At least four people must pedal to power Savannah Slow Ride’s quadricycles along the city’s flat streets.
To get the contraption going, though, took just two.
Samantha Meier and Keith Snyder started their unorthodox tour company along with a sister business that manufactures the quadricycles 22 months ago. Yet in the last year they’ve grown from a two-person operation with two working quadricycles to a popular tour operator with a staff of 10, six leg-powered vehicles and a backlog of orders from out-of-town companies for their handmade “crawlers.”
Their growth and success came in a year in which they faced several challenges from city officials, led by former city manager Rochelle Small-Toney. Government leaders considered limiting their downtown routes, banning alcohol consumption onboard the crawlers and requiring a wide array of safety equipment.
“Basically, we spent half the year fighting for our own survival and the other half growing into a viable business,” Meier said. “It’s been interesting.”
Meier and Snyder’s perseverance on what has been an uphill ride makes Savannah Slow Ride and Crawler Fabrications our choice for “Newcomer Business of the Year.”
From idea to reality
The Savannah Slow Ride idea is unique but not original.
Meier discovered the touring quadricycle in 2010 while visiting family in Milwaukee, Wis. She was out for drinks at a tavern when the vehicle creeped by on a pub crawl. She chased it down the street and claimed a seat.
“I got on and had a blast,” Meier said.
Meier’s experience intrigued Snyder, her significant other. A marine engineer by trade and a tinkerer by nature, he researched the crawler and found they were popular in Europe. Invented by a Dutch bar owner in 1997, more than 100 bikes operate today, many in beer meccas such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Those crawlers were all built overseas. So was the one Meier rode in Milwaukee.
Snyder recognized an opportunity. Not only could he and Meier start a crawler tour operation in Savannah, but they could also manufacture the bikes. Before long, crawler sketches covered the whiteboard in his office aboard the Diamond Casino cruise boat.
“There was a lot of downtime in that job,” said Snyder, the ship’s engineer.
Once he mastered the quadricycle’s mechanics, Snyder reached out to a friend who works as a metal fabricator in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The friend helped Snyder identify and acquire the necessary parts to build a bike. Another friend offered Snyder his backyard as a makeshift assembly area.
He assembled the first bike in August 2010. Snyder and Meier, who was working in a local restaurant at the time, moved into their current headquarters and bike shop downtown later that year. They picked February 2011 to launch their business.
“We had a hidden agenda,” Snyder said. “Sam and I wanted to do something together. I wanted off the casino boat, and she wanted out of the restaurant.”
Build on momentum
Interest in the Savannah Slow Ride grew at a rocket’s pace.
Cycling enthusiasts and tourists looking for an experience beyond a motorist trolley or horse-drawn carriage embraced the crawler. Some tour customers saw the same potential in the quadricycle Snyder had. Orders for the bikes began almost immediately.
Snyder’s Crawler Fabrications has made 25 of the quadricycles in its 21 months of existence and can be found crawling the streets of Denver, Baltimore, Portland, St. Louis and Cincinnati, to name a few.
The other two U.S.-based crawler manufacturers have made one bike each, according to Snyder
“Now it’s about making it better, quicker and lighter,” he said.
Meier is just as busy in the office as Snyder is on the shop floor. The squabble with the city — and the headlines it made — boosted Savannah Slow Ride’s profile. Demand allowed them to hire staff earlier this year, and Meier went from driving the crawler to driving business.
She’s expanded the Slow Ride’s tour offerings beyond the city’s history and pubs to include church, shopping and haunting circuits. She’s also marketed the business as an option for corporate outings, wedding parties and family reunions.
“The real challenge we face going forward is to keep the creativity going and not let people think it will be the same over and over,” Meier said.
Expansion is another Meier focus. Every crawler order Snyder receives from a new customer is a reminder quadricycle tours are a growth industry. She’s identified several “virgin markets” where the crawlers would have the best chance of success — cities with compact historic or entertainment districts.
“Now it’s a matter of figuring out the best approach,” Meier said. “We like challenges. As our experience has shown, if we want something, we get it.”
BEST OF SAVANNAH BUSINESS 2012
All this week, the Savannah Morning News will profile companies and organizations that made major contributions to the local business environment in the past year. The Exchange staff chose the honorees — from a list of nominees submitted by local business and community leaders — utilizing broad criteria, from growth and success to philanthropy and community involvement.
Today: Savannah Slow Ride (Newcomer of the Year)
Wednesday: World Trade Center Savannah (Advocate of the Year)
Thursday: The Coastal Bank (Comeback Business of the Year)
Friday: JCB Apprenticeship Program (Educational Partner of the Year)
Saturday: Wet Willie’s (Entrepreneurial Business of the Year)
Sunday: LMI Aerospace (Manufacturer of the Year)
NEWCOMER BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Winner: Savannah Slow Ride/Crawler Fabrications
Leadership: Samantha Meier and Keith Snyder (co-owners)
Business sector: Hospitality
Employees: 10
2012 Accomplishments: Meier and Snyder established Savannah Slow Ride in February 2010 with one quadricycle designed and built by Snyder. The business offers tours of the historic district on the “pedal-powered contraption” and was a hit not just with visitors but with entrepreneurs elsewhere. Snyder has built 24 quadricycles through his Crawler Fabrications brand since the prototype hit Savannah’s streets, selling 19 of those to start-up operators out of town.
The couple began to expand Savannah Slow Ride early this year. They added 10 staffers and five quadricycles and Meier developed themed quadricycle tours, including those featuring Savannah’s favorite haunted sites, fashion boutiques and churches.
Meier and Snyder also prevailed in a dustup with city officials over passenger safety and tour routes in 2012. Former City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney and a few members of City Council expressed concerns over pedalers consuming alcohol during tours, the safety equipment on the quadricycles and the impact of the crawlers’ routes on vehicle traffic. Those issues were resolved without doing harm to Savannah Slow Ride’s business.
Website:www.savannahslowride.com and www.crawlerfabrications.com