So another Dearborn store is closing.

Adventure Bicycle, 3806 Monroe in Dearborn.

Sadly, it is a story that seems to be playing out all too frequently these days. With every step towards a recovery we seem to make when a new business opens, it feels like two steps back when one closes.

That’s certainly how it feels with Clayton Hatchard having to close his Adventure Bicycle store on Monroe. The bicycle shop was a dream come true for Hatchard, who would have celebrated his third year in business this spring. Instead, he is holding a 50 percent-off sale on every item in his store, preparing to permanently close at month’s end.

“I take most of the blame for my store’s downfall,” said Hatchard, a 12-year bicycle sales veteran. “I really should have closed up last fall when my ‘kind hearted bank’ overnight turned my line of credit into a loan. But like a stubborn mule, I refused to give up and the past six months have been brutal.”

Adventure Bicycle owner Chad Hatchard remains upbeat about Dearborn's future.

Despite his rough ride, Hatchard remains refreshingly optimistic about Dearborn and his own future.

“I would open a business again if the circumstances were right,” he said. “And I would do it in Dearborn if the timing was right. I love Dearborn and I would never leave. I take at least fifty percent of the blame and the other fifty percent is completely out of my control.”

That’s not to say Hatchard hasn’t had his share of sleepless nights in the past year. There have been many, he says, but he was able to get through this tough period in his life because of the support of his wife and their 6-year-old son.

What you won’t hear from Hatchard is blame that his store closing was the result of paid parking in Dearborn. His customers parked for free directly outside his store. But that convenience couldn’t save his business. Interestingly, the same was true for Bikesport, a bicycle shop on Michigan Avenue in the heart of downtown west Dearborn that had free parking yet it, too, closed in November.

You also won’t hear Hatchard blame our city leaders, the location of his business or his landlord for the failure of his bike store (the building owners actually lowered his rent, he says, in his second year to try and help him). Instead,

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