FISH CREEK, Wis. — Dan Stollenwerk spends about a half hour each morning setting up Edge of Park Bicycle and Moped Rental for business.
That means moving dozens of bikes, mopeds and e-bikes from storage into the open.
“This September being as warm and beautiful as it’s been, once we get all set and we open up, we usually have a good rush of customers from 10 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m.,” he said. “Then, end of the day, we’ll get rentals that go out for our after-hours program.”
Stollenwerk said despite a wet spring and early summer, business this year at the Fish Creek operation has been strong.
“When it’s raining and you’re on a shaded, covered, trail people still want to go out and people still want to ride,” he said. “I’ve been doing this 10 years and we actually had a record May and record June this year. It was very surprising with how wet it was. I was not expecting that at all.”
The last weeks of summer and the beginning of fall have been largely dry and warm in Door County and other places across Wisconsin.
That’s good for businesses with ties to travel.
“It’s almost October, and it’s a beautiful day today. We’re seeing people come up for that, for the weather. Even just day trips coming up from Green Bay or the Fox Valley,” said Jessica Murphy, the events and community coordinator for Visit Fish Creek. “They’re like, ‘It was a beautiful day and we wanted to seize the moment and go hiking and do our favorite fish boil.’”
Last minute trips to take advantage of the weather is one thing, but the fall colors in the coming weeks will also draw visitors to the county.
“We’re slowing down a little bit with a lot of the kids going back to school, but I feel like we still have a hearty tourist season up here during the fall colors,” Murphy said.
Right at 10 a.m., when Edge of Park opens, Stollenwerk was helping the first customers of the day with a moped rental.
“The last time we hit records in September was 2016, 2017. This year we are definitely close with three or four days left in the month,” he said. “It’s been very dry, it’s been very warm, and people want to get out and bike and they want to moped.”