'There's so much more': ReCYCLEry to vacate Chapel Hill space by January

Every other weekend and on Wednesday nights, the door of a shop in the alleyway behind Rumors Boutique is open with a sign hanging above it that says “The ReCYCLEry."

The shop is covered in bike paraphernalia. Entire bikes hang from the walls, which are also lined with boxes filled with bike lights, tires and other pieces of equipment.

Founded in 2000, the ReCYCLEry was established by community members who wanted to make biking more accessible for people who could not afford to get their bike fixed, or buy a bike in the first place. Now, the business may need to vacate their space by the beginning of next year. 

Community impact

Through the community-funded organization, people can take home donated bikes and bike parts. 

“Bike stuff is really expensive, and we are the only resource that is trying to make that not be the case for most people,” Lulu Cimarusti, volunteer and board member said. “Biking isn't just a hobby for rich people. It is a daily necessity for a lot of people, and we just want to be serving the people who need it the most.”

The ReCYCLEry hosts Women, Trans and Femme Wrench Night every Wednesday night, an event started in 2017 where women, trans, femme, non-binary and gender non-conforming bikers in the community can come together to learn how to fix up their bikes.

Though the shop also has open workshops every other weekend, it can be uncomfortable to be in what is usually a male-dominated space, Cimarusti said. 

“Especially for a college aged girl, you walk into a room, and it's just several middle aged guys — it just can be a little bit intimidating,” they said. “I feel like it's a little bit different on Wednesday nights — it's just like people feel a little bit more comfortable."

Many visitors who go to the ReCYCLEry had initially never worked on a bike before, including Ola Wilk, who started coming to the ReCYCLEry about seven months ago. 

“I've watched a lot of people come in with small issues that they assume they have no way they know how to fix, or that they aren't strong enough to fix,” they said. “Then the volunteers give them either the mental tools or the physical tools to be like, 'You actually can, it's not that hard, sorry this was gatekept from you.'"

Over the last 25 years, one of the founders, Rich Giorgi, said the group has worked with everyone, including competitive cyclists, immigrants, people experiencing homelessness and formerly incarcerated people who need a mode of transportation.

He said the ReCYCLEry is about building community, even more than promoting biking.

“If you could put the person who's really wealthy alongside the recent immigrant, and have them, or people who normally wouldn't interact in a day to day basis,” he said. “And here they are, interacting over something that they love. Then you've created a commonality.”

An uncertain future

On Aug. 9, the group received a letter from Sammy Martin, the landlord of the ReCYCLEry's property, stating that the ReCYCLEry would have to vacate the space by Jan. 31, 2025.

Giorgi said the group was caught by surprise, and were not given any details on what Martin wanted to use the property for in place of the ReCYCLEry. 

Martin did not respond to The Daily Tar Heel's request for comment. 

Finding a new space for the ReCYCLEry will be difficult because of Chapel Hill’s expensive rent market, Giorgi said. If they are unable to find a space, they will have to move everything to a storage unit until they find another solution. But, he said the business plans to continue their service to the community until the last possible moment. 

Giorgi said he remains hopeful for its future, reflecting on when it first opened and their only goal was to help people until they ran out of money — whether that be for six months or five years. 

“The thing is, philosophically, nothing lasts forever,” he said. “We were banking on six months, and right now we're on the verge of 25 years. So, can it be killed? I don't know — we're 25 years worth of good enough, [so] definitely not. There's so much more."

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