Greystone couple spins out of COVID to open bike, skate, surf shop

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Daniel and Tami Manofsky were forced to close their family-run Keagan Ross Furniture store off U.S. 280.

What they didn’t know at the time was that this turn of misfortune would lead them into a new career and the opening of a new business.

They briefly reopened the furniture store when government restrictions ended, but the price of wood had soared so high that they could no longer afford to continue operating, Tami Manofsky said. “There was no way we could make a living like that,” she said.

Daniel is highly skilled at bicycle repairs and had started helping fix bikes for some of his Greystone neighbors as a hobby and quickly found himself in high demand. People were looking for outdoor activities and started getting their bicycles out again, and lots of them needed repairs, Tami said. Then a lot of requests began to come from Mt Laurel, she said. “It just started piling up fast.”

Tami grew up with BMX bikes and has gotten into the repair side of it as well. The bicycle repairs gave the Manofskys some much-needed income and sparked the idea to open a new business.

“There seemed to be a huge backlog at other repair shops and not much service available in the U.S. 280 corridor,” Tami said. “Also, there seems to be a shortage of affordable, quality bicycles.”

People were having to pay $5,000 or $10,000 for a bike or buy a much lower-quality bike at a general merchandise store like Walmart, she said.

So the Manofskys decided to open a new shop called Anatole’s, specializing in bicycle, skateboard and surfing merchandise and apparel. They opened the 1,200-square-foot store on Nov. 20 in the new Cahaba Market strip center next to Cavender’s western wear store on U.S. 280.

The name “Anatole’s” comes from a children’s book that featured a mouse who rode a bicycle to work.

The Manofskys anticipate bicycle sales and repairs to be the primary part of their business, but they want to offer skateboard and surfing merchandise and apparel as well. They also will sell stand-up paddle boards and recreational equipment for lake living, such as tubes and boogie boards that can be pulled by boats on the lake.

Anatole’s will specialize in BMX bikes because most of the bike stores seem to specialize in street bikes and mountain bikes, Tami said. They’ll sell the other types of bikes, too, but focus on BMX, she said. It helps that there is a BMX track nearby at Oak Mountain State Park, she said.

Also, the bikes will be more affordable than at most bike specialty stores but of higher quality than can be found at general merchandise stores, she said. Prices likely will range from about $100 to about $3,000, she said. “Anybody with any income can come in and buy a bike.”

With bike shortages plaguing the industry right now, Anatole’s plans to sell more American-made bikes so the wait is not so long to receive orders, Tami said. The store also will be the first dealer to sell Wildcat mini-bikes, which are tiny freestyle bikes for tricks, she said. Rad Power Bikes, named one of the 100 most influential companies by Time magazine in 2021, will be another supplier, she said. “We have a lot of manufacturing partners.”

The Manofskys are trying to give Anatole’s a California, family-friendly beach vibe, not the dark, punk vibe that some bike and skate shops have, Tami said. It will be a lot like a Ron Jon Surf Shop, but with bikes, she said.

The store also offers bike parts, electronic bikes and classes for kids to make designs for skateboards on computer tablets.

The city of Hoover’s economic development team helped the Manofskys formulate their business plan to get up and running. Economic developer Greg Knighton said he’s excited to see homegrown businesses take off. “I think it’s a great success.”

Editor's note: This story was updated on Dec. 2 to reflect the opening of the store on Nov. 20.