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THE SPOKES MAN
Video
By Ed Runyan
The Thumm family has operated a business in Warren since 1850.
One hundred years ago, when brothers August and Karl Thumm opened their tire, bicycle and motorcycle shop on West Market Street just over the bridge from Courthouse Square in Warren, their shop represented a number of innovations.
It had the city’s first gasoline pump, which fueled the first automobiles in town. Around that same time, there were automobiles — Fords and Packards — being sold or given last-minute assembly at facilities on either side of the shop.
And the brothers were among the first tire dealers. Their tire business had made them friends with Harvey Firestone, born in Columbiana County, of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. and J.W. Packard of the Packard automobile company, as well as famous early aviator Ernie Hall.
Times changed, and in 1940, when August’s son, August II, took over the business, he eliminated tire sales and focused on bicycles.
The facility where Model T’s were prepared for sale turned into a Chevrolet dealership last owned by Diane Sauer and is now a vacant lot. The area where Packards were sold is now the Senior Citizens Opportunity for Personal Endeavor senior citizen center.
August Thumm (pronounced “Toom”) II ran Thumm’s from 1940 until 1991, when his son, August III, known as Augie, took over. Gasoline sales ended there in 1963.
With the third generation of Thumms came other changes, such as the introduction of clock sales, which enabled the business to stay busy during the winter, when the bicycle business drops off.
Another thing that has changed is the amount of foot traffic passing in front of the store compared to when Augie Thumm was a boy in the 1960s, especially just after the shop closed at night.
“Outside we had wooden benches we would sit on, and we would talk to people as they were walking down the street,” Augie Thumm said. “There were herds of people walking down the street to see movies or go to a bar or whatever.”
Augie Thumm, 54, has been working nearly full time in his family’s business since about 1969 and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Thumm’s on May 19.
The 100 years makes Thumm’s one of the oldest businesses in downtown Warren, he said.
What’s more, Augie Thumm’s great-grandfather, Charles Thumm, established a bakery on an alley near the current Burger King on Main Avenue in 1850 and ran it until 1909. That means the Thumm family has continuously operated a business in downtown Warren longer than any other family, Augie Thumm said.
To this day, some people still refer to the alley — which runs just south of, and parallel to, East Market Street — “Thumm’s Alley,” he said.
Augie Thumm has carved out a niche business that has thrived despite a downturn in downtown Warren’s retail business in recent years.
“We sold more bikes and made more repairs last year than ever,” he said during an interview last week in the store.
One reason is another innovation: The Thumm’s Web site has introduced the store’s offerings to an audience outside of Trumbull County.
“We draw people from Pittsburgh, Columbus and Erie, Pa.,” he said.
But more than good marketing is at work, Augie Thumm said.
In an era of bicycles being sold in “big-box” stores in the suburbs, Augie, his wife, Linda, and their full-time employee, Greg Shupienis, provide a level of knowledge and service those large stores can’t, Augie Thumm said.
“It’s hard to find a shop where the guy who owns the place is the head mechanic,” he said.
The store has around 1,000 bicycles to chose from, including some with technological innovations not available five years ago, like hydraulically activated brakes and frames made of a carbon fiber so light the whole bike weighs only 13 pounds.
Though Thumm’s has bikes that cost as little as $80, his selection is more comparable to a Cadillac or Lincoln than a Chevrolet, he said.
Longtime customer Steve Rogers, an auto mechanic who rides a bicycle to work, said the greatest value of the store is Augie Thumm’s “knowledge base” that enables him to help someone select the right bicycle.
Augie Thumm provides an example: A tall person needs a bike that has a long handlebar stem to keep most of the body weight in back. When too much weight is shifted forward, the hands get numb, Augie Thumm said.
In the online blog insiderpages.com, “Nancy D” said, “I wanted a bicycle to ride to the lake with my daughter. My husband and I went to Thumm’s to purchase a bike. Being I am short, they would not just sell me any bike, they made sure that I had a bike that fit perfectly. Almost like going to a seamstress and having clothes made to fit.”
Augie Thumm and his father have both been collectors of time pieces, and both have an appreciation for mechanical things.
“Whether it’s a watch or a fine bicycle, things that are made with a lot of quality have always been of interest to me. That’s why we sell good bikes,” Augie Thumm said.
runyan@vindy.com