). Cycles of Change APC is a *not-for-profit community bicycle shop* which opened in July 2006. It is a collaboration between Cycles of Change, a 10 year old East Bay youth bike education non-profit, and Alameda Point Collaborative (APC), a non-profit which manages housing and services for a 200 unit residential community comprised of 500 formerly homeless adults and families. Our website is: www.apcollaborative.org/cyclesbikes.htm
We are thinking about how to generate additional revenue for the shop. Currently we're selling and repairing bikes to bring in revenue. We're also partially supported by grants. One idea that we had was to create a membership program which would enable people to use our community repair shop, get discounts at our shop, and provide discounts to other bike shops in the area as well.
I'd especially like to hear from other programs with membership programs you've started. How much does it cost? What does it provide? Does any other group have experience with providing discounts to other shops? How big has your membership grown? How do you promote it?
Thank you,
Evan Lovett-Harris Cycles of Change APC 510-898-7830