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Kraynick's Bicycle Shop Goes Up For Sale After 70 Years In Business

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Sandwiched between Lawrenceville and East Liberty, Garfield is another neighborhood in transition. Kraynick's Bike Shop, for example, has served customers for 70 years. But owner Jerry Kranick is 73, and says he's ready to retire.

"My worst fear is to have this as a coffee shop or art gallery next year. And so we're hoping the general public understands what we do here, and wants it to be perpetuated. I think I have found the right person."

The "right person" is volunteer mechanic Rocky Cristobal. He's started a GoFundMe account, in hopes of raising the 420 thousand dollars to buy the shop and everything in it.

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"I've always been around bikes, since I was a little kid who took it apart and put it back together again," he says.

Volunteers come to Kranick's week after week, year after year, to help people repair their bikes, and to salvage donated bikes for Kraynick's annual "Bikes Before Christmas." The Salvation Army delivers more than two hundred repaired bicycles to youngsters who might not otherwise have one.

"People who donate get a good feeling that the bikes are gong to a good cause," the shop owner says. "The people here, myself and the volunteers, have a good feeling that we are doing something worthwhile. And the kids that receive the bikes get a good feeling that somebody cares about them."

To help Rocky Cristobal's fundraising campaign, click here. 

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