“The bike saved me”

Lidija Markovic (36) says that the best feeling is when children knock on the window to say hello. This is proof that they have good memories of their visit here. “Maybe it’s the popcorn they bought from me.”

Markovic is at Wheely Pop, a children’s bike shop in Zurich’s 4th district, the first of its kind in German-speaking Switzerland. Here it looks very different from a bike shop for adults. Colors such as pink and bright yellow dominate, helmets are decorated with flowers, some scooters and the wheels of the scooters standing on the shelves shine like American Christmas lights when you get on.

Since opening in the spring, Markovic – his friends call him Li – has been working in this colorful world from Tuesday to Saturday. Before that, her life seemed bleak for a while.

One day around Lake Zurich

A professional failure was the deciding factor. Entering the gastro and cultural sector after many years in the retail sector, Markovic took over a bar with others in 2018. Many things in the team did not go as he had imagined. A few months later it was over again. “I put my heart and soul into this project and I was unemployed from day to day.” He fell into a deep hole, had a panic attack. “For the first time in my life, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do anymore.”

“The bike saved me in that moment,” says Markovic. He had always had a soft spot for this vehicle and discovered that it was a sports equipment he could use to clear his head. He had the idea to become a bike courier. He bought a cheap racing model from Ricardo and started training. First he toured Lake Zurich in one day, then he spent three days in Piedmont. “I was so exhausted on the last day that I accidentally bumped into a crash barrier.”

Repair using youtube

He applied unsuccessfully twice to become a courier. At the time, he didn’t know how tiring this job was. “This was probably noticed in my application.” But he got the job when he wrote an offended email after the second try.

From then on, Markovic brought goods from point A to point B in Zurich for two years, whatever the weather. Since he couldn’t afford many repairs to his bike, he started doing as much as he could on his own. Repair with the help of YouTube tutorials At one point, he was experienced enough to apply as a career changer to a large bike shop in Zurich and find a job. He worked in sales and collected new vehicles together. He was also in charge of the children’s bikes division.

The dress rehearsal hasn’t arrived yet.

During this time, Markovic realized how great the demand in this area was and how much parents relied on the advice. On the Internet, he came across an ad for the owner of the children’s clothing store, which was here at the time and was looking for a new tenant. Markovic got the contract and decided to start his own business with the help of his friend who was there during the crisis. On March 10, it was time: Wheely Pop opened.

Corona wasn’t a big deal at this point anymore, but the pandemic-triggered bike boom still stood out. Unfortunately, supply bottlenecks meant that Markovic’s store was only half full during the summer than it is now in the winter. “Hopefully next spring, when people start buying bikes again, there will be a business boom here,” he says. “I guess there is no one waiting for spring as impatiently as I am.”