Hometown Palmer business excited for expansion

PALMER — After four years on the corner of Arctic Avenue and North Alaska Street, Backcountry Bike and Ski is moving. But fans of the popular Palmer bike shop won’t have to look far to find the store’s new location.

Owner Tony Berberich is taking his business across Arctic Avenue, setting up next to the Pioneer Motel, kitty-corner from his old spot. Berberich and his wife purchased the building two years ago and have wanted to expand as they continue to learn about their business.

“One thing I have learned, it’s not my bike shop, it’s the community’s bike shop,” Berberich said Friday as he prepared for the Tuesday debut of the new store.

That sense of community has been important to Berberich and helped fuel the desire to expand his business. In addition to carrying mountain bikes, road bikes and accessories, Berberich and his staff build and maintain bikes and host workshops about riding and maintaining bicycles.

Interacting with customers in this variety of ways is part of what attracts Berberich to the business, he said.

“All the people that come in I really enjoy talking with,” Berberich said.

Berberich said the new shop will have about the same amount of square footage as the old store, but is situated better and will provide a more comfortable setting for customers.

It’ll almost be like a clubhouse for people into bikes, Berberich said. Sort of a Palmer Cheers with cycles, not suds.

“A lot of people come in here to talk bikes,” Berberich said. “It’ll be a cool place to hang out.”

A small bar has even been installed to give the store’s customers a place to sit and pass the time.

“It’s a place to hang out, BS and still keep working on bicycles,” Berberich said.

The store’s displays are all on wheels and can be easily moved to make room for clinics and workshops. Berberich said the new Backcountry even has an 8-foot movie screen with a high-definition overhead projector to host bike and ski movie premieres.

Just something more to offer the community.

Backcountry also has more than just bicycles. The store carries Nordic skis and is a dealer of popular brands such as Black Diamond.

To cater to the winter outdoors enthusiasts, Backcountry will carry cross-country skis, snowboard and backcountry gear. Berberich said Backcountry will carry about three times more this winter.

Berberich has the support of the local mountain biking and road racing communities, but said he’s also thankful to have the support of the local skiing community. The support of influential ski families, such as the Strabels, has been important to the growth of his business.

The Palmer community is ideal for this type of business, he said, with a bevy of options for the local rider or skier. Backcountry sponsors a competitive road racing team and Berberich hopes to also sponsor races in the future.

Berberich is not just the owner, but also one of three full-time employees. He said the employees, Josh Berberich and Erin Kessler, also deserve much of the credit for the store’s success.

Berberich is a lifelong Palmer resident and is proud to own a little piece of his hometown. He can recall a time when his new building was actually a Texaco gas station. There was a BMX bicycle track nearby, and Berberich remembers going to the Texaco to have his bike worked on.

Since its days as a Texaco, the building has been home to a service station, liquor store and most recently a fireplace shop.

Berberich said there are plans to expand. He’d like to put a second story on the building and has an easement to add eight parking places to the property. But he also wants to keep the character of the old store.

“It depends on what the community wants really,” Berberich said.

Backcountry will open the doors on its new store Tuesday. Regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The store has a bunch of giveaways planned, including a new bicycle. For more, see mountainbikealaska.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.