Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/698493
POWER 50 Texas Harley-Davidson opens flagship store BY KATE SWANSON ASSISTANT EDITOR Over the past few years, Adam Smith's Cal- culated Risk Group has made news, as it expanded to five Harley-Davidson dealerships within the state of Texas. In 2016, Smith is making headlines again by opening a new facil- ity for his Bedford location and housing the world's largest Harley-Davidson bar and shield. Texas Harley-Davidson kicked off the grand opening of its 72,000-square-foot deal- ership with a three-day weekend celebration in April. Neil Noble, Texas Harley's general man- ager and partner, said the celebration could not have gone any better. While the original setup for the grand opening was to take advan- tage of the new parking lot with a stage and tents, inclement weather forced the event to move inside. The team took advantage of its facility, setting up underneath the overhang of the building without the need for tents and using the lot for parking. The event itself had great attendance, as Noble said about 250 people showed up. "It was a combination of folks in the community — city office members, first responders, police department, fire depart- ment, and we had several members of veterans groups," he said. The chain cutting ceremony, held in lieu of the traditional ribbon cutting, included presentations from the Keller Independent School District's Air Force Junior ROTC and Keller Central High School's drumline. A few animals from the Bedford Animal Services also attended, wearing the latest Harley-Davidson fashion. Throughout the weekend, the dealer- ship hosted live bands, including Memphis Soul and Grady Spence and The Work. Sat- urday night's festivities concluded with a fire- works show put on by the same company that is in charge of Bedford's Fourth of July fireworks display. "The fireworks show was incredible," Noble said. "The mayor of our city was sitting with us, and he said, 'You guys have put some pressure on us; we're going to have to up our game on the Fourth of July!'" The new store is just across the street — about 200 yards — from the old building and located at 1921 Shoalmont Road in Bedford, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. "We were bursting at the seams; our show- room and our service department were in two different buildings," Noble said. "As we grow and have multiple locations, anything that we have centralized is out of the Bedford store, so we need more room for that. Frankly, we're in a really nice part of town and community — this area deserves a top-notch facility." Texas Harley-Davidson's Bar and Shield Award status has placed the dealership among the top 10 Harley-Davidson dealerships nation- wide for the past two years. Noble says his team's focus on service and customer care has kept the dealership on top. "We make sure that we care about the team, the customer; we care about the brand, and we make sure that everything we do in the store exudes that," he said. Within the five dealerships, an internal competition also helps motivate the team. All of the general managers have a sales goal, and if a store misses its goal, the general manager must drive a smart car for the month. If every store hits their goal, Adam Smith, Jason Bremer or Neil Noble has to drive the smart car. "Each of the three of us has spent at least two months in the smart car," Noble offered. Texas Harley-Davidson's unique features include a ride- in service department, an out- door covered area for hosting events and an interactive parts bar. Instead of a traditional setup, customers are not separated from team members by a counter; they work along- side the employees on their bikes. "To my knowledge, we're the first dealer to install one. It's a really cool looking feature. You get this feeling of working with someone rather than across the counter from somebody — it's just a more welcoming, collaborative environ- ment," Noble added. The interactive parts bar has received posi- tive feedback from customers and staff alike. "Folks on the parts team who come to visit to train in the store, they're all jealous of our parts bar, so in future buildings it'll be a feature that 'Taking fun business seriously' a success 62 • July 11, 2016 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com ALAMO CYCLE PLEX • AMERICA'S MOTOR SPORTS • AVALANCHE MOTORSPORTS • BEARTOOTH HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK BEAR HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK JACK HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BLACK WOLF HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BOB WEAVER MOTORSPORTS & MARINE, INC • BOSWELL'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON • BREWER CYCLES, INC • CALCULATED RISK GROUP • CENTRAL TEXAS POWERSPORTS • COLE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • CROSSROAD POWERSPORTS • CYCLE NORTH POWERSPORTS • DEL AMO MOTORSPORTS • DELAND MOTORSPORTS • FAY MYERS MOTORCYCLE WORLD • FREEDOM POWERSPORTS • HARLEY-DAVIDSON OF SCOTTSDALE • HATTIESBURG CYCLES • INDIAN MOTORCYCLE ORLANDO • KEN'S SPORTS, INC. • KILLEEN POWER SPORTS, LTD. • LAS VEGAS HARLEY-DAVIDSON • LOGAN POWERSPORTS GROUP • MAXIM HONDA YAMAHA • MYERS-DUREN HARLEY-DAVIDSON • POWERSPORTS OF MONTGOMERY • REC-TECH POWER PRODUCTS • RENO CYCLES & GEAR POLARIS • RIVA MOTORSPORTS SUPERSTORE • RIVERSIDE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • ROAD TRACK AND TRAIL LLC • SHELDON'S HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SHOW LOW MOTORSPORTS • SIMPLY STREET BIKES • SKY POWERSPORTS SMOKY MOUNTAIN HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SOUTHERN HONDA POWERSPORTS • SOUTHERN THUNDER HARLEY-DAVIDSON • SOUTHLAND CYCLE CENTER • ST. PAUL HARLEY-DAVIDSON • TEAM CAROLINA POWERSPORTS • THE TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION • VERN EIDE MOTOPLEX • WILD PRAIRIE HARLEY-DAVIDSON • WILDCAT HARLEY-DAVIDSON • WILKINS HARLEY-DAVIDSON • XTREME POWERSPORTS See Power 50, Page 63 Due to poor weather, a chain cutting took place indoors in place of a tra- ditional ribbon cutting. Texas Harley-Davidson celebrated its grand opening with several city officials including (from left): Hurst-Euless- Bedford Chamber of Commerce Board chair elect Steve Farco; Bedford mayor Jim Griffin; Texas Harley-Davidson owner Adam Smith; Texas Harley-Davidson GM and partner Neil Noble; and managing director of Harley-Davidson North America Christian Walters. Texas Harley-Davidson owner Adam Smith high fives team members at the store's grand opening.