Why popular bicycle store Storm Cycles in Tugun is closing down

Owners of a popular Gold Coast bicycle shop say they are being forced to close their doors after being hit with a massive rent increase.

OWNERS of a popular Gold Coast bicycle shop say they will close their doors after their landlord proposed a rent increase of almost 45 per cent.

Sheridan and Terry Bosworth have been running Storm Cycles on Golden Four Drive in Tugun since March 2011.

Owners Terry and Sheridan Bosworth at Storm Cycles in Tugun. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

But they have launched a closing down sale and started looking for new jobs after concluding they could no longer afford to continue trading.

“We have, imminent, a 45 per cent rent increase,” Ms Bosworth said.

“We either had to close or move and we don’t have it in us to move and re-establish the business in a new location.”

Ms Bosworth said the shop had done well during lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which helped spark greater interest in cycling. But they could not cover the proposed extra cost.

“We didn’t make squillions,” she said. “We certainly didn’t make enough to cover a 45 per cent rent increase six months later. There’s no way that our business can absorb that.”

Owners Terry and Sheridan Bosworth at Storm Cycles in Tugun. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Ms Bosworth said it would be a sad day when the doors closed for the last time, which she said would be by June 30 at the latest – or earlier if they sold out of stock.

“We’re very sad but at peace with our decision,” she said.

“We didn’t really have a choice – moving is too difficult.

“Maybe five years ago we would have entertained that, but not at this time.”

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Originally published as Why popular bicycle store Storm Cycles in Tugun is closing down