Fleetwood’s Kit Kat

Alright we got a good little change of pace.  We moved our weekly ride to this Saturday at 7 pm and unless you have your own cruiser, we are tapped out on our rental fleet (they’ve all been reserved).  We are going to visit Crush Wine Bar on Knox Street.  My sister, Kerri Arista, is performing live music for free and I’m sure a few people will enjoy that with a glass of wine!  Afterwards (around 8:45) we’ll take off for a ride down to Victory Park.  Should be a little cooler.  Even if you don’t have a bike, feel free to join us at the Wine Bar!!!

We got our shipment of Hawk Classics in from Germany.  We are, literally, the only dealer selling these bikes anywhere in the USA.  They are made in Berlin, Germany and we currently have 9 of them in stock and on our floor.  They’re a little pricey ($850 to $1,200)  but very unique, high quality cruisers…… so pop in and check them out!

Two  of our favorite customers (Phillip and Rebel) surprised us with a badass li’l outdoor grill for the shop.  How thoughtful and I’d like to say a sincere thank you to them for pulling off such a cool gesture.  We are gonna start doing some cookouts in the parking lot after the rides so details on that  later.

Keep on Cruisin……

Fleetwood

We did the Michael Jackson Tribute ride tonight.  Thanks to Harvey, Marc and Suzy for  takin’ care of bizness.  We had  Trista’s bike malfunction (it wasn’t her fault) but Harvey offered his own bike and handled it all professionally.  Harvey……you are Da Man!  

In brief….a phenomenal time.  Cruiser Bike riding is fun, but much funner with a good group..and even better when celebrating the life and music of the all-time greatest entertainer.  I installed an IPOD friendly speaker system on the back of my bike and one of our new customers (Jason Tucker) did the same.  We had the same playlist of legendary MJ songs and had them turned up for all to enjoy during the ride down the Katy Trail.  We popped into La Duni on McKinney (owned by renowned restauranteer Taco Borga) and took over their cozy bar area.  The service, drinks and atmosphere were great.  Perfect spot I think our group really mixed together well.  We’ll go back to La Duni again cause they treated us the way we wanna be treated!!

It was cool sharing the ride with my sis and her husband, Fermin.  She turned the big 4-0 this week and we pimped her out a sweet li’l Felt Flora with tires, chain, grips, basket, fenders, bell, and every other possible cute thing you could think of.  Its one of my favorite bikes we’ve ever done (cause we made a FELT look so much better than they can do it).  The icing on the cake is that Kerri  (my sis) gets to enjoy it + she was excited….  I’ll post a pic of this bike soon as I get a shot of it on my computer.

Last thing……According to Roni Proter (Channel 33 TV), our news piece will air Monday evening between 9 pm and 10PM.  I’m looking forward to seeing it.  Roni said its a great piece.  

Thanks everyone for coming to the MJ ride tonight.  I’m glad we got to share a li’l more of his magic with you.  His death showed me that we sometimes take things for granted.  Once something is gone, you realize how much you miss it.  To end on a positive note….Michael Jackson will live forever through his unique music.  His star will only grow bigger.

I think colorful art and cruiser bikes have alot in common.  Our bikes are works of art by combining unique color combinations with different materials all mixed together.  

Our whole store is a big montage of bright colors and Harvey has a buddy named Brooks who is a phenomenal artist.  Actually Perry Brooks.  He asked Harv if we’d be interested in putting some of his art in the shop on consignment.  I told him to bring a couple over and if it was a good fit we’d hang a few pieces.  Well, he did…..and we were really feelin’ the work.  His art is Transitional Impressionism and they are very detailed and colorful.  Subject matter is lots of cool city scenes of Dallas, as well as some abstract stuff.  We ended up hanging 6 or 7 of them I liked them so much.  Really a  nice addition to the entry area of Fleetwood’s Kit Kat and I think this is a great place to start a li’l art gallery for some cool local artists.

Perry Brooks - Art

I invite every one to come by the shop and check out these fine works of art. The prices are real reasonable and they really add to the flavor of the shop.  He’s been written up in several local publications and has sold to a handful of collectors.  Get ‘em while they last!!!!  

This one is my favorite. I think I'm buying it.

One other thing……this Friday night’s ride…..the MJ Tribute…..feel free to put on your Michael Jackson outfits!!

Fleetwood

This hot weather is extreme but that didn’t keep some troopers from coming out to the ride today at 5 p.m.   I had a few cancel due to the heat but we still had a fantastic group of people.   We hit J. Peppe’s on Greenville and they had a huge table set up by the swimming pool for our group.  Some shade, a pool, ritas, a taco or two and some good convo…….what else can you ask for????

organized chaos

After J. Peppes, we all took a vote to “ride on”.  I think this was the funnest part of the day.  We got back on the Katy Trail and just rode down to the southern entry.  We took some pics at the Reverchon Park overlook and then  headed back.  I think our group either honked, whistled at, or high-fived everyone on the trail.  We recruited a few new riders, as well!!!  Good time you guys.

This was one of our funnest rides.  I really enjoyed it.

So….next Friday…..at 8 pm….RESERVE YOUR BIKE SOON.  Its going to be the Michael Jackson Tribute Cruiser Ride.  We are gonna break out some MJ in the shop and on the ride.  Its going to be a special evening so you don’t want to miss out on this one.  If you got a bike…….bring it….so someone else can borrow one of ours.

I’m not just jumping on the “Michael Jackson” bandwagon.  Losing MJ means alot to me because I think he is probably the best and most unique entertainer of all time.  From the time he was a little kid to the day he died, he always had our attention and he recorded and performed some of the most memorable songs of all time. He did it in a way and with a fanbase that no other artist has ever done.  Berry Gordon, founder of Motown said it best.  He said that “an artist like Michael Jackson doesn’t come along every 100 years or even every 1,000 years.  There will never be another Michael Jackson”.  We are all gonna miss him but the cool thing is that his music and his memory  live  forever.

The 1 and only "King of Pop"

I just wanna thank everyone for keeping Me, Susie, Harvey, Craig and Mark so busy at the shop.  We’ve had alotta positive things happen lately and I’ve barely had a spare moment.  I’m going to start doing  my best at keeping this blog.

Chillin' Devillin

We’ve had lot of great press from Park Cities People, Dallas Morning News, Paper City and the Daily Candy has been a phenomenon for us!  The icing on the cake was when I received a call from Roni Proter with Channel 33 TV News with the idea of filming a “feel good” segment about our shop.  Roni brought the  crew in and we took a  ride down the Katy Trail for a frozen yogurt.  I appreciate everyone who showed up on a hot muggy tuesday afternoon to participate and represent Fleetwood’s Kit Kat.  Thanks; Andy, Courtney, Rhonda, Emma, Harvey, Andrew, Mary Kate, Elle, Miso, Kerri and Robert.  You guys are the shiznit and everyone was awesome.  Also, Roni - you were greatness!  Thanks so much! This piece should be airing on the 9 o’clock news within the next week so check it out!!!

A couple more things.  I’m real excited; we are going to have 9 Hawk Classic Cruisers (from Berlin, Germany) on our showroom floor next week.  That makes us the only store in America with this great looking line of European Cruiserbikes.  Come by and check them out.  If you see one you are gonna want one!  Also, I’m real delighted with the way some of our bikes are turning out.  We are now painting baskets, creating custom seat covers, basket covers, and doing lots of customization to offer our customers the unique experience of building a cruiser the way YOU WANT IT!  Come and check it out, we have at least 20 customs in our “bike garden”.  We can help you design your own.  

a phenomenal shot by Wendy Wezensky

DeVille is doing great and enjoying all the store activity.  So far he hasn’t met anyone he hasn’t liked and I think everyone feels the same about him!

keep on cruisin - Fleetwood

This was a great week at Fleetwood’s Kit Kat.  We sold a bunch of bikes and saw alotta new faces in the store and on our two group rides.  I think I can say we all had a good time.  

Friday night, we ran out of bikes.  We had 35 people show up for our first group “night” ride. Seeing all of those lights on behind me was exciting!  The great thing about the night rides is that its a whole different look out there from the daytime.  I had so many people come up to me and let me know what a great time they had on top of all kinds of ideas for other evening rides…..so…thanks for the input guys!  I will be posting a great picture that Brett took with his camera at the W Hotel, as soon as he sends it to me (I’ll get it today).  We did have a couple of problems:  1. A flat tire 2.  The W made us repark all of our bikes.  Unfortunately, a nice lady named Jane had a flat tire once we arrived at the W.  She was very accommodating about the whole thing and I want to thank her for that.  I offered my bike to her, but she said I should stay with the group.  We got her a ride back from the W with their limo service….so….Jane….come back anytime and lets finish that ride!!!!  

Sunday, the weather was windy and a li’l on the chilly side.  We had 18 people and we hit Wild About Harry’s.  Once again….some new faces on board and we had a great time.  Below is a pick.

at the halfway point

We’ve been customizing some of our bikes and really just getting going in that area.  Harvey and I are going to be putting some amazing bikes together so if you have any ideas…..we can get the job done for you at a very reasonable price.  We named this bike “Wild Blue Wonder”.  Its a stunner.  

Wild Blue Wonder

We are going to put together a “paid event” ride this coming Saturday for the Pooch Parade at Lee Park.  The ride will cost $20 per person.  You will receive a bike, a bottled water, a cupcake and an organized bike ride to the parade.  The cool thing is you won’t have to mess with parking because we will find a spot for the bikes and lock them all together.  I’m entering my dog, Deville, in the parade.  We are dressing him up like a Lion!  Give us a call or an email to sign up and reserve your spot.  We’ll leave at 12 noon and return at about 4 pm.  Hope to see ya.  Fleetwood

Regulators....."Saddle Up"

After an unseasonably cold week and a rainout of our first Friday night ride, the sun popped out today and it warmed up to almost 70 degrees.  We saw lots of new faces and actually ran out of bikes for our free group ride.  Just goes to show you that a little press goes a long way.  I want to thank Brittany Edwards from the Daily Candy for discovering our store.  I’d also like to thank Dan Koller from the Park Cities People for running a feature on us as well as Ann Pinson and Nancy Adams from the Dallas Morning News for taking care of business on Page 6 of the DMN Friday guide.  We really appreciate each one of you for taking the time and supporting our cause!  As anyone reading this blog knows, we live in a fabulous city, but, we are behind the curve from most great cities when it comes to outdoor recreation.

We had 42 riders today and it was pretty awesome to see all of those stylish cruisers all together at one time.  I’m already looking forward to next weekend and want to remind all that Friday night at 8 pm is on like donkey kong, as long as the weather permits!

I met with the folks at “Friends of the Katy Trail” this week.  Good people (Eric Van Steenburg and Betsey).  It was interesting to hear how the Katy Trail is funded and what the future plans are.  Very exciting.  Most people don’t realize it, but, most of the upkeep, security, and expansion is funded by private donations from people like you and me who use the Trail.  We need to support the Katy Trail during these tougher economic times.  I hope that all of our riders, readers, and shop customers will consider signing up as a “Friend” and member of this organization.  You can be a member for only $50 and your contribution is tax deductible.  We are going to set up a link on our site to take you to their website (coming soon) to make things easy on you.  We hope to build a partnership with them in order to help expand  the Katy Trail and continue to make the necessary improvements required to keep this one of the true Recreational gems of our city.

I hope everyone enjoyed the ride as much as I did and I hope you all can come back soon.  We have some more incredible bikes on order so please tell your friends. Have a great week and stop by and say hi to me, Susie, Harvey, and, of course our world renowned mascot, Deville.

often imitated but never duplicated.....DeVille!

Hope everyone enjoyed the group ride yesterday.  We made it down to Victory Plaza and there was a big event going on so Mia got a shot with the Mavs Man.  We had   a group of riders (Jim, Brian, Mario, and Mark) in town filming from Spike TV who joined our ride for fun.  We hit the new “hot spot”, Yogalicious, on the way back for some lip smackin’  frozen yogurt.  It’s located on the Northeast section of Blackburn/Mckinney Ave.,  so check it out.  We had 19  riders and most of our regulars were out of town.  Mark your calendars for this coming Friday….our first Friday night ride at 8 pm.  We are going to ride down to the W and have a concoction at the “Living Room” bar, so bring a friend!  

We also had a group ride for Berti Generes on Saturday.  Happy birthday Berti!  I think putting together a casual group bike ride is a great surprise birthday party idea…..so….let us know if we can make it happen for you.  

Also, it was great to have a good friend of mine (Kurt Kretsinger) and his girlfriend, Jenny show up. Thanks for riding!   Thanks to Doster, Mia, and Harvey for helping out.  

We had a few people show up late  at the beginning and they got left behind for a spell.  It was a good li’l lesson and I’m going to organize the beginning of the ride better so that this does not happen again.  Check out the gallery….we got a great group shot of the ride yesterday.  See ya’ll soon.  Fleetwood

I decided to get an interactive blog working for the group bike rides and the store (Fleetwood’s Kit Kat). I’ll start writing on somewhat of a daily basis so I’d like to welcome all readers/riders and supporters to help wake up Dallas to the fun of group bike rides on the Katy Trail and other destinations. We already have a great group of people and I want to thank you guys for your support. A quick reminder….a ride every Sunday at 2 pm and we are going to have our first Friday night group ride on March 27 at 8 pm, which should be alot of fun.
Much more later. Just kinda testing this out first to see if it works.
Thanks. Fleetwood

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