Citybikes Workers' Cooperative is a worker-run bike shop in Portland, Oregon, United States, focused on bike commuting and cycle touring. It encompasses two retail locations/shops: the Annex, specializing in new and used bike sales; and the Repair Shop, specializing in used bike parts.HistoryCitybikes was founded by Roger Noehren as a sole proprietorship in 1986, in the current Repair Shop building. He hired Tim Calvert in August 1989 to transform Citybikes into a worker owned cooperative (w/o RN), which came into being in January 1990. Business continued to grow, and in 1995, Citybikes expanded to the Annex building (instigated by RN, who returned in 1994). At this time, Citybikes began to sell a higher volume of used bikes, and also to carry new bikes. The Annex space was further remodeled/expanded in 2002, and the Repair Shop was remodeled, to double the retail space, in 2008. Citybikes has grown from a fledgling enterprise to a successful cooperatively run business employing about 20 people in winter, and 25 in summer.Cooperative structureCitybikes operates with consensus-based decision making. The majority of decisions that affect the cooperative are made in bimonthly general meetings, with all workers present having equal say and voting power. Day-to-day operations are also carried out by consensus - Citybikes does not have any managers or traditional hierarchy. The Board of Directors is made up of the worker-owners, and is responsible for the long-term interests of the cooperative, setting goals and making final decisions on policies and procedures. Ownership is available to all workers who meet certain time and responsibility commitments. Currently, about half of workers are worker-owners.
