NEWPORT BEACH : Alfresco Bike Shop Pulling In Customers

Bicycle shop owner Ray Huett puts his classic two-wheelers where they were meant to be: on the pavement.

With rows of vintage models displayed outdoors, Huett’s Blast From the Past is more like an auto dealership than a typical bike shop.

Sales are rolling along briskly, Huett said. His used bike lot “allows people to shop from outside. Then they get comfortable and go inside.”

Putting the bulk of his stock out front was not what Huett had in mind when he set up shop. But as he prepared to open July 8, only half of his bikes would fit in his showroom. The rest ended up in the asphalt parking lot between the shop and Coast Highway.

That turned out to be a fortunate lack of foresight. Because his inventory has such high visibility, he said, he has already sold 25 of his original 70 cycles.

Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers Assn. in Costa Mesa, said Huett’s strategy is unusual and eye-catching.

“There are many stores that will park a few bikes outside to draw attention,” Clements said. “But there are very few stores that have the parking lot space to display their stock outside.”

Clements said Huett and a handful of other dealers in Orange County are finding success with classic bikes by focusing on a single market segment.

“The trend in our industry is kind of working two ways,” he said. “You are seeing larger and more multiple stores and consolidation. . . . You’re also seeing more niche players.”

Huett, who specializes in classics such as the 1940s Schwinn Black Phantom and once-familiar nameplates such as Columbia, Western Flyer and Elgin, says he is drawing collectors as well as people who want something unusual or campy, such as heavy, balloon-tired models with large fenders, headlights, chrome struts and package racks.

A rare, 1930s-era, adult tricycle with a rumble seat has brought a number of inquiries, Huett said, but no bids so far. By displaying it prominently on his outdoor lot, though, he draws browsers who may look seriously at other models.

“We get about 100 people a day,” he said. “The locals came in the first week. Now the tourists come in, mostly on weekends.”