When it comes to Group Therapy Bike Tours and Landscape Curbing of Lincoln, these two businesses couldn’t be any more different but they do have one thing in common: They’re family owned and operated. For the inside story about both companies, there’s no one better to tell it than owner Drew Philippi.
How did each company get its start? – Landscape Curbing of Lincoln was established in 1993. I was hired on as a high school laborer in 1998. I worked at Landscape Curbing for 12 years until I was in a position to buy the company, and to this day I am a full-time salesman.
Group Therapy Bike Tours took its maiden voyage in April 2013. Since then, word of a good time is spreading like wildfire and we are quickly becoming a staple in Lincoln’s entertainment scene.
What is each business’s specialty? – Landscape Curbing of Lincoln specializes in pouring continuous concrete landscape edging. We come to your house, remove your existing edging, design or clean up the contours of your landscape beds, cut a new trench, mix cement, and extrude/pour a continuous concrete edge around your landscape beds, flag poles, driveways and mailboxes. Then we stamp it to look like brick, stone, boulders, mowing platform, or standard commercial curbs.
Group Therapy Bike Tours specializes in having fun. Young and old, large and small, suit and tie, or no shirt at all. We guarantee a fun social experience for all who appreciate trying new things, meeting new people, and laughing uncontrollably.
What makes each business unique? – Landscape Curbing of Lincoln is unique in the fact that we are one of the only full-time concrete curbing companies in the state of Nebraska, pouring over five miles of continuous concrete edging each year. We are also the only concrete curbing company in the state of Nebraska to offer our realistic “natural stone” concrete edging, which combines the functionality of a poured in-place concrete border with the luxury of a beautiful natural stone impression.
As for Group Therapy Bike Tours, our concept itself is what makes us unique and we are literally one-of-a-kind in Lincoln.
With two locally owned and operated businesses, what do you enjoy the most about doing business in Lincoln? – I love doing business in Lincoln because people care about their homes and take pride in ownership. The residents of Lincoln work hard and play hard and are compensated well for their skills, creating a consistent and strong market for business that is relatively untouched by economic recession.
Group Therapy Bike Tours is involved in many charitable events each year. We love donating to a great cause and we look forward to continuing with our tradition of giving back to our community.
A quality product/service for a fair price, followed up with good ol’ Nebraska nice customer service, is what keeps our businesses moving forward. Our customers welcome me into their home, we talk at the dining room table, we provide great service and then I look them in the eye and we shake hands. Business can be and still is that simple around here.
What changes have you seen with your businesses? – The concrete curbing industry has changed completely over the last 17 years. Most notably, the product has become much better and a lot prettier as a result of improvements over the years. When I started in 1998 we were pouring thousands of feet of commercial style, mowing-friendly curbs and now we stamp that same product to look like natural stone and boulders.
The one thing that has remained unchanged over the last 17 years is my life’s commitment to this product and this industry. At 32 years old, I have devoted 17 years of my life to improving our core offerings; my wife says I am “a lifer.”
The Group Therapy business is relatively unchanged but that’s simply because it’s so new to us and Lincoln. There is currently an initiative underway to amend Nebraska liquor laws to allow the consumption of alcohol on board all Group Therapy Bike Tours. This amendment would allow our customers to enjoy the fine handcrafted beers brewed right here in Lincoln while pedaling through the streets of downtown Lincoln and the historic Haymarket.
What do you see happening in your business in the next five years? – I hope to continue growing my concrete curbing business, expanding into larger markets and spreading the word of our superior landscape edging products throughout the state of Nebraska.
In addition to those high hopes, we also intend to expand our Group Therapy Bike Tours business by adding an additional bike to our fleet or possibly even franchising to another state.
For more information about Group Therapy Bike Tours visit GroupTherapyBikeTours.com or call (402)-968-2305. For more information about Landscape Curbing visit HuskerCurb.com or call (402)-499-2872.