Pleasantville’s James Bussey Grows Bicycling Business, Continues Tradition
Photo by Nastassia Davis/Nastassia Davis Photography https://ndavisphoto.com/
BY SHALINI BASU | For AC JosepH Media
PLEASANTVILLE — What started with seven used bicycles a decade ago is turning into history right here in South Jersey.
James Bussey, the CEO and founder of Freedom City Bike Club, 29 West Delilah Road, is on his way to becoming the largest African American owned chain of bicycle and mobility vendors in America. Though the bicycling and mobility industry does reflect presence of minority owned businesses, they tend to be niche and local community based only.
Bussey’s idea of community is much larger. From his primary location in Pleasantville, he has expanded into Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrenceville and several military base exchanges in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland. He is now expanding into Virginia.
Biking has a special history among African Americans. According to an article in Bicycling.com, Atlanta-based Black cycling advocate Bill T. Wright rode his bike to Washington, D.C. to call on President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s for safer biking conditions, long before the biking lanes that are common in many cities today.
In the segregated South during the Jim Crow era, when taking public transportation was demeaning, and often dangerous, for many Blacks, cycling was a regular part of the African American experience and used “as a tool of liberation.”
Bussey’s vision is to cater to the unique mobility needs of each of the communities he services, ranging from leisure to accessibility.
From sales to rentals, to parts, delivery and on and off-site repairs, the Freedom City team meets a variety of needs within the cycling community.
Bussey is known for his philanthropic efforts as well. Bussey is known to give away bikes to kids in need and to donate to local school systems. Bussey’s unique business model also reflects community.
Those employed by Freedom City Bike Club are referred to not as employees but partners as Bussey individually mentors them and provides opportunities to take on leadership roles within the company.
Bussey’s motto is for everyone to grow together, in wealth, opportunity and freedom to live their best lives.
For more information on Freedom City Bike Club please visit:
Website: https://www.freedomcitybikes.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomcitybikeclub
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.city.bike2
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