Flagstaff Region Featured Business: Williams Custom Bikes
(as published in the June 6 edition of The Community Press)
The Flagstaff Region Featured Business is a monthly newspaper and web feature presented in partnership by Flagstaff County and The Community Press.
Williams Custom Bikes
200 Rutherford Ave., Heisler, Alberta 780-881-5678
“Williams Custom Bikes is kind of a misnomer,” says Sven Bernard, consultant and spokesman for the corner shop that currently employs two full-time and two part-time staffers.
“It indicates we’re only building custom bikes.”
In fact, that is just one of their many varied offerings.
The shop, which opened in 2013 as a branch of Williams Custom Bikes headquartered in Fort McMurray, offers tire changes, automotive detailing, and oil changes on vehicles and motorcycles.
They also sell automotive parts, including tires. Plus, they build and repair small planes such as ultralights, and also repair RVs, garden tractors, lawnmowers, and essentially “anything with a small engine.”
For Sven and wife Irene, who manages the shop, it’s all about diversification, which both agree is integral to business success in a rural area.
“You have to diversify. You cannot just focus your attention in business on one thing,” Irene explains.
Sven adds: “We do a variety of different things in the same location and cater to a huge variety of customers. We have a lot of eggs in the basket and if one breaks, we will not go down because of it.”
The shop’s Fort McMurray headquarters was established in 1989 by owner and namesake Irv Williams. Sven had worked for Williams at a Chrysler dealership in Fort McMurray for 14 years until it was sold in 2012.
As fate would have it, Sven and Irene ended up moving to Heisler and opened a local branch of Williams Custom Bikes.
Both motorcycle enthusiasts themselves, the couple has aimed to cater to the “odd biker, the one that wants to stick out and be different.”
Among their most recent projects, they are currently perfecting a custom order motorcycle for a client in Sherwood Park.
Sven and Irene’s longer-term goal is to design and build several production models and to start production on each prototype once federal government approval is granted.
Production could begin on the first model as early as February 2019.
It’s a lofty goal that will be nothing short of historic for not only the region, but also for the country.
“We will be the first production motorcycle builder in Canada,” Sven notes.
Along with that, they will be offering a BYOB (build your own bike) service once their first production bike is approved.
“You can buy a bike that’s not assembled,” Sven explains. “You come here and we will teach you how to assemble your own bike. So we make you an employee of ours for three or four days.
“You don’t get paid, but we will also not charge you extra. What better way to know your bike than if you build it yourself?”
Last summer, the shop held a “Bike Night” on Thursday nights in collaboration with the Heisler Hotel.
However, the weather usually didn’t cooperate. So this year, Bike Night is every day.
“When the weather’s good, the doors are open, the coffee’s on, and the cookies are here,” Sven says.
“Sometimes I take the barbeque out and turn it on when the bikers show up. We just invite everyone to come and visit and see what we have here.”
During the month of June, Williams Custom Bikes in Heisler is offering a 15% discount on automotive detailing.
For further information, visit williamscustombikes.com or find them on Facebook.
As published in the June 6 edition of The Community Press – on newsstands today. Never miss an issue, become a SUBSCRIBER today!
The Flagstaff Region Featured Business is a monthly newspaper and web feature presented in partnership by Flagstaff County and The Community Press. For more information, contact Jenalee Blackhurst, Economic Development Coordinator, at 780-384-4152. Looking to market your business? Look no further than the area’s #1 Medium since 1908. Phone 780-385-6693 or Email ads@thecommunitypress.com today.
