‘The best job anybody could have’: Fleet Bike Shop in Cleveland to close after 53 years
CLEVELAND (WJW) — If you want to be in business for a long time, you need to follow three simple rules:
First, be kind and fair to your customers.
Next, be very good at what you do.
And third, really, really like what you do.
It’s a trifecta of things that Al Zaleski has done ever since he and his dad opened the Fleet Bike Shop in 1971.
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“Bikes are easy. They’re all pretty much basically the same. The better bikes, the easier they are, because of the better quality. But some people are just hard on bikes,” Zaleski said.
And he should know. He’s worked on everything, from the heavy steel of a 1950s-era Schwinn Cruiser to the lightweight aluminum and carbon fiber of a modern Cannondale.
Bicycles have been his life.
“I don’t take days off. I don’t even take a lunch break during the day. I just work during the day, 12 hours and always on my feet,” Zaleski said.
But at age 69, Zaleski is going to close the Slavic Village landmark and finally retire. It’s not because he’s tired or just doesn’t like it anymore. He said it’s just time.
“Anybody having a job for 53 years — if they don’t retire, they’re pretty silly. To work yourself to death is no fun. It will be nice when I retire. I know a lot of customers will be calling for me to fix their bikes, but I just can’t do it. It’s over,” Zaleski said.
It may be over, but for Zaleski and his better half Marty, they kind of can’t get away from the bicycles. They live above the shop.
Every nook and cranny, from the yard to the main shop to the basement, is absolutely packed with bikes and bike parts. If you need a part for just about anything, it’s probably here.
But Zaleski said it will all have to go.
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But what won’t go is the memories and deep ties that the two have to people in their community.
“We have customers and then we have their kids, and then their kids. We’ve had generations that come in here and say, ‘My dad used to bring me in here when I was a little kid.’ Those kind of stories,” Marty Zaleski said.
But for Al and Marty, there will be new stories to tell.
They have eight grandchildren and even great-grandchildren to pamper a little more.
And for someone who has spent every day with bicycles, Al doesn’t get much chance to actually ride one — so that’s a big thing on his list.
The shop has been his life, but now he’s turning that page. But the book that is his life is full of great memories and wonderful people.
“This was the best job anybody could have. The customers that are so nice — they give me tips and tell me what a great person I am,” Al said. “Everybody knows me up and down Fleet. You can ask anybody, ‘Hey, where’s the bike man at?’ ‘It’s all the way down Fleet and he’s the best.'”
Al said they’re selling everything off and their last day will be April 30.
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