We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessie & Gary Menard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessie & Gary, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
We donate bicycles, food & money to those who are less fortunate and struggle every day trying to exist in today’s world. We hold aside tubes & tires and also give them these items that they can’t afford.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We are a very small mom & pop bicycle repair shop. We’ve been in the bicycle business for over 35 years. We truly are most proud of the fact that we are able to help others in so many ways. Whether it’s giving a bicycle to someone who needs it for transportation, giving away free tubes, free tires or other free bicycle items. We are also proud of the great customer service we give to everyone, treating them like we would like to be treated. We believe it’s a wonderful & caring concept & great way to run our business. It wasn’t easy to start our small business and hard to stay open during some tough times. We overcame the challenges by never wavering away from what we believe it in. Helping others & being kind to all. We want the world to follow in our footsteps & be KIND to others. Especially those who are less fortunate.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would visit the Desert Museum, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Mt Lemmon, Agua Caliente Park, Reid Park Zoo, to name a few and if traveling away from Tucson, then it would be Sedona & the Grand Canyon. We would eat at the original El Charro Cafe downtown, Pacos & Zin Burger on Grant, Barrio Brewing & Canyon Crown. For drinks definitely The Hop Shop, Zin & Az Beer House. We’d hang out at the Chicago bar on Saturdays to hear Neon Profit who has been playing there for about 40 years now.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The less fortunate people who struggle every day trying to exist in today’s world. Our customers and the organizations: the Salvation Army, Crossroads Mission and Hard Hitters.

Website: www.pimastreetbicycle.com

Facebook: Pima Street Bicycle

Yelp: Pima Street Bicycle

Image Credits
Seanna Scott

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