Mineola Bicycle Still Peddling After 76 Years

You may hate this winter, what with the , the subsequent snowstorms, this week’s wintry mix and more snow in the forecast (and we’re only in mid-January).

But for some businesses, blizzards mean bonanzas.

That's true for (a.k.a. Mineola Bike), which is having a banner 2010-2011 winter season. Although the company did not want to divulge the exact number, they are on pace to sell more than 1,000 snow throwers this winter. “And February is traditionally the snowiest month,” manager Barry Dworkin, said, almost anticipating with delight the next wave of customers.

The third-generation business was founded in 1935 by brothers Ben and Seymour Rosman, who opened a small bicycle shop (Mineola Bicycle Service) on the corner of Mineola Boulevard and Jericho Turnpike. In 1958, the business moved to a brand new building at the present location at the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Beebe Road.

The business is still in family hands. Barry’s aunt, Audrey Meinking, is Rosman’s niece. She and her husband Ed work at the store while Barry’s sister Danielle also lends a hand. The business has evolved over the years to include lawn movers, snow blowers and exercise equipment. While bicycles and related equipment are still the staples, snow throwers are their big seller during the winter, Dworkin said.

Where Mineola Bike really separates itself is in the parts and repair side of the business. Whether it is the 50 or so landscaping businesses that regularly use Mineola Bike for equipment repairs and supplies during the spring, summer and fall seasons, or the snow-removal businesses that require service and parts in the winter, Mineola Bike has a vast inventory of parts to satisfy businesses and individuals all-year long.

Of course, business in the winter, unlike the other seasons, is largely contingent on the weather.

“If it doesn’t snow, and we had three winters in a row not too long ago when we hardly had any snow, January and February could be dead here,” Dworkin said. “A snow thrower is an item you only buy when it snows.”

Nearly 20 inches fell on Mineola the day after Christmas, including blowing and drifting. In other words, it was a perfect storm for Mineola Bike. The store normally opens at 11 a.m. on Sundays, but with a blizzard warning in effect that beginning at 6 a.m. that day, the principals decided to open the store at 8 a.m.

From the time the store opened until closing eight hours later, the lines zigzagged around the store nearly to the repair shop in the back.

“You have to remember, it was the first real snow of the year and so we were fully stocked,” Dworkin said. “We sold out that day.”

Mineola Bike, the largest single-store Toro dealer on Long Island, has grown in many areas over the years, including road bikes. Last spring, former employee and bicycling enthusiast Dan Aviles established a cycling club through Mineola Bike that now consists of 15 regulars.

Dworkin considers it good publicity and branding for a store that really needs no introduction for Mineola residents. 

“We are very diversified in our business, and I think you have to be,” he said. “If we were just a bicycle store, it would be hard to compete.”