By Leon Fooksman

In a coffee shop, bike store owner Albert Richwagen was discussing a key ingredient to running his family’s business for 49 years in Delray Beach: generosity.

Then, as if on cue, a young Bostonian rushed over to thank him.

“The bike’s rolling nicely,” said the 19-year-old, referring to the used bike Richwagen gave him for free a few days earlier after spotting the youth on the side of a road with a broken bike.

Richwagen smiled and offered to tune up the bike any time. As the 19-year-old walked away, the store owner went back to explaining the importance of giving back to his community.

“That guy wasn’t from here. It was Christmas Eve. He needed a bike. It was the right thing to do,” he said.

Moments like this happen all the time for Richwagen, his mother and many of his six siblings who have built Richwagen’s Bike and Sports into one of Delray Beach’s best known and oldest companies.

Operating with a spirit of innovation and civic engagement, the business has grown from a small bike shop on East Atlantic Avenue into a thriving ecotourism operation.

The family still owns a bike and rental store, now on Federal Highway. They are also considering opening a bike rental stand in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge west of Delray.

The Richwagens, though, see part of their future in renting sailboats, kayaks, surfboards and snorkeling gear.

Under the direction of Albert Richwagen, 47, the blond-haired, ponytailed outdoorsman, the family expanded a water-sports rental stand behind the Seagate Hotel’s Beach Club on State Road A1A. The Richwagens wanted to appeal to the growing number of visitors looking for something fun, outdoorsy to do on the city’s beaches and in the parks. 

“There’s so much in Delray Beach beyond restaurants and shops. People are coming here to sail, kayak and surf,” Richwagen said. 

The family’s connection to Delray Beach began when Robert Richwagen, a machinist, and his wife, Bertha, moved from Boston in 1958 and opened an engine-repair and go-cart shop three years later on Southeast Second Street alongside TV repair, plumbing and other general necessity stores.

Before long, they moved to Atlantic Avenue and began building fiberglass surfboards in response to the popularity of the hit TV show Gidget, based on the life of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beaches of Malibu. In the 1970s, as retirees poured into Delray Beach, the family found success in selling an assortment of bicycles, including three-wheelers for leisure riders.

When Robert Richwagen died in 1988, his sons took over the bicycle business, with Albert delving in real estate. On the advice of former Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Chris Brown, he cut his long hair and attended City Commission meetings to learn the workings of developers.

His education paid off: the family bought the store’s property on Atlantic Avenue and sold it nearly two decades later for eight times the amount it paid for the building and land.

In all, the store has moved six times throughout Delray Beach, never losing its customer base. 

“I love the people here,” said Bertha Richwagen, who retired from the business two years ago. “This city has always been good to us.”

For his part, Albert Richwagen, who has since grown back his long hair, says he gives back to his city every chance he can, volunteering on the Code Enforcement Board and the former ad hoc committee mitigating the dispute over construction of bike lanes on A1A. He also sits on another board charged with making Delray Beach a destination for a new crop of tourists.

That’s why everywhere he goes on his scooter and bike (he doesn’t own a car), he is often stopped, if not by a loyal customer then a passing stranger grateful for his generosity.

“This is my town, my home. I want to do my share to help it,” he said.