SALT LAKE CITY — A popular Salt Lake City bike shop is shutting down, but the hope is that by selling everything, it'll help save a piece of the planet.
“I'll miss this terribly, but it's just, it's just time to go,” said Cris Pereira, owner of Cranky's.
Pereira has seen much of the world on his bike.
“It's cheaper," he said. "You smell things, you see things, you can stop at places where normally you can't, people are friendlier to you. You're more approachable, you're less threatening. It's just the coolest thing ever.”
After getting injured while full-time racing, Pereira began working in bike shops before opening Cranky's 10 years ago.
“It's kind of a play on words with, you know, bicycle crank and my short temper,” he explained.
On Monday, sale stickers are on every bike, helmet and tire in the shop as Pereira gets set to close one of the few independently-owned bike shops in town.
“I'm selling at a huge loss. Even. I even have a bank ready to loan the money because they have my financials," Pereira explained. "The shop is profitable. Haven't been able to find anybody to take over because I really didn't wanna see it, you know, get it picked apart and dismantled and not be a thing.”
But the shop closing its doors is not the end of the road. Once all the bikes are sold, Pereira will take the profits and shift into a new gear.
”I'm trying to basically secure as much land as I can to protect it forever. It'll never be developed, trees will never be cut down, always be there,” he shared.
While on a recent bikepacking trip, Pereira decided to buy a piece of land in Costa Rica next to a national park. With a trust, he now plans to protect the green corridor forever.
Regular customers are sad to see Cranky’s go, but are impressed by Pereira's choice..
[brian “noel” packer, salt lake city]
"Being able to take the momentum of something like this, a bike shop that's been successful for, you know, many years now in Salt Lake, it's very iconic, and then kind of taking that into a passion project, I think that's a really cool opportunity for Cris and glad he's taking it," said Brian "Noel" Packer.
Moving forward, it will be tough for bikers to find another shop like Cranky’s.
“I feel like they just really listen to what I'm looking for and they weren't just trying to sell me a bike," explained Emily Plante. "And it just feels a lot more customized and comfortable and I feel like I trust them, they really know what they're talking about. So you worry that you're not gonna find that in a chain store.”
Saying goodbye to the Cranky’s crew and customers won’t be easy, but Pereira says he’s ready to ride into the next chapter of his life.
“My bags are mentally packed," he revealed. "I'm ready to, yeah, start driving south.”
