My first job was in a bike shop too in 1985! We didn't sell Nishiki, but sold Bridgestone and whatnot. I later worked in several other bike shops as a teenager. It was odd, that working there, I felt the same way you did, and nostalgically, it was the best of times, but at the time, it reminded me of "the industrial smell" thread, which made me think of how as much as I love the smell of a bike shop (and smelling like one)- doing it for a living made me want to go ahead and go back to school. I went to college, and during a recession in 92, went back to working in a bike shop I worked in in 87'- at 1987 prices.
Since then, I have had the privilege of owning/riding a good number of fine bikes-from free to $10,000- but when I think of the MOST fun I have had- especially most fun per $- the three bikes I pulled out of trash cans, or was given- were tops!
Here's a silly gratuitous pic I made of a Trek 930 frame I pulled from a trash can around 1995:
Here's a pic of my wife riding a warranty bike frame (Chigaco- Schwinn Cimarron) I was given from the owner of Rowlett's bikes in Richmond va after a summer of hard work in his shop 1987:
The other bike I pulled from a garbage can was a schwinn continental, which I bolted a rear cog to the front crankarm to make a poor man's MTB. Intake's Schwinn reminds me of it a little. It was before the cimarron, and in the name of Chevy Chase's Vacation, I named the "family truckster" and was as fun as anything!
Good times!