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Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness started as school project

Jordan Beck | Daily Press From left, Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness Manager Garrett Marenger, Owner Matt Marenger and Assistant Manager Mickey Trottier stand behind the store’s front counter.

Editor’s note: The Daily Press features a profile of an area business each week. This week’s featured business is Mr. Bike, Ski & Fitness of Escanaba.

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By Jordan Beck

jbeck@dailypress.net

ESCANABA — While Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness has been a part of Escanaba’s business community for decades, the store wasn’t originally meant to exist in real life. Owner Matt Marenger said he and former co-owner Rich Mortl created the business as part of a high school assignment in a business class they had with teacher Dave Cannon.

“It was supposed to just be on paper, but we decided to try and turn it into something real,” Matt said. The business opened on April 1, 1985, and has been operating ever since.

At first, Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness was located in Beck Plaza.

“We were right across the street from Ernie’s Pub,” Matt said.

The business had three locations between its original location and its current location at 1016 Ludington Street.

“We bounced around a bit,” Matt said. Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness has been in its current location for 20 years.

Manager Garrett Marenger said the store sells many different products. While its selection varies from season to season, bikes, fitness equipment, skis, snowboards and snowshoes are all sold at Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness.

“We also do a lot of service — fixing bikes, tuning up skis,” he said. Additionally, the store offers a variety of informational clinics.

Products from several popular brands are available at Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness.

“All of our brands are very sought-after brands,” Matt said. Brands represented at the store include The North Face, Trek, Stormy Kromer and Smartwool, among others.

The arrival of e-commerce has had a significant impact on Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness.

“The personal side of the business grew with the dawn of … online shopping,” Garrett said.

Assistant Manager Mickey Trottier said the travel side of the business has expanded as part of this.

“We’ve been doing more adventure trips — more outings,” she said. Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness’ customers are invited to take part in these trips, which include a road bike tour, a mountain bike fest, and a trip to Mount Bohemia in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

She also noted that Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness has been working to build positive relationships with its customers.

“We’ve regained focus on each individual transaction,” Trottier said.

Along with this, Matt said that Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness is working to do good in the area.

“We have a very significant charitable outreach to the community — it’s a program called ‘Everybody Rides,'” he said. Through this program, more than 2,000 reconditioned bikes have been donated to underprivileged people.

In the future, Matt said Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness will be branching into online shopping.

“One of the plans is to have our own e-commerce … (division),” he said. This division is expected to launch this spring.

Matt thanked Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness’ employees for making the business’ success possible.

“They all have a love for the (outdoors) and a love for people,” he said.

To learn more about Mr. Bike-Ski-Fitness, visit www.mrbikeonline.com.

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