George Garner, Sr. Photo courtesy of Garner family.
NORTHBROOK — To three generations of Northbrook residents, George Garner, Sr., was the man who sold them their first bicycle.
To the cycling industry, Garner was the person who created the modern bike shop.
Garner, a longtime resident of Northbrook and owner of George Garner Cyclery in the village since 1965, died Oct. 2 at 93.
“We have people who come in the store to buy a bike or buy a bike for their children and say, ‘this is where I got my first bike,’” said George Garner, Jr., Garner’s son. “We’re serving our third generation of customers.”
George Garner, Jr., and Jim O’Connell, George Garner, Sr.’s nephew and George Garner, Jr.’s, cousin, run the company run other owner today, according to George Garner, Jr.
One of George Garner, Sr.’s prime business priorities was customer service and he put it into what he did with his shops, according to his son. George Garner, Jr., said his father put a priority into relationship building.
“He said, ‘anyone can beat you on price but they can’t beat you on customer service,” said George Garner, Jr. “That’s the most important thing. If you do that they’ll keep coming back.”
The company currently operates shops in Libertyville and Lake Zurich as well as Northbrook.
George Garner, Sr., moved from California, where he opened his first shop in 1947, to the Chicago area at the invitation of the Schwinn Bicycle Company but he landed in Northbrook to raise his family because of his wife, Barbara Garner, a Glenview native.
When George Garner, Sr., first started in the industry in 1947 bicycles were often sold as a sidelight in hardware stores or hobby shops, according to George Garner, Jr. He said his father had different ideas.
“He started the kind of store we see today,” said George Garner, Jr. “He created a very well lit, well merchandised store which showed off the product.”
Praise did not only come from Garner’s son. Jay Townley, an industry expert was quoted in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News as calling George Garner, Sr., the person responsible for putting bike shops on the main streets of America.
“He was a true change agent who was able to influence the Schwinn Bicycle Company to change the shop paradigm to a whole new level that is just now shifting again,” Townley said in an email to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. “Garner’s influence lasted 50 years.”
George Garner did so well as a Schwinn retailer the company asked him to move to Chicago and work as a consultant. He set up the ideal shop for all Schwinn dealers to use as a model, according to George Garner, Jr. He did very well.
“He was the No. 1 Schwinn dealer for 17 years running,” said George Garner, Jr.
The Northbrook site was picked because the community had a large number of families and a more active community than many of the other suburbs, according to a newspaper article of the day provided by George Garner, Jr.
When George Garner, Sr., got to Chicago to consult for Schwinn, he met the future Barbara Garner, according to George Garner, Jr.
“My mother was from Glenview and Northbrook gave us a chance to be close to her family,” said George Garner, Jr. “It was a great town to grow up in, great schools.”
A memorial will be held for George Garner, Sr., from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, at N.H. Scott Hanekamp Funeral Home in Glenview.