Another One Bites The Dust

[Paul De]

Schlossmann's BMW of Milwaukee is closing its doors.  It is a surprise as the Schlossmann family has a number of auto dealerships, but I guess the motorcycle dealership was a drag on their balance sheet.  Mischler's in Beaver Dam is now my closest dealership about 60 miles out of Milwaukee.  I fear this trend of door closings isn't going to ease up anytime soon.  A sad trend indeed.

 

I must admit I might not be the target customer for any shop in that I tend to ride them for decades before replacing and once out of warranty I am only buying parts and consumables and wrench on them myself.  I had been running BMW labeled oil and filters and at an hour away to a BMW shop, I'll likely go on line for that  as well.

 

I will go over there for the auction to see if I can snag a few special tools and maybe a nice bike lift.  It will be sort of sad to watch the place get parted out.

 

[Dennis Andress]

 

Once known as Reg Pridmore Motorcycles. Used to have the R90S race bike on display. Now it's just some indie guy who is too cheap to buy new carpet.

 

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[taylor1]

Might just do a day trip for that.  

[BrianM]

I usually only go to the dealer once a year. I will probably just make the ride to Mischler's - about 90 minutes for me. They did tell me they will ship parts.

[BrianM]

Looks like Mischler's is now closing. Only one dealer left in Wisconsin - Tytlers in DePere.

 

It is with deep regret after 62 years of serving the Beaver Dam community, Mischler’s Harley-Davidson and BMW will be closing our store permanently turning the key for the final time on December 23, 2020. The current business climate has left us with no other viable option. 

To our customers who have supported us through the decades, Thank you! We have also been blessed with the most loyal staff that we consider our family, and they have answered to every request presented to them with advancing their education and challenges made. We thank you! 

We will continue to offer storage through the winter for your motorcycle. Pick up times will be scheduled in April 2021.

[realshelby]

Times change. It is HARD to run a new bike/car franchise. It requires more work to satisfy demands of the OEM than many here would ever believe. That is just the day to day paperwork. 

Then there are the physical demands that are simply overwhelming. From the "proper" storefront and merchandise display to the training of mechanics ( huge expense ), parts, and sales personnel. 

I don't know why BMW Motorrad fights multi-brand stores so hard. I simply don't think it is possible to justify a stand alone BMW motorcycle store. Maybe if you also sold their car/suv line. Few owners get rich selling motorcycles with OEM franchises, and those that do well enough depend on multi brand outlets. If we want to be brutally honest, even those are there to sell 4 wheelers of all sizes now, jet skis. Those are what make the profit it seems. 

Times change...

I suspect we are headed toward independant outlets for service. Like the auto care centers that are EVERYWHERE and service all brands but not affiliated with any brand. There may come a day where even these can do warranty work on OEM stuff. It is already happening on some cars....

[Rinkydink]

My now closed local BMW dealer added Triumph and Ducati to help stay afloat. The inter brand bickering (mostly BMW)  was constant and financially draining. Sadly he had to shut it down. Now my dealer of choice (Grassroots in Cape Girardeau MO) is 300 miles distant. With soon to be two bikes under warranty it is a sad state of affairs. 

[Paul De]

5 hours ago, BrianM said:

Looks like Mischler's is now closing. Only one dealer left in Wisconsin - Tytlers in DePere.

 

It is with deep regret after 62 years of serving the Beaver Dam community, Mischler’s Harley-Davidson and BMW will be closing our store permanently turning the key for the final time on December 23, 2020. The current business climate has left us with no other viable option. 

To our customers who have supported us through the decades, Thank you! We have also been blessed with the most loyal staff that we consider our family, and they have answered to every request presented to them with advancing their education and challenges made. We thank you! 

We will continue to offer storage through the winter for your motorcycle. Pick up times will be scheduled in April 2021.

 

Wow, that is terrible that such a long established dealer is going out of business and hints at what may be a larger pattern of small businesses closing from the pandemic induced zombie economy.   I will be relocating for home base to the edge of the Chequamegon National Forrest  in retirement will mean Tytlers, or BMW of Richfield MN will be the closest dealer.

 

 

[Paul De]

28 minutes ago, realshelby said:

I don't know why BMW Motorrad fights multi-brand stores so hard. I simply don't think it is possible to justify a stand alone BMW motorcycle store

I predict that BMW will follow the model it uses outside the US, where cars and motorcycles are under a single dealership.  Can't imagine buying a bike from a "car sales person".  I envision a guy wearing plaid pants and a white loafer shoes with tassels who's knowledge of motorcycles is that they have two wheels.

[realshelby]

30 minutes ago, Paul De said:

I predict that BMW will follow the model it uses outside the US, where cars and motorcycles are under a single dealership.  Can't imagine buying a bike from a "car sales person".  I envision a guy wearing plaid pants and a white loafer shoes with tassels who's knowledge of motorcycles is that they have two wheels.

I have "inside" knowledge of BMW sales persons and what is expected of them. There would be car sales people that sell bikes, and vice versa. I don't think it would be quite as bad as you imagine!

There are sales people that are very good at helping. Because they are professional. Those tend to stick around the higher line brands, because they are proven. Yes, they make commision. But having lived under that, I can tell you the second, third, fourth and beyond sales are much more important than the first one. So do that one right and the good ones follow!

[John Ranalletta]

5 minutes ago, realshelby said:

I have "inside" knowledge of BMW sales persons and what is expected of them. There would be car sales people that sell bikes, and vice versa. I don't think it would be quite as bad as you imagine!

There are sales people that are very good at helping. Because they are professional. Those tend to stick around the higher line brands, because they are proven. Yes, they make commision. But having lived under that, I can tell you the second, third, fourth and beyond sales are much more important than the first one. So do that one right and the good ones follow!

 

I don't have experience with either but the only two BMW car/bike dealers I knew of were in Louisville, KY and Champaign, IL.  Not sure what happened to the Champaign dealer (name change possibly) but both shed the motorcycle side of the business long ago.

 

I had many auto retailers as clients and a fairly good understanding of the financial dynamics.  IMO, the m/c side of the business is too small in volume to take up sales and garage floor space and floor plan.  Auto manufacturers consistently offer promotional rebates to stimulate car sales.  Doubtful BMW and other bike makers will/can do the same.  It appears the shops with staying power combine motorcycles with ATVs and other outdoor adventure vehicles like Flat Out in Indy. 

 

 

The current BMW m/c dealer in Indy is the Tom Wood Group of auto dealers.  The powersports division is separate.

 

 

 

[Antimatter]

Side by sides are by far the biggest sellers in the powersports industry right now.  That will probably continue as young people don't have the 'elbow room' to do stuff like ride dirt bikes (too many people/not enough open spaces), and they won't become riders later in life.  The side by side is an easy sell as everyone who drives a car thinks they can handle one (they can't, and often get hurt when they roll them).  Unless there's a huge culture shift in this country, the mc industry will over overseas and US riders will see the industry treat them the way it treated the Brits at the end of the 1960's. 

As far as car folks selling motorcycle, again the US is somewhat different in that performance car buyers generally hate motorcycles (because a $5k bike can outrun their $100k 'supercar').  So, if BMW moves their motorcycles to their car dealerships there will be a huge downward pressure on sales.  "You don't want that thing!  Let me put you in an M-model car instead.  And we have financing for the cars."

[Bill_Walker]

8 hours ago, Paul De said:

I predict that BMW will follow the model it uses outside the US, where cars and motorcycles are under a single dealership. 

They tried that in at least some places in the US in the early 2000s.  It didn't go well.  I'm not surprised.  In my experience, car sales people who really know their product are extremely rare.  I'm 62, and in my lifetime new-car shopping experience, I could count the number of salespeople who knew as much as I did about the product on the fingers of one hand and have fingers to spare.  Some were laughably ill-informed and told me things that were just wrong.  Expecting those same people to also be knowledgable about their motorcycles seems like a stretch, and I think motorcycle buyers, being enthusiasts, are more likely to demand a well-informed salesperson.

What we got here, at the dealership in nearby Escondido, was a car dealership with a few bikes parked off in a corner of the showroom that nobody wanted to talk about.  Kinda like shopping for a Buell, only worse.

[roadscholar]

1 hour ago, Bill_Walker said:

What we got here, at the dealership in nearby Escondido, was a car dealership with a few bikes parked off in a corner of the showroom that nobody wanted to talk about.  Kinda like shopping for a Buell, only worse.

 

It's that way pretty much everywhere in the US, motorcycle people don't want to go to a car dealership and the car people don't want them there : ) apples and oranges..

 

BMW sales are down 10-15% overall in NA this year due to several factors (pandemic likely a big one) with some states faring better than others because of population density, climate, and politics. I'm sure sales are down in Florida and Atlanta too but not as much as other places, I think there are 9 or 10 BMW dealerships here and at least 3 in greater Atlanta, don't believe any are thinking about shutting down. 

[wbw6cos]

Hour Glass Cycles in Buford closed until further notice around March and then in May they announced it to be permanent.   That leaves 2 left in metro Atlanta, Wooley's in Marietta and one in McDonough.

 

I bought my RT from Hour Glass.  I know that being closed for an extended period of time when the Covid hit did not help, but I think the business was already struggling.  Everytime I went there, I did not feel like it was a busy, bustling dealership.  I don't know, maybe that is just me.  Still sucks though.

[roadscholar]

Edit, I was curious so looked it up, the guy that opened it 5 years ago was a sales manager and GM at several large Hyundai and Honda car dealerships in Atlanta. The last thing you want to do is run a motorcycle dealership like a car dealership, there isn't enough volume or profit on premium brand (Euro) bikes to try to undercut the competition, ideally your customers need to like you and your employees and they'll keep coming back. 

 

Besides, Bob and Bobby Wooley in Marietta have a strong business and John Landstrom at Blue Moon has been around a long time in Norcross and surely has a deep customer base. Both would be tough competition. Maybe the new shop in McDonough is the replacement, I hope it does well, at least it’s at the other end of town (50 miles away) so that oughta help.

[beemerman2k]

On 8/16/2019 at 9:16 PM, Dennis Andress said:

 

Once known as Reg Pridmore Motorcycles. Used to have the R90S race bike on display. Now it's just some indie guy who is too cheap to buy new carpet.

 

 

 

What?!  This place is under new ownership?  I loved this place.  They took good care of my BMW motorcycle when I lived in LA from 2003-2006.  Oh man.

[RTinNC]

On 10/29/2020 at 8:38 AM, Paul De said:

I predict that BMW will follow the model it uses outside the US, where cars and motorcycles are under a single dealership.  Can't imagine buying a bike from a "car sales person".  I envision a guy wearing plaid pants and a white loafer shoes with tassels who's knowledge of motorcycles is that they have two wheels.

The issue is that car dealerships and motorcycle dealerships are very different animals and need to be run differently to succeed.   Car dealerships are more transactional based while motorcycle dealerships are relationship based.   When BMW starts trying to sell bikes like cars it is a recipe for disaster. 

[David13]

If I remember correctly, Long Beach (CA) BMW Motorcycles used to be just a part of the car dealership across the street, but separated off and built a nice showroom building across the street,  many years ago (10?).  It was not a nice situation and was real nice when they opened the new building.

 

Now that I'm in Utah there is only one BMW dealer in the whole state, 150 miles for me, and they are multi bike. I do all my own work.  I only had them do one thing, and they had an error on it.  If I want to try on a pair of gloves, it's a long ride.

 

But I knew that when I moved here.  What I didn't know is that I would start trail riding more than motorcycling.   More trails here than roads.  A sxs is like driving a car or a jeep.  ATV offers more of a motorcycling feel and can carry a lot more than a dirt bike.  And, I can no longer stand up on the pegs (much)

 

Honda Powersports is a lot more available here, and suits me fine.  Bill Walker I didn't realize I'm 10 years older than you.

dc