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OPINION FROM THE EDITOR www.PowersportsBusiness.com Powersports Business • December 29, 2014 • 11 Matt Maschmann, general man- ager of Maxim Honda Yamaha in Allen, Texas, has an uncanny way of making deals for faux leather handbags on the streets of Shanghai. I saw it firsthand earlier this year during a dealer trip to CFMOTO's China head- quarters in Shanghai. So when I received an e-newsletter from his deal- ership touting the store's push scooter business, I was instantly intrigued. My 11-year-old son picked up an affinity for scooters (think a skateboard with a pole in front to connect handlebars) this summer. In fact, I dropped him off at the local skate park enough times to know that their popularity is not very behind that of their skateboard- ing brethren. In short, they're all the rage. But selling push scooters at a powersports dealer- ship? Maxim owner Jason Brisendine bought the dealership in September 2013. He moved his nearby Central Yamaha dealership into the newly named Maxim Honda Yamaha, and brought the crazy idea of selling scooters with him. "It was kind of funny. When Jason first said he was bringing them over to this store, I said 'What the hell are we doing with these?' After seeing their success, it's just been awesome," Maschmann said. "He moved in the inventory from the Yamaha store, and he brought these scooters. I looked at him like he was nuts." Central Yamaha, less than 2 miles up the road, had been a single-line Yamaha dealership since 1987, and Brisendine had ownership of the store since 2004. "This is a better location, better building," Brisen- dine said. "We had been selling scooters at the old store for about three years, and Maxim is about 2 miles from what was at one time the largest skate park in Texas." Colby Brisendine, meanwhile, was checking in at about 7 years old when Dad decided to get him a scooter for Christmas. "The kids at the skate park didn't have a place to go buy stuff," parts manager Bryan Hoover said. "So I ordered one as a Christmas gift, put every- thing together and the thing didn't work. So it was like 'Here's your scooter that doesn't work' when we gave it to him." Inspired to build or at least offer a better mouse- trap, Hoover contacted a handful of scooter manufac- turers about carrying their products. "We started off small, not even with $5,000 worth of products," he said. "But we brought them in and pro- moted. When school was out, we would go to the skate park with coupons and stickers and get the word out." Now, the dealership dedicates 1,000 square feet to its Central Scooters store and offers $20,000 worth of inventory, including completed scooters, wheels, decks, forks, bars and helmets. "We're getting sales from the parents who have purchased street bikes or ATVs, or even real scooters," Maschmann said. "And the there's the total opposite buyer. Parents that had not accepted motorcycles would come in for the scooter, then we would talk to them at motorcycles and they left thinking 'These guys are not so bad after all.' They thought we were all black leather jackets and beards." Maschmann also gets a kick out of seeing kids come up to the counter to pay for their purchase by unload- ing their pockets of wadded up ones and change. Com- plete scooters have a retail range of $99-$650. "And they count it out and hope like crazy that they have enough to pay for it," he said. "And we'll tell them good job on saving the money and ask how they earned it, things like that. It's good for the store — it gets people into the store who would have never come in." Hoover notes that many scooter companies are still small, with some of them working out of garages. "But when you look at numbers on paper, if you're a dealership anywhere close to a skate park, it's worth a shot to carry them," he said. "We've turned some unrealistic numbers here in our scooter category, way more than I thought we would. It's the most profitable square footage in the store." AWESOME WALL Brian Cox, owner of Simply Street Bikes and the guru behind the dealership's seminars for customers, has come up with a truly unique atmosphere in the store with its "Wall of Awesomeness" that customers sign upon purchase of a bike. "We started it in 2013. We knocked down a wall between the two buildings and wanted to fill up the blank space," he said. And so "typical" or "customary" took the next train out of town when the dealership decided what to do with the new wall space. "We didn't have the budget to pay for images. We thought it would be a cool way to make customers feel a part of the store and culture," he said. "It's worked well. Some- times people ask if it's celebrities — we say 'Yes, our customers!' People also look for their friends' names. We've even posted it on Facebook and had people tag their friends' signa- tures. It's been a fun way to have a very unique culture in the store, which is an extension of our own culture." But you have to be a bike buyer in order to sign it. "Everyone who buys a bike is invited to sign it, and 99 percent of people do. We invite them by say- ing 'Would you like to sign our Wall of Awesome?' or 'Remember when you used to write on the wall as a kid? Now you can again!" For now, the autographs are limited to ground level. "But we're trying to figure out what to do for 2015. We may allow people to use ladder to get up high." Whatever it takes to keep the dealership top of mind. Dave McMahon is editor in chief of Powersports Busi- ness. Contact him at 763/383-4411 or dmcmahon@ powersportsbusiness.com. 1. Polaris acquires side-by-side PG&A aftermarket company 2. Suzuki found not liable in ATV crash 3. Analyst: Forum says Slingshot can't be registered in Texas 4. Polaris seeks Slingshot approval in another state 5. Arctic Cat names new CEO 6. Wall Street Journal takes Polaris Slingshot for a ride 7. Did you see who dropped $10,000 from the sky? 8. California dealership burglarized 9. Aftermarket company adds industry veteran to team 10. ATV/UTV accessory company announces MAP policy 11. Vehicles stolen from Texas dealership 12. Yamaha launches new P&A e-commerce site 13. Honda unveils 2015 CB125F for European market 14. Arctic Cat, Ski-Doo, Polaris rack up ISOC wins 15. China: KTMR2R gets boost from CFMOTO at Chongqing Motorcycle Show The headlines above belong to the most frequently viewed articles from Powersports Business' twice weekly e-news during the Nov. 13-Dec. 11 period. The number is based on the percentage of e-news viewers who clicked on the article's headline. To subscribe to e-news, go to www.powersportsbusiness.com/newsletter-signup. WHAT'S THE HOTTEST INDUSTRY TOPIC? Powersports Business blog ONLINE WITH POWERSPORTSBUSINESS.COM Leading industry executives and dealer consultants are among the contributors to PSB's blog. See below for recent blogs. Would trick scooters sell in your showroom? Visit powersportsbusiness.com/blogs LinkedIn group passes 3,500 More than 3,500 members of the industry have joined the Powersports Business LinkedIn group. Many members are facilitating discussions on a number of topics, including mobile marketing, best practices, trade shows and how industry news affects each of us. With actively-participating members from dealerships, aftermarket companies, service providers and more, the Powersports Business LinkedIn group provides an open forum for anyone looking to hear more from the points of view of a variety of power- sports stakeholders. To join the group, simply log on to LinkedIn, search Powersports Business and join! STEVE LEMCO Author, "Training and Hiring New Salespeople" When the customer is in your deal- ership, it is truly a huge time of advantage. It is an advantage to the customer because he has an awe- some salesperson who will eventually ask the question, "Would you be hap- pier if you had one?" LIZ KEENER Managing Editor, Powersports Business Too many of us have become lax with our websites. It's our job to update content and make sure that every link is going where it's supposed to — and that those links are relevant. MARK MOONEY Director, Retail Performance, Pied Piper Management Company It's pretty common to be reflective at the end of the year with "what ifs." You start looking at what was on that wish list for last year and find yourself putting the same items on it again, for this year. LESLIE PREVISH Founder, Prevish Marketing The first question in marketing to women is, "What type of woman are you targeting?" Segmentation by demographics is one way, but discov- ering her core personality is the best. DAVE McMAHON Maxim Honda Yamaha in Texas has added trick scooters to its show- room with great success. (From left) GM Matt Maschmann, owner Jason Brisendine and parts and apparel manager Bryan Hoover says its profitable space.