When Bill Wildman was approached about buying advertising on a bicycle, he was convinced the idea was so good he decided to buy his own billboard bicycle instead.

Wildman, who owns Malibu Yogurt at 825 E. University Blvd, uses his Main Street Pedicabs manufactured Billboard Bike to get to and from his store.

“Because it is my bike and because I ride it, I can park it just like any other car,” Wildman said.

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By Steve Hawkes
Tim Mason has heard it all. Ever since the Tesco executive launched the supermarket giant’s Fresh & Easy venture in America a year ago, analysts have accused him of missing sales targets by a mile, while unions pushing for negotiating rights have complained that staff morale has fallen through the floor.

The critics were out again last week after The Times revealed that, faced with recession, Mr Mason was being forced to slow the store rollout programme. Worried? He hardly looks it. One minute, he’s jumping on to a Fresh & Easy rickshaw for a photo shoot; the next, he’s leading a chorus of Happy Birthday at the head office in Palm Beach, Los Angeles, to mark the chain’s first anniversary.

Asked about the prospect of a looming supermarket price war in America, he jokingly cites the line about amplifiers in This is Spinal Tap, the spoof “rockumentary”: “We’ll do better than the rest,” he says. “Our knobs go up to 11.”

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Tags: America, culture, difference, future, Los Angeles, Manhattan, market, marketing, Newspaper, Pedicab, Pedicab News, Product, recession, rickshaw, route, San Francisco, Story, US, weekend

American Express will celebrate New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival with a host of entertainment experiences, dining promotions and event services designed to delight film buffs, Cardmembers and the merely curious who attend the lower Manhattan event, May 1 – 9, 2004. In its third year as Founding Sponsor of the Festival, American Express once again welcomes fans back to downtown New York City to enjoy the international film and cultural festival that has helped revitalize the spirit of the historic neighborhood.

“American Express is a proud sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival, and we’re committed to helping generate the energy and commerce that has helped revitalize lower Manhattan – our home since 1850,” said John Hayes, chief marketing officer of American Express. “Last year’s Festival drew more than 325,000 visitors, many of whom attended the events, shopped in downtown stores and dined with neighborhood merchants, making Tribeca a tremendous success.”

“We are delighted that American Express is returning for its third year as Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival,” said Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal. “With its commitment to lower Manhattan as strong as ever, American Express truly exemplifies the power of corporate citizenship. The Festival could not happen without their support, and we are deeply grateful for this wonderful collaborative partnership.”

Festival venues, activities and participating restaurants are situated throughout lower Manhattan, and, beginning May 1, American Express will provide complimentary double-decker bus service to downtown screening houses and special event locations. In addition, a fleet of three-wheeled, chauffeur-driven bicycles known as “pedicabs” will circulate throughout the neighborhood and pedal attendees to downtown stops, free of charge. The double-deckers and pedicabs will be fully wrapped in familiar American Express green tones.

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff to celebrate New York City as a major filmmaking capital, and to contribute to the long-term recovery of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

American Express is the Founding Sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival. Part of a multi-year relationship, the Festival is one of a series of events – large and small – that American Express is sponsoring to draw people to lower Manhattan and help restore a sense of excitement in the neighborhood. American Express is a diversified worldwide travel, network, and financial services provider founded in 1850. It is a leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, investment products, insurance and international banking.

For more information on the Tribeca Film Festival, call the Festival box office at 1-866-941-FEST (3378), or visit the Tribeca Film Festival website at tribecafilmfestival.org.

Content provided courtesy americanexpress.com.

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Denver Business Journal – by Tom Locke Denver Business Journal

In the old fishing villages on the southeast coast of Spain, the streets are narrow, the parking is atrocious and the tourists are plentiful.

But for tourists who are too tired and sweaty to take another step under the hot Spanish sun, there is relief, thanks to a little Broomfield company that is bridging the walker-automobile transportation gap with something called a “pedicab.”

On a recent morning in March, a dozen or so yellow pedicabs lay ready for shipment to Spain in the small warehouse of Main Street Pedicabs Inc., a company that has championed pedicabs for more than a decade under the leadership of its owner and CEO, Steve Meyer. “We’re not only building pedicabs, we’re building a pedicab industry,” Meyer said.

Meyer said he stuck with pedicabs while others might have given up because he and his wife, Ruth Vanderkooi, simply love the business. And that’s even though they make less than they would if they were fully employed somewhere else, he said.

Meyer has a background in urban planning, and sees himself as sort of a champion of an alternative form of transportation that can add excitement and utility to boring cities dominated by automobiles.

So, thanks in part to supplemental income earned by his wife and to real estate development projects on the side, Meyer has persevered in the pedicab business and figures he’s easily the biggest pedicab manufacturer in the United States.

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