Blenheim bike shop finds new target market through courthouse customers
AvantiPlus Blenheim owner Danijel Duvnjak says he can help people who have lost their driver's licence get to work.
An influx of customers in a particular pickle has bike shop owners in Blenheim considering a new target market.
AvantiPlus Blenheim owners Marije and Danijel Duvnjak have joked they might start standing outside the courthouse advertising "lose-your-licence" deals for people who suddenly need a bicycle.
Danijel Duvnjak said he had sold about eight to 10 bikes in the past year to people who had their licence cancelled or restricted, "without even pushing the market".
A new bike path is being added to Eltham Road, in Blenheim.
The couple first noticed the trend shortly after taking over the Blenheim bike business in April 2016.
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"When people lose their licence they need another way of getting to work, because otherwise they're screwed," Marije Duvnjak said.
Danijel Duvnjak takes an electric cargo bike out for a spin at Marlborough's Earth Day Party with 5-year-old passenger Oliver De Zwart.
"It started with quite a few customers from Nelson who heard that we were focusing mainly on e-bikes.
"They ventured in here asking for electric bikes because they lost their licence due to speeding ... I didn't connect the dots initially. It was quiet funny to notice."
The Duvnjaks had even thought about approaching the Blenheim District Court, or lawyers and judges, to see if they would tell defendants about their bike options.
One of their customers, who did not want to be named, said she bought an e-bike from AvantiPlus after she lost her licence for six months.
"I had a drink at a friend's house, thought I was fine to drive home and then it turned out I was just over the limit," she said.
"I bought an e-bike as I'm too far out of town to walk to work, and I'm not fit enough to get a normal bike.
"Plus, I sometimes start early and finish late, so I couldn't rely on my husband to drive me everywhere."
After adding in other factors, she realised biking to work was "really cool".
"I'll still use the bike when I get my licence back," she said.
"There's nothing better than cycling to work on a nice morning, it's so rewarding.
"It takes 15 minutes to drive to work in peak-hour traffic, but the same amount of time to cycle."
But the Duvnjaks noticed defendants weren't the only clients forced to consider cycling.
One of their customers, Kaylene Mooiman, bought an electric cargo tricycle after undergoing brain surgery.
"I had a brain bleed, then brain surgery, and afterwards I was told I was not allowed to drive for six months," Mooiman said.
"The bike is fantastic. It's an e-bike, so it stops fatigue, which is important after brain surgery, and it's a cargo bike, so it can carry up to 100 kilograms.
"I will absolutely keep cycling the same bike around town, even when I can start driving again."
With increasing cycle infrastructure in Blenheim, it made sense for people to ride a bike as part of their daily lives, Danijel Duvnjaks said.
The Duvnjaks said they hoped Blenheim would some day introduce a bike library which would allow residents to borrow bikes.
"It would be lovely to have employers who start thinking about their staff in a different way, to keep them healthy and active," Marije Duvnjak said.
"That's why [Blenheim] should have a bike library because that would include a four-times-a-year maintenance, and that would be handy, because people could keep cycling to work.
"I think, in the end, people need to start considering transport in a different matter, because there is such a thing as congestion."
- The Marlborough Express
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