Marketing student takes fast track to open Fredonia bike shop

Nobody can suggest bicycle enthusiast Lucas Natali was “coasting” in the final lap in his educational journey at Fredonia.

Instead, the Buffalo native picked up the pace in the spring, opening a muchneeded bicycle shop in Fredonia and helping to organize the inaugural Central Connection Bicycle Ride that was a rousing success, while staying on track to complete coursework for a B.S. in Business Administration: Marketing.

“SUNY Fredonia planted the foundation for me to turn my passion for cycling into a business opportunity for [the village of] Fredonia,” said Mr. Natali, who brought seven years of bicycle technician experience in Buffalo to his shop. He planned to open Fredonia Cycling after graduation, but was motivated and prepared to advance the date.

Fredonia Cycling storefront with a display of bikes for sale.

A Business capstone course, taught by Associate Professor Susan McNamara, was a major influence in launching Fredonia Cycling. In the hands-on course, students on mock teams create businesses and deal with real-world challenges. His team, not coincidentally, focused on opening Healthy Pedals, a bike shop that also sold healthy smoothies.

“I wanted to open a bike shop, so I said, ‘why not do this.’ Everyone liked the idea, so we stuck with it and branched off from there,” Natali recalled. In fact, the designated location for Healthy Pedals was around the corner from 8 Park Place, where Fredonia Cycling opened its doors.

“We took on situations in the class that would mimic the real world,” Natali explained, addressing operations and supply chains, among other matters. His team earned the most points in the class, so it’s no surprise Natali says he would also carry healthy smoothies if his shop had enough room.

Natali also took an upper-level accounting course, taught by Associate Professor Lei Huang, that provides the opportunity for students to correspond with businesses and apply the strategic marketing process to practical business situations and not-for-profit organizations.

It didn’t take long for Fredonia President Stephen H. Kolison Jr., who remembers bicycles as the primary means of student transportation when he was in graduate school, to meet Natali, initially at an Ultimate Frisbee event last spring.

“When he told me that he had opened a store in the area, that piqued my interest,” President Kolison explained. He was impressed with Natali’s entrepreneurial experience and decision to locate a new business in Fredonia, where it can provide a valuable service and have an economic impact, instead of elsewhere.

Kolison checked out Natali’s shop, learning about hybrid bikes, which are either pedal- or battery-powered, and fully electric bikes, and other services. “I said I liked that one,” Kolison said, pointing to an electric Biria bike, “and asked if he maybe could get that in the Fredonia colors of blue and white,” he said.

Fredonia President Stephen H. Kolison Jr. checks out an electric bike with Fredonia Cycling owner Lucas Natali.

“It is quite impressive for all of us to see the impact that he is having on the community, setting up a business, benefitting the village,” Kolison added.

Fredonia Cycling specializes in vintage bikes and restoration work and carries new bikes such as Biria bikes, commuters and road bikes.

“I could tell, talking to the local cycling community, that Fredonia needed a bike shop,” Natali explained. “The closest bike shop is 45 to 50 miles away, in Buffalo or in Jamestown.”

Fredonia Cycling’s primary demographic is 25-to-45-year-olds, though that could change when Fredonia’s fall semester opens. Business—particularly labor-intensive repair work—has been very good.

Natali employs two technicians who do “the grunt work, cleaning and running cables,” as Natali once did, while Natali does fine tuning and touches every bike that comes into the shop. “I’m looking forward to them growing with the shop, becoming great bike technicians.”

Natali said he wouldn’t have been in the position to open a business without core subjects and related School of Businesses courses. “And I think because I had to take classes outside of my major in marketing—accounting and economics—those courses gave me more of an understanding of how other parts of businesses work.”