Founded in 2000, the ReCYCLEry has served the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC communities for 24 years by refurbishing unused bicycles and giving them away, and teaching anyone who wants to learn bicycle maintenance and repair. I first became involved in the Recyclery shortly afterwards, when I wanted a place for my daughters to learn about fixing bikes. I have been a helper, advocate and volunteer there pretty much since then.
For more than a decade, the ReCYCLEry has called the alley off Graham Street – behind The Baxter and Syd’s Hair Salon – home. They’ve used that space to host weekend open workshops, inviting the entire community to come by and fix their own bicycles in a learning environment. They’ve held countless mechanic classes, opened the shop to WTF (Women, Trans, Femme) night workshops, used the shop as a meeting spot for family rides around the community, hosted an outside DIY workspace accessible 24/7, and served over 30,000 people in the past 24 years with an all-volunteer staff and Board, meaning all the time spent is unpaid, allowing the shop to return 100% of the money donated back into the community.
But now, they need a new home. Over a decade ago, a lease was signed, and extended by verbal agreement. On August 8, the board was informed by the landlord that they had plans for the space (no further details were given) and they would need to move by the end of January 2025.
What is happening?
The Landlord’s of the space, Sammy Martin and Wendy Mann contacted the ReCYCLEry on August 8, saying they need the space for other purposes. The lease has been a verbal agreement since 2012.
What kind of space do they need?
They need indoor shop space. The current shop is cramped, at 20 by 25 feet and a larger area would be great. There is also a need for outdoor storage space for donated bikes and bike parts (wheels, frames, etc) The ReCYCLEry has a large yard immediately behind that serves this purpose. They also have an outdoor fix-it station that is available outside of shop hours to permit visitors to repair their bikes.
What do people do in the space?
Volunteers regularly work on open shop days and nights. Working to restore and repair donated bikes that come in. These bikes are then given to the community members who need a bike, and also are accumulated for regular sales that are used to distribute bikes and earn money to help pay rent and purchase consumable bikes parts, such as tubes, tires, chains etc.
How many people has The ReCYCLEry served and worked with over the years?
The ReCYCLEry doesn’t keep officials records, but volunteers and board members say that over 30,000 people have been served in the 24 years they have been in operation.
I asked a long time volunteer about the rental arrangement and received this response: “We’ve had a really good relationship with Sammy. I’ve been volunteering at the shop since I moved to the area in 2011. I’m not sure when Rich moved into that space but I think it was pretty close to then. The whole time we’ve always paid below market rates for the space.”
How did the ReCYCLEry get its start?
The ReCYCLEry in Carrboro started as an idea by Rich Giorgi. Giorgi was moved to start a local cooperative effort by a stint in Ithaca, where he witnessed the workings of Recycle Ithaca’s Bikes (RIBS), a program that would provide the inspiration for the ReCYCLEry. The focus of the ReCYCLEry would be children, since bikes are a huge part of growing up. Bikes represent transportation, independence and freedom, yet many children in the Carrboro area were without bikes. The initial intention was to connect these children with bicycles, as well as the skill to maintain them–to teach the children a skill they may not have imagined themselves capable of prior to working at the ReCyclery. The object was to teach self-confidence as well as bike repair, to get families working together on bicycles and to let word-of-mouth work through the community. WUNC did a feature on the space here: The Business Of Reuse: How A Chapel Hill Co-op Is Getting People Back On Bikes
If I know of a space, how can I share that information with the ReCYCLEry?
Email [email protected]