Tortoise Multisport purchases former Dixon bike shop

DIXON — A new outdoor and sporting equipment store is set to open next month in Dixon.

Tortoise Multisport will hold a soft opening at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, at 205 E. First St. The store specializes in running, biking and swimming equipment, parts, apparel and athletic nutrition. Owner Kelly Jackson said the store will carry popular brands, such as TYR Sport, Feetures, Injinji and others.

Jackson said the decision to open the store and purchase the building at 609 W. Third St. was a “perfect lineup of kismet” — a hypothetical force or personified power that determines the course of future events.

Jackson managed an auto parts store in Iowa for over a decade until it was bought out a little over a year ago. Instead of counting her losses, she took it as an opportunity to plan her next move.

“My fiance completed 12 triathlons last year and we had always toyed with the idea of opening a shop,” Jackson said. “However, we still didn’t have a building to move into and that is when we spotted this building for sale.”

That opportunity lined up with another one — the purchase of the former Green River Cyclery (GRC) bike shop’s inventory. GRC was opened in 2013 by B.J. Fenwick of Sterling. GRC made a post on its Facebook page in August, advertising the sale of all its inventory; citing health reasons.

Jackson said she plans to fix and sell several bikes Fenwick kept in the back of his shop and will be putting up GRC’s old signage so customers know it is now part of Tortoise Multisport.

Named after Jackson’s four pet tortoises, the store will initially be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with hours yet to be determined.

“Once things begin to warm up in March and people are beginning to think about biking, we’ll hold our grand opening,” Jackson said. “We hope to help people get out and run, ride and swim.”

For more information, call Tortoise Multisport at 815-440-5175.