BMX Pro's

ERA: 1980's● HISTORIC

The History of BMX PROS 1978–1989 It began at Christmas in 1978, when my parents, Ed and Doris Gaither, gave me an old, steel-framed Schwinn look-alike bicycle. My dad had painted it baby blue and added yellow accessories. That bicycle introduced BMX into our family’s life. My dad took me to a winter indoor race at Downs Arena in Kansas. I rode my first practice lap around the track—and I was hooked. Dad began looking into what it would take to get me the bicycle and equipment I needed to race. He quickly discovered that the cost of everything was beyond our family’s budget at the time. Instead of letting that stop us, he began looking for another way. He contacted several bicycle-parts suppliers and convinced a couple of them to establish us as a dealer. During 1979 and 1980, we began holding “bike parties” in our garage. A kid would invite a group of friends, we would display some BMX parts and pass around a catalog, and then we would order whatever the attendees wanted. Those garage parties helped us afford upgraded components for my bicycle, and I began racing in 1979. Before long, we transitioned from garage parties to bringing BMX parts to the races in our van and selling them directly to riders and their families. Demand grew to the point that we began searching for a location where we could open a retail bicycle shop. In 1980, BMX PROS opened its first storefront at 3928 North Chouteau Trafficway in Kansas City’s Northland. We leased space from Frank, the owner of Town & Country Market, in the same strip mall. As the business grew, we added more bicycle suppliers and our first complete bicycle manufacturer, Scorpion. BMX PROS developed a strong customer base and soon outgrew its original storefront. In 1982, we moved farther down the strip mall into a larger space. We eventually outgrew that location as well. Around this time, we purchased an Illinois mail-order company called Midwest National BMX. In 1983, we moved the business to 7333 NE 48th Street, near Worlds of Fun. BMX PROS continued as the retail bicycle shop, while Midwest National BMX operated as the mail-order side of the business, shipping products across the country from the back of the building. We were not simply selling BMX equipment. We were helping build the sport and supporting its riders and families. Freestyle BMX was also beginning to take off. At the NE 48th Street location, we hosted several large freestyle shows that attracted hundreds of spectators. These events introduced even more people to BMX and expanded the shop’s place within the Kansas City bicycle community. As BMX continued to grow, we found that an increasing share of our customers came from the Kansas side of the metropolitan area. Around 1988, we moved BMX PROS to 8801 Monrovia Street in Lenexa, Kansas. The Lenexa location continued to grow until I graduated from college and accepted a job in the telecommunications industry. We then sold the business so I could begin my new career. Throughout the life of BMX PROS, my parents contributed far more than the time they spent operating the shop. They devoted countless hours and days to volunteering at local BMX tracks, helping with registration, operating the hand gates, serving as track monitors, assisting with track construction, and doing whatever else was needed to run the races. They spent so much time working at the tracks that we have very few photographs of me racing. While I was on the track, they were usually somewhere behind the scenes helping make the race possible. I owe my parents an enormous amount of gratitude. When BMX initially appeared beyond our family’s financial reach, they found a way for me to race. In the process, they built a business that supported riders, families, tracks, and the growth of BMX throughout the Kansas City area. It became one of the best parts of my childhood. Thank you, Ed and Doris Gaither.