Taj Mahal Harley-Davidson style by DAN WALLACH The Beaumont Enterprise
BEAUMONT — When Cowboy Harley-Davidson opened at 9
a.m. Monday at its new home, 1150 Interstate 10, Hicks Dunlap
was there to purchase the first motorcycle from the dealership’s
new $9.5 million home.
"It just worked out that way,"
Dunlap said. "They opened
when I wanted my next
motorcycle."
Dunlap and his wife, Diane,
traded in their smaller
motorcycle for a 2001 Ultra
Classic, one of
Harley-Davidson’s largest
and fully equipped
motorcycles.
"It was fine," Dunlap said. "They were great. It’s a beautiful place."
Silsbee car dealer Morris Moore and Beaumont lawyer Walter
Umphrey are the partners who acquired the dealership in 1999
from Golden Triangle Cycle Center president Revon Craig.
At first, Umphrey and Moore rented the former Goodyear Auto
Service Center location at 2024 Calder Ave., opening for business
Nov. 15, 1999.
The partners always had planned to build a new dealership from
the ground up, and selected the Interstate 10 site for maximum
visibility.
Craig, who said he was not sorry to part company with
Harley-Davidson, called the new dealership a "Taj Mahal," an
investment that he never could have matched.
"Walter Umphrey took the franchise to a height I never could have
dreamed of," said Craig, whose dealership at 1625 College St.
represents Yamaha and American Iron Horse motorcycles.
He represented Harley-Davidson for 15 of the 33 years he’s been
in business, he said.
Craig said Harley-Davidson, headquartered in Milwaukee, wanted
him to invest more in his dealership, but he resisted, citing his age
— he is 66 — and his reluctance to incur debt.
"I miss my customers and the income, but I certainly don’t miss
Harley-Davidson," Craig said.
"Harley-Davidson is the most difficult company I’ve ever done
business with in my life."
Moore said he and Umphrey first developed the idea of entering
business as a Harley-Davidson dealership a few years ago while
on a motorcycle run in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Both men looked at the Scottsdale dealership and quickly were
enthralled with the idea, Moore said.
Indeed, the motorcycle manufacturer’s Web site starts out with a
black background and words such as "freedom, adventure, and
pavement" pop up, quickly followed by, "it’s a way of life."
The extent to which it is a way of life will become apparent next
April as anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 Harley-Davidson owners
will ride to Beaumont for the annual convention called the Hog
State Rally, Moore said.
"Three or four weeks ago, the dealers (in Texas) voted to come to
Beaumont," Moore said of the other 32 Harley dealers in the state.
"We’ll be leasing the Montagne Center. Those guys are good
citizens. They spend money and they’ll fill up hotel rooms."
Moore said doctors, lawyers, ditch diggers and refinery workers
— a cross-section of America — ride motorcycles.
"When you ride a Harley, everybody is created equal," he said.
The new dealership encloses 40,000 square feet of space, and
offers an expansive showroom floor with a variety of motorcycles
and an apparel store. The dealership also includes a service area
of 9,000 square feet with modern equipment suspended from the
ceiling to keep the floor free of obstacles.
Across the parking lot to the dealership’s south is a former coffee
shop that is now called the HOG House.
HOG stands for Harley’s Owner’s Group. It’s a clubhouse for
registered members of the national Harley-Davidson’s group.
Moore said the dealership is designed to serve Harley-Davidson
enthusiasts for about 100-mile radius. The dealership employs 41
people.
"We had a general meeting with all the employees (Monday)
morning," Moore said. "I said this is the finest dealership in all the
world. It’s not the largest, but the finest. None compare to the
detail here." |
