S&S, meet D&D. Sun & Snow’s store on Jackson Rd. has a problem that plagues seasonal businesses: what to do in the off-season. The winter gear store’s solution: partner with D&D Bicycles, out of Westland, to share its store in front of the Quality 16 theater.

“We thought ‘there’s gotta be a better way,'” says Rob Parent, sitting next to his wife and Sun & Snow co-owner Heidi Parent. They opened the store in June 2015 and went through a rough first off-season paying utilities for a space that was barely used. So, Rob says, they asked themselves “what’s another business that has the opposite calendar that we have?”

The answer: D&D, a family-owned business with seven other stores in southeast Michigan. Sun & Snow’s focus is “on family adventure and activity,” Rob says. “You could be eighty years old or you could be two years old, and you can be on top of a mountain together in the middle of wintertime. Biking is the only sport I can think of that’s similar to that.”

Sun & Snow will occupy the building from September through February, with D&D taking March through August. The costs of the building are split fifty-fifty, though officially D&D is a sub-leaser. The two businesses have the concept of “Adventure 365” to jointly market themselves. “We geared it toward wanting that adventure and that outdoor lifestyle and active year round,” says Heidi.

Neither business will vanish completely in its off-season. D&D will offer a bicycle service area on the main floor year round, and Sun & Snow will do ski boot fittings by appointment during the summer and can accomodate gear purchases through a phone call to their swim headquarters on Wagner.

Brenna Moore, D&D corporate manager and daughter of founder Don Moore, says D&D is just as excited about the opportunities as Sun & Snow is. “They’re super laid back nice people,” she says of the Parents. “I think it’s gonna be a great fit.”

The toughest part about two businesses in one space: what to do about the sign? “That’s the one key hurdle,” says Rob Parent. Scio Township restricts the size of signs, and the current one is as big as it can be. Giving D&D half its space would make both names too small. For now, giant letters in the front window announce the bike shop’s presence.

D&D Bicycles, 3780 Jackson Rd., 707-0130. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. ddbicyclesandhockey.com