Still spinning

Cahaba Cycles celebrates 40 years

By NEAL EMBRY

Forty years ago, Faris Malki’s father, Kal, went to a bike shop to purchase a bike for Faris’s sister.

That day, Kal made an agreement with a salesperson, Norman Lowrey, to open up what became Cahaba Cycles, with its first location in the Cahaba Heights neighborhood of Vestavia Hills. The store opened in an old Western Supermarket, run by Lowrey and the Malkis.

The store moved to its current location on Cahaba Heights Road near Satterfield’s in 2008, said Faris Malki, who now runs the shop.

In the last 40 years, the store has expanded to include locations in Cahaba Heights, Gadsden, Oak Mountain, Trussville and Homewood.

Malki grew up working at the store over the summer before taking a job in the IT world. He can still remember the “super sale” the store would have in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There would be a line out the door and around the block. While it was “really hectic,” it was worth it. The store would make as much money that weekend as they normally would in two or three months, he said.

Around 2002, Malki moved back and began helping his parents run the business. He knew he wanted to eventually own a business of his own. After a few years of helping them, he bought the business in 2016.

The bike shop offers a level of service and hospitality not seen in much of the retail world, Malki said. They don’t just sell bicycles, but also service the bikes and offer one-on-one consulting. There are a “lot of hands” on customer service, he said. Employees are able to help customers find a good place to ride and outfit them with what they need.

Malki wears a lot of hats, he said, in the running of Cahaba Cycles. He oversees the company’s technology, finances and more, but he isn’t alone.

“I have a really good team at every store,” he said.

Each store has its own story, Malki said.

In Homewood, Cahaba Cycles bought what was previously Homewood Cycle and Fitness. The store enjoys a noticeable spot on the busy 18th Street and also puts on the Tour de Cahaba every July. The race is a multi-distance bike ride that begins at the Homewood store and visits each Cahaba location. Distances include a 64-mile, 45-mile, 35-mile, 20-mile, 10-mile

Cahaba Cycles

► WHERE: 3179 Cahaba Heights Road

► HOURS: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday

► CALL: 205-967-2003

► WEB: cahabacycles.com and a family fun ride. Each year, the event draws about 800 participants, who also participate in an after-party and cook out, Malki said.

The internet has changed every business, including Cahaba Cycles, since it came into existence around 40 years ago, Malki said. The store has experienced all of the changes that have come with it, moving from physical catalogs to online shopping pages.

“The internet has presented a lot of challenges, but it’s provided us a lot of opportunity as well,” Malki said.

The bikes offered by Cahaba Cycles have also changed over the years, Malki said. When the store first started, there were two or three kids’ models and 10-speed bikes. Now, there’s roughly 30 different categories of bikes sold by the business, he said, from road bikes to fitness bikes and more.

“It’s just a lot more to manage now,” he said.

The biggest growth area in the bicycle world is for electric bikes, or e-bikes, which includes a lithium battery and small motor to allow cyclists to get up hills quicker, Malki said. It can double or triple power and takes away barriers to cycling, he said.

Being at Cahaba Cycles throughout the years has been a joy, he said. Coaching other team members and leaning on them lends itself to great camaraderie, he said.

“I just love the team environment that we have,” Malki said.

During the pandemic, the store was one of few that may have benefited. With many seeking new activities outside, the bike business was booming, Malki said.

“The volume we encountered was just off the charts,” he said.

In the future, Malki said the store is “doubling down” its focus on customers, growing its e-commerce business and pushing to be the premier e-bike provider in the state of Alabama.

Forty years later, biking is an easy sell for Malki.

“It’s such a worthwhile product,” Malki said. “It’s good for your health, good for the environment.”

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Schedule

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE

If you ever find yourself wishing you had an extra set of hands to help with the day-to-day tasks of life, a new business recently launched to do just that.

After spending 20 years working as a personal advisor and corporate business consultant to global C-suite executives, Edgewood resident Sarah Robinson learned that the most important thing is having the freedom to focus on who and what matters most.

“I've witnessed firsthand the deep desire of busy professionals and community leaders to be fully present with their families while remaining highly dedicated to their work,” Robinson said. “I feel like all of the business experience and life experience of things I’ve gotten to do have fed into being able to see how this business can really succeed as a service to other people.”

She recently launched HUM Executive Concierge and Lifestyle Management Agency to make that freedom available to more people. Her goal is to handle details and allow her clients to bring balance and ease to their work, home and life.

“People are struggling and are so overwhelmed trying to manage way too many things,” she said. “Their quality of life and well-being is suffering from what they do in the world.”

Robinson grew up in Evergreen and moved to the Mountain Brook area when she was 15. She is a graduate of Altamont and member of Mountain Brook Baptist Church and lived in a handful of cities before coming back to the area to raise her children.

After discussing the concierge concept with a friend, Robinson researched similar businesses in other cities and came to realize there wasn’t anything like it in the Birmingham area.

“Few people are doing parts of it, but this whole all encompassing one-stop place to get all the kinds of support you need, I could not find,” she said. “Being an entrepreneur at heart, when I see a great business married with great business opportunity with something I think is super fun. … I understand what it takes to make all those pieces come together.”

The more Robinson talked to people about the concept, she saw their excitement and her own growing.

“I love giving people that freedom and bringing back that balance to work and home and just life in general, and helping people bring back the enjoyment of their day-to-day life,” she said.

After Robinson began to look at the concept in January, HUM Concierge was up and running in March. Robinson said their services are for anyone, from a busy executive with kids who finds it hard to work, manage the house and run errands, to an active community volunteer on a board or a busy mom trying to do all the things.

Robinson has a “bench” of people with different skill sets that she pulls from to help in specific situations, from a tech guru who can set up new computers and create a smart home, to another who is skilled in helping seniors with their needs. However, she still does a lot of the jobs herself in order to build the right systems and processes for her client base.

She offers a free consultation call with her clients to discuss their priorities and what they want their life to look like and what they can hand off to achieve those goals. She describes it as “a life coach with services.”

“We are creators of time for our clients,” she said.

Options include purchasing hourly packages of 5, 10 or 15, which can be used over a 90-day period. Membership packages are also available and bring a higher level of service and priority for last-minute things.

Robinson said her vision is for her company to be really high-touch — the opposite of a nameless, faceless app. She wants to build relationships with her clients and understand their preferences.

HUM Concierge is currently serving clients in Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Homewood and Vestavia Hills. When the demand comes in, Robinson said she will begin to expand to other areas.

“I’m just excited to see the difference we can make for people,” she said. “I want to see people being able to breathe and relax a little and be able to focus a little better, because they’ve handed off all the things that are taking up space in the back of their brain so they are able to really be present for who and what matters most.”

For more information on packages and services, visit humconcierge.com.