It was less than a week ago that a local custom bicycle shop owner’s plight went viral.
Dan Richter, owner of Café Roubaix, was served legal notification in September from bicycle giant, Specialized, that his use of the name 'Roubaix’ was a trademark infringement.
Faced with a lawsuit that could result in either closing the doors of the little shop or a costly overhaul to re-brand, Richter’s tale of woe was picked up by social media on an international scale.
The end result?
The 'little shop that could’ will prevail, name intact.
“I’ve sat face-to-face with Mike Sinyard, CEO of Specialized, and we’ve really come to terms with everything — it’s a good conclusion for everyone, " said Richter.
“He apologized and we graciously accept that apology. "
Richter, an Afghanistan war veteran who served for more than 20 years, opened Café Roubaix, located above MacKay’s Ice Cream on Main Street, last February.
He chose the name 'Roubaix’ as an homage to the world-famous Paris-Roubaix, a 117-year-old bike race known for it’s rough terrain.
When asked why he never searched to see if the name was trademarked, Richter’s response was simple:
“I was shocked that it could even be trademarked, " said Richter, adding that not only is Roubaix a commune in France, but the race itself is an iconic event among cyclists and fans.
It turned out that 'Roubaix’ was indeed trademarked by Philadelphia-based Advanced Sports International (ASI) and licensed to Specialized.
For Richter, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of serving in the Afghanistan war, the thought of closing the doors was heartbreaking.
It seems that expats the world over and the international cycling community agreed.
The word spread like wildfire. Angry supporters of the cause boycotted Specialized, Facebook and Twitter were inundated with commentary and critique and Richter’s T-shirt sales went off the hook.
A fundraising campaign to assist Richter’s potential legal costs was even taken up in Australia.
“My phone is set to vibrate and it has not stopped, " said Richter on Dec. 9, prior to learning that the pending lawsuit was about to be squashed.
“Cochrane has been fantastic...it’s surreal. Overwhelming, " said the owner of the custom bike shop, who is still uncertain of what got his little foothills stop on the radar.
“We were producing a hard good (wheels) with the name 'Cafe Roubaix’, so I’m not sure if that’s what attracted them. "
Graham Pye, owner of Bike Bros. in Cochrane said the flurry of supporter speaks to the power of social media.
“The cycling community is pretty tight. Most of the response seems to be from serious cyclists who know the Specialized brand - in many cases from people who own a Specialized bike - they’re virtually all very supportive of Dan, " said Pye. “If this happened five or six years ago I think the story would be quite different but because of social media this has exploded. "
Richter’s Facebook followers for Café Roubaix have jumped from 500 to over 12,000 in a week.
