UPPER WEST SIDE — If new bike racks appear at West 76th Street and Broadway this fall, cyclists can thank Eastern Mountain Sports.
The outdoor gear store is opening a store inside the brand new Laureate apartment building in September. While construction workers are building the retail space, Eastern Mountain Sports NYC Market Manager Alan Ando is building connections in the neighborhood.
That's where the bike racks come in. Ando is on a mission to make Eastern Mountain Sports into a good neighbor, so he's reached out to community groups to see how EMS can contribute to local causes.
Ando's Google search of "Upper West Side" and "community" turned up Upper West Side Streets Renaissance, a group that advocates for safer streets for cyclists and pedestrians. Group leaders told Ando that better bike parking was at the top of their list of neighborhood improvements.
Now he's in talks with the Department of Transportation about installing bike racks outside the new EMS store, which will be on two levels sprawling across 15,000 square feet.
"That's good for our customers, but it's good for other businesses too," Ando said. "The store represents the best of what we can be as a retail business, but it's also an excellent community partner."
Based in Peterboro, N.H., Eastern Mountain Sports has 68 stores in the Northeast, from Maine to Washington, D.C. The retailer sells gear for just about any outdoor adventure you can think of, from kayaking to glacier hopping to rock climbing. The Upper West Side store will have a full service bike repair shop and offer custom fittings of shoes and bike frames.
The store prides itself on employing staff who are well-traveled "five sport, four season" athletes with expert-level knowledge about the pros and cons of the equipment they stock, Ando said.
"It builds trust," Ando said. "A lot of customers are spending a lot of money or taking physical risks, so you want people who are deeply knowledgeable."
Ando, a lifelong rock climber who once owned his own consulting firm, joined EMS about six years ago. With no real marketing background, he takes what he describes as a somewhat "hippie-ish" approach to his job. His two-pronged goal with the Upper West Side store is to make sure both EMS and the the neighborhood thrive, Ando said.
He's already made arrangements for the store's Upper West Side employees to participate in a Sept. 13 neighborhood beautification project led by Beacon Hardware on Amsterdam Avenue and West 77th Street, a business with strong neighborhood ties.
EMS employees won't be allowed to go off into their own group during the all-day volunteer effort, which involves painting over graffiti, Ando said. "I want the EMS staff to work alongside a neighborhood resident, that way our staff can literally get into the neighborhood physically and learn something about the neighborhood," Ando said.
Ando is also discussing partnerships with the West 75th Street Block Association, the Manhattan Jewish Community Center on Amsterdam Avenue and West 76th Street, and The Vitamin Peddler, a neighborhood health store on Amsterdam Avenue and West 77th Street.
"My customers need to talk to him, because they're concerned about health and nutrition," Ando said.
EMS once had a store at West 61st and Broadway, but it closed about five years ago when its lease ended.
Dee Rieber, president of the West 75th Street Block Association, said she's glad to see EMS headed back to the neighborhood with a community-minded focus. The gesture has special meaning at a time when some Upper West Siders feel they're being invaded by chain stores that don't establish deep ties with locals.
"It is so rare to have this kind of vision from a large corporation," Rieber said in an email. "We want to encourage and promote it."
