One Sunday Too Many: Jim Cielencki Quits The Shop

Jeff Z.

• January 29 2009
• 4,124 views
• 8 comments

Four years ago, Jim Cielencki started Sunday Bikes and opened a BMX/skate shop under the same name with his good friend JP within a few weeks of each other. Now four years later, Jim made the decision to move on from the shop to focus more on the bike company.

Jim C. reppin’ Sunday and Obama. Photo: Zielinski

As far as the name Sunday in concerned, which came first, the shop or the bike company?
Hmm… There’s a lot to that one. The shop was planned to happen in the summer/fall of 2004, but we never had a name. It was delayed because everything was moving so fast and we didn’t feel we could remain strong during the slow period after the holidays. During Christmas of 2004, the plan for Sunday Bikes was born, but again there wasn’t a name. Picking a name is one of the most difficult things to do, there is so much to think about and you end up over thinking it, too. Either way the shop picked the name Sunday during January of 2005, but the bike company was still nameless. I really felt good about the name Sunday for the bike company because the shop had such a good philosophy behind it and I wanted to apply the same feeling to the bike company. So basically the shop came first and then the bike company a week later.

I’ve noticed a really good connection between the skaters and BMXers in Buffalo, would you credit the shop with bridging that gap?
I’d say it has always been there—at least in the older crowd. The shop did a great job of introducing a lot of the younger guys to each other, which created the good connection. The older guys got along because they all remember the days when the two weren’t popular, so you bonded that way. Plus we were united over our disgust for rollerblading [laughs]. I’d say the shop definitely helped because it was owned by a skater and a biker, so we can see each other’s sides.

Explain your decision to stop working at the Sunday shop.
It just comes down to realizing that there was not enough hours in the day to do everything. I had this rule that I can’t do more than one major thing at one time, which I completely disregarded. I was working at the shop, running the bike company, trying to ride professionally, and then being a landlord as well. There really wasn’t much time for anything else. If something went wrong it would throw the schedule off and then things became a nightmare. From the beginning, I knew it would be a lot of work, but I felt it was important. I had already committed to the shop, but there was no way I was going to give up the bike company. That is something I’ve always wanted to do. But at the shop’s beginning, it was planned that I’d step aside—only it took almost four years to do so.

Did you simply sell off your share?
Yeah, basically, I wasn’t planning to make a fortune and I really wanted the shop to live a long life and serve the community well. It’s in great hands for sure.

What did a day entail for you when you were still working at the shop?
It all depends on the day, but it was some combination of bookkeeping, doing bank deposits, placing orders for BMX stuff, paying all the bills, cleaning, organizing, selling and basically a little of everything else. It was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it, but I just didn’t have enough time to focus on it so I can do it well.

What does a day entail for you now?
Now I get to focus solely on doing Sunday Bikes. It’s so awesome! Now it’s tons of e-mails, working on new products, Web site updates, planning team trips, and trying to get the video done. It’s so good because I feel like I have the time to accomplish what is needed to be done.

You guys are in the final stages of wrapping up the Sunday video, in hindsight, do you wish you left the shop earlier so you would’ve had more time to focus on filming?
Yeah for the most part, but I was hurt most of 2008, so getting out earlier really wouldn’t have helped. It would’ve been nice to go on more of the trips instead of having to deal with other responsibilities, though. The video is coming along and should be out in a month or so.

What are five things you hope to do in 2009 with the time you freed up for yourself?
That’s a good question, in no particular order:

•Ride a lot more. After being hurt for so long, I’ve realized that I need to get in shape. Guys in there thirties are not in the same shape as they were 15 years ago. Not even in the same shape as five years ago. So I’m trying to get stronger and make up for my injuries with stronger muscles. I’ve been doing some yoga and that really helps so much.

•Reinvent how Sunday is promoted. We’ve done it a certain way and haven’t fully taken advantage of our attributes. Now that I have time, I’d like to really focus on these attributes and their potential.

•Set up a solid office with a good environment. I’ve gotten into this issue of blurring the lines of where business can be done. I’d get up in the morning and be on the computer instantly answering e-mails all while eating breakfast. I’m trying to define clear boundaries between work and play. The major problem is that my job is a lot of fun, so it makes it more difficult to define these boundaries.

•Watch the Sabres win the Stanley Cup! I don’t think this one will happen, but you have to dream.

•Watch Barack Obama become President of the United States. And after today we can cross this one of my list!