Around the same time as it was getting ready to open a new location in Bethel, Allspeed Cyclery & Snow was working to finalize a deal for a larger space for its Portland shop.
“The amenities at the new location — the larger parking lot, nearby green trails and increased square footage — will be more efficient for a more client-focused experience,” Allspeed’s owner, Chris Carleton, said in a news release.
Carleton owns Muscle City Investment LLC, which bought 936 Brighton Ave. from Brighton/Portland LLC. The list price was $2.236 million.
Joe Malone and Jennifer Small of Malone Commercial Brokers and Chris Paszyc and Nick Lucas of the Boulos Co. brokered the transaction.
The 11,180-square-foot retail building, at Nason’s Corner adjacent to the Westbrook shopping district, about triples the company’s current Portland space at 127 Marginal Way.
Buildout at 936 Brighton Ave. is underway. Once complete, Allspeed will move from the Marginal Way store to occupy all but 2,000 square feet of the former Rite Aid building.
Another former Rite Aid building, on Forest Avenue in Portland, is being converted to an architecture office by WBRC Inc.Â
For Allspeed, the new space will include a showroom and full-service bike repair center, and the unused space will be available for lease to a compatible business. Its events, such as its annual bike sale, will also now have more room for participants to interact and test out equipment.Â
Allspeed rents and sells bicycles, skis and accessories. Earlier this month, it opened a location in Bethel at 38 West Bethel Road.Â
The company also has a location in Carrabassett Valley at Sugarloaf.Â
Allspeed was founded in 1990 by Portland mountain biker Gary Buch, who was responsible for many early mountain bike trails in the area and was among the first in Maine to lead weekly group mountain bike rides. Buch was an avid telemark skier and was into backcountry skiing decades before it hit the mainstream.Â
Buch sold Allspeed to Carleton in 2009.