Meet Aaron Flournoy, a bike repairman and owner of Lil Bill's Bike Repair, a tiny yet homey shed on USC's campus. The business has become a staple in the USC campus community. Many students stop by the shed for quick fixes such as air refills and other bike repair needs.
Bad news for the loyal customers, though!
In what seems to be a college version of gentrification, the Southern California-based university has told Flournoy that he has to move his business off campus before the end of the month, according to StreetsBlog.com.
And this isn't the beginning of Lil Bill's rollercoaster ride, either.
Up until late 2015, the specific property Lil Bill's operated in had been privately owned. USC eventually acquired the property for itself, since it was technically within its campus grounds. Once USC finally got around to beginning work on its newly acquired property in late 2016, Flournoy was told to pack up and move his shed or risk being bulldozed.
Wanting to keep his business, Flournoy entered into a verbal agreement with USC to move to a different on-campus spot for a $177 rent fee, and everything seemed all good. That was, until USC officials told him Lil Bill's would have to leave campus for good this time at the end of April.
Why is this happening?
Well, USC has a non-compete clause with Solé, a high-end bike shop set to open a space in the new the $600 million residential and retail complex about to open on USC's property. Although Lil Bill's services only include bike repair and not bike sale, Solé deemed his operation a violation of its contract with USC.
USC has tried to compromise by offering to move Flournoy and his bike repair shop to an out-of-the-way campus lot where maintenance workers park their electric carts. The problem with that, however, is that the newly proposed area is low in student traffic, which concerns Flournoy.
And the plot thickens.
Flournoy received an an offer from Solé to work for them as a $12/hour mechanic, but declined, due to being content with having his own business.
Beyond the income earned from his business (one of only two black-owned bike repair shops in all of South Central), Flournoy felt he could better continue his outreach into the community as an independent operator.
Having worked in the community for so long, Flournoy is very well-known. He's often the first person people think to go to when they run into trouble, as happened when a rider from the Black Kids on Bikes group found himself in distress during a beach biking event. Who did he immediately call?
That's right, Flournoy.
Lil Bill's and the new Solé venture are direct reflections of the rapid gentrification taking place due to developers reaping the benefits of the expiration of affordability covenants that kept rent low for area Section 8 residents and local businesses.
Flourney's father owned the original Bill's, a brick-and-mortar bike shop, and had been under pressure to sell it for years. Although he wanted to give it to his son, he eventually sold it as he wanted to retire, but hadn't been able to save enough money to do so from repairing bikes.
It's already unfortunate that Flournoy has been put through such an emotional tug-of-war with his bike repair shop, and it would be even more unfortunate if he were forced to move, for both him and the general campus community, who loves him.
