San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-08-19
q. A. VENICE Of London, Ont

In London, Canada, lives G. A.
Wenige, who recently acquired the
pleasing title of mayor" London has
10000 people who ride bicycles and
10000 who expect to ride these two
wheel knee propellers. The new mayor
also wears the distinction of having
made his particular London the most
bicycled city on the American CONT
nent.
Mayor Wenige's story begins when
he fixed bikes i'll London repair shops.
Later he went on the road as Il BIZ
cycle saleSman-and then the bottom
dropped out of bicycles and he got n
job selling brushes and woodenware.
Ten years-and then
Il began to notice that the bicycle
business showed signs of life" he says.
The manufacturers corroborated my
opinion that another bicycle epoch
was headed down the rightof-way, so
| expedited myself 10 London and sur
veyed the situation there. All the
dealers combined in that city had sold
only So bicycles the previous year, but
just the same l satisfied myself the
vogue was on.
There was little repair shop for
sale just off the main street, 12x1I
feet. bought it for 1926 and put in
$40 in goods. Then l hired n young
fellow TO run this gigantic business
while l kept my job on the road the
balance of the year, to pay his salary.
"Then in 1912 l quit the road for
good" he says. 81 ordered So BIZ
cycles in one lot, on credit, and struck
out for freedom. The original invest
ment of 1855 represents the total out
side cash that ever went into my es-
tablishment. The enterprise grew
from earnings. had resolved to make
it the largest in Canada, and on this
ambition my wife. too. embarked. We
put full page advertisements in the
daily newspapers. and within year
discovered that the store was far too
small.
"In February, 1915, with the war
on, | secured q new site 40x125 feet,
and made an agreement with con-
tractor TO tear down the old building
and put IN a new two-story struc-
ture in 300 hours.
III say this was an advertisement.
w z Ddu pOllCe IIONtClioh W hNNp AHs
crowds away. You see, we'd offered
the contractor $40 for every hour he
Clipped off his 800, and he was to
pay us the same for every hour he
fell short. We collected three hun
dred
by this time we were well known,
believe me. We've kept in the lime
light. Last year we sold close to a
thousand high-grade bicycles. We con-
centrate our efforts-handle bicycles
only, together with accessories and. re-
pairs. We make December one of our
best months by developing Christmas
trade. Our method is to get after the
children, working men, girls. We run
race meets and parades, and are ac--
tive in everything. Fifty per cent OF
our trade is on the installment PLAN"
One of the youngest and most en-
thusiastic of London riders is Wood
row Buster" Wenige, the three-and-
a-half- year-old junior mayor. He has
won numerous trophies and has rid
den since he reached the age of TWEEN
ty-seven months. His honors three
other children and his wife are all
crack riders: and the mayor himself
makes this his favorite sport.
1t is interesting to speculate con-
corning the reason for things. Why
should London. Ont, be the leading
bicycle town Of the continent? The
answer seems TO be "Wenige."