A downtown bike shop run by Chilliwack Restorative Justice and Youth Advocacy Association is set to close its doors before Christmas.

While officials say they plan to continue to sell used bikes to help support their restorative justice programs, the high cost of operating the downtown shop, at 9282 Main St. means they will be closing Dec. 21.

鈥淭hank you to the staff and volunteers who put so much time and heart into the retail bike shop over the past year and a half," said board chair Edna Warick in a release. "Closing the store was a very difficult decision."

The nonprofit has been operating the secondhand bike store in downtown since September 2023. First it was on Main Street but after the church demolition to make way for the new affordable housing project, the shop had to move operations and re-open down the street.

The bike shop doubled as a venue for youth mentoring and after-school programs, including bike-repair training. The idea was to grow sales of donated bikes for additional revenue and offer volunteer opportunities for folks in the community.

Starting in 2007, the association began raising funds through an annual bike auction. In 2020, the auction moved online during the pandemic.

"Due to the costs associated with operating the store at this location, CRJYAA decided to pause the bike shop program until it can find a new location or a more efficient business model."

In the meantime, the organization plans to focus on providing opportunities for healing and mentoring through its restorative justice efforts in the community.

The restorative justice approach is known for yielding results. It brings together first-time offenders with those they've harmed in the community, looks for concrete ways to help the parties heal from the incident. Statistically the programs are shown to effectively reduce recidivism, or repeat offences, by an estimated 87 per cent, she said.

Offenders must accept responsibility for their actions, and they get to hear directly how their behaviour impacted the victim and supporters, as well as their own family.