I’ve been to a few bike shops that don’t have any bike racks outside. It’s bizarre. Like, you have to bring your bike in the shop just to pick something up or to have a look around.
I’m not even talking about one place that does this, I have at least three in the area where there are no bike racks at all.
Is this normal? Why???
They don’t have to be installed on a sidewalk or a parking space. Nearly every building or plaza will have some free space available for a small rack.
That said, it would be ludicrous for any new developments to not include bike parking, yet this is still something that I see fairly often, and I make sure to let businesses know that it hurts them not to have a rack.
We had a grocery store open up quite recently that took over a previous building spot, and they had no rack at all. In about a week after I made the complaint, they installed one. All that you lose in making the request is a few minutes of your time, so I say go for it.