What's UP with C & O Bicycle Shop?
 

They initiated an essay contest several months ago. If they received 1000 entries ($250 / entry), then the winning 400 word essay would win their turnkey bike shop business on the C & O towpath. I was very intrigued. I was preparing my entry. But just recently I checked back at their site (www.candobicycle.com) and the rules have changed. Now there's no 1000 entry requirement, no 400 word maximum, and the winner only gets to rent the building. I'm certainly not interested in an unspecified lease and some leftover inventory. Anybody know what happened? I tried their "contact" page and it goes off to some strange error link.

They must have thought their business was worth $250,000 but found that there was not enough people willing to part with the $250 entry fee.

I stopped in to check it out myself. What a great place. See more details on my duplicate post in the turing group for details. Cool opportunity for somebody. I'm definitely interested again.

Most interesting. The failure rate of bike shops is very high; this place I presume must be another casualty. Too bad that the essay concept did not work for them.

Not really a failure yet. They just want to retire. It's such a perfect location they're hoping for someone with a similar vision to take it over. If only one entry results in a great new owner, they'll be satisfied. And they feel they have a good client base and excellent location for future traffic. Apparently a big chunk of adjacent land is being acquired (US Govt) to become the primary visitor center for the C & O canal and path system.

They've got enough room to build a small hotel out of some of their building and the back is a great spot for a garden cafe or beer garden. The right person could really make something of it (my opinion).