Not that long ago, Braun’s Is Bicycles had stores in Kitchener, Cambridge, Elmira and Guelph.
All four locations have recently shut their doors.
At the Guelph location, a notice on the door directs customers to visit Braun’s in Kitchener, where the Braun family has been in business for 89 years.
One problem with that – a notice on the door at the store on Nyberg Street in central Kitchener says the store’s lease has been terminated because the business is more than $77,000 behind in rent payments.
The story takes a strange turn here, as the Kitchener store’s landlord is Braun’s Property Management – owned by the same family as the bicycle stores.
John F. Gleeson, the bailiff representing Braun’s Property Management, tells CTV News there are “complex legal issues” in play, but filing for bankruptcy isn’t an expected course of action.
According to the notice on the door, Braun’s Is Bicycles has until Sunday to remove all the merchandise from its Kitchener store.
That’s news that has Ron VanKoughnett concerned.
He brought his bike to Braun’s in Kitchener for service before Braun’s Property Management changed the store’s locks, and it remains in the locked building.
“I just hope things work out for them and they get back and open their business soon,” he says.
The news of the closure seems to have caught many off guard.
Paul Bednarek headed to Braun’s on Friday to get his son’s skates sharpened, only to find that the building was locked.
“I’m very disappointed. It’s a local business,” he says.
“Am I going to be going to a big box store now? I don’t want to do that.”
The Braun’s Is Bicycles website, which previously offered a catalogue of the store’s products, now contains only a simple message stating that the website is “down for maintenance.”
