In the eight years that he has been in business, no two years have ever been alike for Scooter Joe. Joe’s real name is Joe Allen, but his role is decidedly that of showman. His fledgling business eight summers ago in downtown St. Joseph brought scooter and bicycle rentals to the central business district to allow visitors to wend their way from the downtown to the beach and beyond. That was a basic year, but every year since then Scooter Joe has enhanced the business in a multitude of ways and this summer is no exception as he brings a little refreshment to the equation in the form of his new Scooter Joe’s Super Pretzel Cart.
Call it Scooter Joe’s 2-point-oh, as he does, because that’s not his only twist. He is now open, up and running for his eighth great year downtown.
To keep his customers charged up with energy after doing all their fancy foot work of pedaling, look for his brand new Scooter Joe’s Super Pretzel Cart complete with a big yellow umbrella. Joe’s Pretzel Wizards are now serving up hot baked pretzels on demand for your mustard dipping pleasure.
Check his Scooter Joe Facebook page over the summer for dates and times, as well as his website at www.scootjoe.com for additional information on how you can add a unique “hot & twisty treat” offering at your special event (weddings, reunions, parties), because you can even rent the Super Pretzel Cart, complete with a Scooter Joe’s Pretzel Wizard to handle pretzel duties for your event.
The Pretzel Cart isn’t Scooter Joe’s only enhancement this season. Joe tells me that his “famously fabulous Surrey bikes” (with the fringe on top) continue to be upgraded, and he now has two new additions to the family. Even the cup holders have been upgraded and they have bigger baskets for holding stuff during the ride, and more.
Visitors and local residents can continue to enjoy Joe’s Surrey bikes, as well as beach cruisers, fat tire bikes, and their electric hybrid bikes from iZip to bolt around town.
Keep in mind, too, that Scooter Joe also offers an exclusive kayak livery from The Inn at Harbor Shores, dropping your group up river for a leisurely paddle down the Paw Paw River. Guests at both The Inn and at Holiday Inn Express in St. Joe have a fleet of Scooter Joe’s beach cruisers right at their front entrances. Guests can conveniently charge their bike rental right to their room.
Additionally, Joe has announced that in addition to his “off the grid” operation — solar panels are now charging for the season — they are extending their planet-friendly business approach by eliminating paper rental agreements.
Shiny new iPads now greet customers to Joe’s walk up counter, and offer a quick & easy way to complete the brief, but important, rental agreement in less time. Of course the transaction is as easy as ever, too, as they support using your iPhone & Apple Watch with Apple Pay or Android phone and Samsung Pay for payment.
Joe is excited to launch the new season over this past week and says, “As always, we would like to remind everyone to to relax, slow down this summer and be alert to bikes and especially children around our busy downtown location; including the alleys which sometimes seem to have more traffic than roads, and with some dangerous blind corners.”
Here’s the link to Scooter Joe’s website with lots of information on everything he has available for visitors and residents alike this summer: http://www.scootjoe.com.
