PowerSports Business

January 23, 2017

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POWER 50 A family-run business from the start, New York dealership continues growth trend BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR Husband and wife team Graham and Mary Marcus work together every day at their Dan- sville, New York, dealership Maddie's Motor Sports. But the couple wouldn't have it any other way. Both Graham and Mary grew up in family businesses, so owning a dealership together wasn't a stretch for them. However, they got to that point gradu- ally. Graham's family owns Marcus Farms, a wholesale tree farm. When Graham graduated from college, he began working for the farm. In 2004, Marcus Farms added the retail outlet Valley View Enterprises to sell its trees, and Graham became the manager of the store. The business quickly evolved as Valley View added Cub Cadet lawn and garden equipment to its plant and garden supplies. The equipment business was booming, so Valley View cut out the plants and garden supplies. Polaris ATVs, side-by-sides and snowmobiles were added in 2008, and Victory Motorcycles joined the lineup in 2010. It was soon evident that the powersports and lawn and garden side of the business had become its own entity, so Graham and Mary purchased that portion of the company from Marcus Farms in 2012. They renamed it Maddie's Motor Sports after their daughter Madeline and moved the dealership into a 16,000-square-foot facility in Danville, which is just over an hour's drive north of Scranton, Pennsylvania. "Financially, with the different product lines, we've been able to sustain a year-round business, where with the lawn and garden and the garden center, it was so seasonal. Whatever money you made in the spring and summer, you'd spend it on heating and keeping a couple employees around all winter," Graham told Powersports Business. "Now we rely a little bit on the winter weather in January and February, but the rest of the year is pretty consistent, so that's helped manage our business a lot more with stability there." And of course, the couple is pleased to work in the powersports industry. "We're selling toys to adults. It's an adult toy store," Graham said. At first Mary worked at the dealership part- time, while she was also managing a family restaurant with her father. About a year ago, her father decided to retire, and Mary chose to dedicate her time to Maddie's. She sold the restaurant and has been working full time at the dealership since then. "I always tell people that coming from a family business — and she did as well — it's fun to work with the people that you know and trust the most," Graham said. The dealership hung on to Cub Cadet, Dixie Chopper and Scag Power Equipment on the lawn and garden side. In powersports, Maddie's carries ATVs, side-by-sides, snow- mobiles and motorcycles from Polaris, Sling- shot, Victory and Can-Am. In 2015, KTM was added to the lineup, and Indian was brought in last spring, adding the Mad Max Indian Motor- cycle moniker to Maddie's Motor Sports. In its short time as a dealership, Maddie's has done well for itself. For Polaris, the dealer- ship is the largest volume side-by-side dealer in New York, a top 10 volume side-by-side dealer in the Northeast Region, a top five volume Ranger dealer in the Northeast and a top 15 overall volume dealer in the Northeast. Mad- die's also boasts a top gun salesman, a Viper Award and a VIP Award from Polaris. And its service department is gold certified for Victory, Polaris ATVs, Ranger, RZR, Polaris snowmo- biles and BRP, and silver certified for Slingshot. In 2016, Maddie's Motor Sports was named a Powersports Business Power 50 dealer for the first time. "It's been very exciting to see how with some hard work we could get the results we were looking for," Graham said. "In the middle of that, we've been able to add differ- ent product lines, so that's also helped round out what we could offer, so instead of offering one product line and one brand, we've got five different brands and different products for all the seasons." With the addition of Victory, then KTM and most recently Indian, Maddie's Motor Sports has been able to attract motorcyclists. In 2015, the dealership's new unit sales were 50 percent side-by-sides, 26 percent ATVs, 16 percent snowmobiles and only 8 percent motorcycles, but bike sales are already increasing. "The utility side-by-sides are still our high- est volume product line, but the V-twin motor- cycles are growing momentum all the time, and the utility ATVs are always strong as well," Graham reported. Adding motorcycles to the ATVs, side-by- Maddie's Motor Sports taking impressive steps 38 • January 23, 2017 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com A.D. FARROW CO. HARLEY-DAVIDSON • ALAMO CYCLE PLEX • AMERICA'S MOTOR SPORTS • AVALANCHE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BEARTOOTH HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK JACK HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK WOLF HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BOB WEAVER MOTORSPORTS & MARINE, INC. • BOSWELL'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BREWER CYCLES, INC. • CALCULATED RISK MOTORCYCLE GROUP • CENTRAL TEXAS POWERSPORTS • CHARLIE'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON • COLE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • CYCLE CENTER OF DENTON • FAY MYERS MOTORCYCLE WORLD • FREEDOM POWERSPORTS • GOT GEAR MOTORSPORTS AND INDIAN MOTORCYCLE OF JACKSON • GRAPEVINE KAWASAKI POLARIS • HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF SCOTTSDALE • HATTIESBURG CYCLES • HIGH OCTANE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • IRV SEAVER MOTORCYCLES • KEN'S SPORTS, INC. • KILLEEN POWER SPORTS • LAKESIDE MOTOR SPORTS • LOGAN POWERSPORTS GROUP • MADDIE'S MOTOR SPORTS • MAXIM HONDA YAMAHA • MOSITES MOTORSPORTS • MYERS-DUREN HARLEY-DAVIDSON • RAWHIDE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • RAY PRICE INC. • REC-TECH POWER PRODUCTS • RIDENOW POWERSPORTS CHANDLER • RIVA MOTORSPORTS • RIVERSIDE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • ROCKY TOP HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SIMPLY STREET BIKES • SKY POWERSPORTS • SMOKY MOUNTAIN HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SOUTHERN DEVIL HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SOUTHERN HONDA POWERSPORTS • SOUTHERN THUNDER HARLEY-DAVIDSON • ST. PAUL HARLEY-DAVIDSON • TEAM CAROLINA POWERSPORTS • THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION • VERN EIDE MOTOPLEX • WILDCAT HARLEY-DAVIDSON • WILKINS HARLEY-DAVIDSON POWERSPORTS BUSINESS POWER 50 AWARDS SPONSORED BY 2016 See Maddie's, Page 39 APPLY TODAY Has someone at your dealership started the 2017 Power 50 application process? If not, do so today at www.tfaforms.com/458409. Mary and Graham Marcus, shown with PSB managing editor Liz Keener at the 2016 Power 50 dinner during AIMExpo, bought Maddie's Motor Sports in 2012. About 8,000 square feet of space is being added on to Maddie's Motor Sports' showroom in Dansville, New York. Maddie's Motor Sports sells mostly side-by-sides, ATVs and snowmobiles, but it looks to increase its motorcycle sales with Victory, Indian and KTM.

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