Joe Haskins ride in March 2021. Credit: James Luedde

Another slice of vintage Tampa will disappear before 2023.

Tampa Heights’ beloved Joe Haskins Bicycle Shop is closing after 62 years serving working class Tampeños who’ve come to rely on the shop for everyday repairs that keep their bikes on the road.

“The Haskins family would like to thank the community for allowing us to serve you for over 62 years. The time has come for us to retire,” the shop, located at 2310 N Florida Ave., wrote on social media Thursday night. “Our last day will be December 17, 2022.”

The news comes less than two years after the death of the shop’s namesake in March 2021.

The shop’s origins go back to 1958 when Haskins, just 17 years old at the time, bought Tampa Cycle from his uncle before renaming it.

Prior to that, the shop had been around in one form or another since at least 1916, making it a contender for one of the oldest continuously operated businesses in the City of Tampa.

After Haskins’ death, his family, including wife Michelle Calonge-Haskins and daughter Brittany Calonge, continued his legacy of being there for the non-spandex wearing sect of Tampa’s bicycling community. And keeping that free air hose dangling outside the front door.

It’s unclear what’s next for the property that sits on a prime corner of fast-changing Tampa Heights, and the city’s permit exploration portal Accela was under maintenance on Thursday night, but we’ll update this post as we learn more.

This is a developing post.