As long as he can remember, Darby Pool has been living life on two wheels. And if it were up to him, so would everyone else.
The owner of Bikes for the Likes of Us at 105 S. Kansas Ave. right in the heart of downtown Olathe loves bicycles, loves serving his customers and passing along his passion for bicycles.
That two-wheeled passion began as soon as he got his first BMX bike. His grandparents would take him to BMX tracks as a kid and his love for everything on two wheels arrived as quickly as a hole shot off the starting gate.
He’s been racing BMX bikes since he was 12 and hasn’t slowed down. At 57, he had a race just a few weeks ago and the signs of his BMX journey are everywhere. The ceiling of his shop is peppered with BMX bikes, a bicycle motorcross museum, of sorts. It includes his first BMX bike and a handful of bikes he’s raced through the years.
“That’s why I come to work,” Pool deadpanned. “I mean, it’s a passion. I do a lot for kids. It puts a smile on their face because that’s what someone did for me.
“I also have a national BMX team with 38 kids I sponsor, I help out most of the local BMX tracks.”
Bikes for the Likes of Us is the largest BMX dealer in the metro and, according to Pool, the only bike shop that caters to kids in the metro. And he’s found a new home for his unique bike shop right here in the heart of Olathe.
How he ended up in downtown Olathe, to help with the revitalization of our city’s central core, is actually kind of funny. You see, at his old location near the intersection of Santa Fe Street and Clairborne Road, the wrecking ball was coming. The area is part of what will become a revitalized I-35 and Santa Fe interchange.
Making the move to help revitalize an area to finding a home that will continue the revitalization of another area. Rather than kick dirt at the prospect of having to move, Darby saw it as an opportunity.
“It’s funny,” he said. “We had a spot picked out, and somebody from the (Olathe) Chamber reached out and said, ‘Oh, no, we want a family, bike shop downtown, on the square.’”
Finding the right place was easy once Darby and the Chamber got together.
“He set me up with a guy down here and he was very accommodating,” Darby added. “He said, ‘Oh, we could do this. We can take these walls down. We can do this and that.’
“Whatever. My new landlord just wanted to make everything work. He accommodated us very well. He’s excited for us to be here. Which puts a little bit more spark in it. There’s an aura down here.”
Darby is thrilled with the way things have worked out and heading into his busy time of year.
It’s all about timing.
“I mean, the timing couldn’t have been better,” he said. “We’re down here on the square and there’s a bit of a resurgence. You’ve got some restaurants that are coming, a new wave or retailers and family-owned businesses coming to downtown.”
The origins of Bikes for the Likes of Us are rooted in Raytown, Mo. After working at the location for a while, he bought it in 1990. He made the move to the Great Mall of the Great Plans when it opened in 1998. He’s been in Olathe ever since, including the past 11 off of Clairborne before his move to downtown just as the new year dawned.
Darby said what sets his hometown bike shop apart is not the selection, the variety or even the location.
“Service is our niche,” he said. “Specialty customer service. We have a lot of people that come back for the service.
“We’re on a first-name basis with most of our customers, because there’s so much repeat business. It’s a blessing. That means we’re doing something right.”
Darby is the lone full-time employee at the 3,700-sq.-ft. store, but relies heavily on a couple of top-flight part-time employees to maintain that top-tier customer service.
“When you come in my shop, I treat you like I want to be treated,” Darby said. “I’ll greet you. I’ll let you have a little time to look around if you’ve never been here. There’s lots of stuff to look at. I’ll answer all your questions. I’ll educate you on my product. I won’t try to shove something down your throat.”
Darby answers everyone’s questions, makes them feel at home and while he knows he’s a retail store and knows he has to sell something, he adds that he just feels as thought he and his team take a different approach – a little bit warmer and a bit more caring.
It’s that approach that has helped sustain his shop for more than three decades and that same approach that he’s hoping will help him flourish in his new downtown home.
