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The Tip is 'Ask Before You Buy' I went to a department store for a pair of dress shoes recently. The clerk helped me with three different pairs that I tried on. 'The Big Secret' was on the forefront of my mind so I asked, "Are these shoes imports?" The salesman responded that they were in fact imported. "Do you have any Made In America shoes like these?" I asked. To my surprise he said, "We have a whole line of Made In USA shoes." I was able to purchase the same color and style with the Made In USA label. These Made in America shoes were less expensive, came with a better warranty and were more comfortable. It's amazing how often this simple Made in US question yields unexpected and often times pleasant results. I now ask this question regularly, whereas before I would not have thought to ask for a Made in America alternative. More often than not, I can find a Made in America product of higher quality and at the same, or slightly higher price. Asking the question is so simple and can make a positive impact, in both the short and long term. Try it sometime. If you are like me, you may be surprised with how many Made in US products are out there. You will love it when you realize you are making a difference that benefits many. With your help America will be ours again and that is a good thing. Buying Tip Continued - Read more on Made in America Products by Bike Friday Deep in an emerald valley, near a river that runs the wrong way, lives a tight-knit team of cyclists, engineers, designers, craftspeople, inventors and dreamers who share a vision. A vision of a more healthy, connected, oil-indifferent world. A vision that sees the power inherent in every person, and the enormous potential that lies in a simple, elegant and wholly remarkable machine: The bicycle. Like our river, we approach life a little differently. Compared to most manufacturers, our whole process runs backward, starting with you, the customer, and then building your bike to fit your body, your lifestyle and your riding style. While the corporate world seems intent to out-source every element of manufacturing, we insist on building every Bike Friday right here in Eugene, Oregon. Where we can make adjustments and improvements continuously. Where we can accommodate almost any request. Where we can build your bike to the standards you expect and we demand. It may not be the way most companies would do it. But it's the best way that we know to build the best bike we possibly can. A bike that performs like a beast. A bike that folds with aplomb. A bike that may actually be too much fun to ride. (Caution: You may get bugs in your teeth from grinning so wide.) So come and meet our founders. Read their story and get acquainted with our entire team. Discover the world of Bike Friday, and watch the dream unfold. Oh, yeah, the Willamette River is one of the few navigable rivers in the Northern Hemisphere that runs South to North its entire course. A Bit of History Brothers and Bike Friday co-founders Alan and Hanz Scholz come from a background deep in the bicycle lifestyle and filled with innovation. It is almost genetic. From forming a bicycle club as kids to becoming expert bicycle mechanics over many years of practicing the art to incubating ideas until they grew into some of the most respected brands in the industry. They built their own durable bicycle wear, gave birth to the Burley Bike Trailer and honed their relentless drive toward innovation and improvement. Bike Friday is an organic company in the truest sense of the word. Everything that Bike Friday represents today, the focus on community and relationships, the commitment to sustainability, the insistence on high performance and the unending push for bicycle improvements comes from a foundation that shouts We Love Bicycles! But the proof is in the riding. And Bike Friday is only as good as the bikes we're building right now. So the innovation continues. But what do you expect? It's genetic. (Read Bike Friday evangelist Lynette Chaing's in-depth article on the history of Bike Friday here.) |
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