What happens when a dealership dies?
#62
01-03-2008, 12:09 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
ORIGINAL: Dale Franks
Well I went to the dealership this afternoon after work. It was full of people I didn't know working there now.
I walked right up to one of them and asked what the deal was. He told me that the dealership wasn't shutting down. They're a high-volume dealer--although, with their prices, I don't see how, but more on that in due course--and the guy said Harley wouldn't let them go under. They might force it into receivership as the major creditor, and then find someone else to run it, but they wouldn't close it down. But, in any event, he said it wasn't closing, but that a lot of the people were fired, and a bunch of people from the Oceanside location put in to take their place.
I told him I was looking at a used road Glide they had, and he said they have some new ones coming in, and I should come by and see them. I replied that, well, they had a reputation for being inflexible on their prices, and that if I was ready to buy again, I'd probably go to New York Mike's place down on Claremont. He said to please give them a chance for my business.
So, I guess the guy I was talking to on Monday was full of sour grapes.
By the way, they did ask who I spoke to. I told them that I wasn't gonna rat on anybody, and I wouldn't answer the question.
I don't know what's going on, but in talking to a friend of mine, he said there was a similar deal at Biggs 5 years ago or so, when they fired nearly everybody at the Oceanside location.
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Well I went to the dealership this afternoon after work. It was full of people I didn't know working there now.
I walked right up to one of them and asked what the deal was. He told me that the dealership wasn't shutting down. They're a high-volume dealer--although, with their prices, I don't see how, but more on that in due course--and the guy said Harley wouldn't let them go under. They might force it into receivership as the major creditor, and then find someone else to run it, but they wouldn't close it down. But, in any event, he said it wasn't closing, but that a lot of the people were fired, and a bunch of people from the Oceanside location put in to take their place.
I told him I was looking at a used road Glide they had, and he said they have some new ones coming in, and I should come by and see them. I replied that, well, they had a reputation for being inflexible on their prices, and that if I was ready to buy again, I'd probably go to New York Mike's place down on Claremont. He said to please give them a chance for my business.
So, I guess the guy I was talking to on Monday was full of sour grapes.
By the way, they did ask who I spoke to. I told them that I wasn't gonna rat on anybody, and I wouldn't answer the question.
I don't know what's going on, but in talking to a friend of mine, he said there was a similar deal at Biggs 5 years ago or so, when they fired nearly everybody at the Oceanside location.
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#63
01-03-2008, 12:34 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
I'll coutinue to frequent NY Mikes since I have gotten to know him and a few of his staff on better than a casual basis.
Heck, i wouldn't mind driving down to El Cajon to buy a bike if the price was right.
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#64
01-03-2008, 01:42 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
ORIGINAL: Dale Franks
Well, I wasn't gonna specify it, but, yeah.
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Hey, are you talking about Biggs in San Marcos?
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As mentioned earlier, Quaids in Temecula is out of control on their bike prices. I live about 2 miles from them and wouldn't buythere because they are so high. Andif you want to meet some unfriendly employees, just belly up to their parts counter.
#65
01-03-2008, 02:59 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
A tad off-topic, but relates to San Diego dealerships in general. I lived in So Cal for 25 plus years. My favorite dealership down there is El Cajon H-D. Great service andMSRP pricing (backin 2000 whenI bought my FLSTFthey were literally the only dealership within 150 miles of my house offering MSRP). All the other dealers in the area were between 1000.00 and 2500.00 above.Eric who sold me my bike wentthe extra mile and then some. He worked a dealer swap to get me exactly what I wanted, not a huge deal but most other dealers acted like it was the re-digging of the Panama Canal (the only other dealer who offered to do a swap was charging 2k above MSRP). HeStayed 5 hours past closing so I could pick up the bike on theMonday it came in instead of waiting til the weekend when I was off work.Basically hetreated me like a person instead of a paycheck.From what my buddies in San Diego tell me, Eric, the guy who sold me the bike is now the GM of El Cajon so I would imagine that they are still doing business the right way. I happily travelled 130 miles each way to buy my bike from them back then and If I didn't work in another dealership and they didn't have to sell CA emission bikes, I would probably ride the 1100 miles from my currenthome to buy my next one as well.
#66
01-03-2008, 04:33 AM
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RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
it happens alot now days .i have known a bike dealer and a auto dealer. that was around for a long time and the next thing you know they are closed . the auto dealer turned out to be a very shaded dude had a killer dealership. but when it came down to it he was'nt doing what he said he was doing and put alot of people in a pinch. and the bike dealer he had just let the buiesness go to hell in a hand bag.and at one time one of the best metric dealer there was.you just find another dealer.you should never put your eggs in one basket. not in this day and age.
#67
01-03-2008, 10:03 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
Oh, by the way, Biggs IS having a big sale now. Every bike has an orange or red tag on it. Red-tag bikes are going for $2,000 below MSRP, and Orange tags for $1,000 below MSRP.
#68
01-03-2008, 10:43 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
I went by the San Marcos dealership yesterday afternoon and talked with the counter girl. She said that they were not closing down. She didn't seem to know anything about a close. She did say that the Oceanside store was going to close temporarily for remodel and refurbish.
I guess we will just have to watch and see.
mjh
I guess we will just have to watch and see.
mjh
#69
01-04-2008, 01:47 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
Having been intimately involved in the rise and fall of Biggs H-D/Buell, I feel I need to clarify a few mistatements and errors in the analysis of the impending demise of that dealership. Firstly, the current state of the business is the sole responsibility of the owner and his financial advisor. For the most part, the staff and management of Biggs was first rate. They truly believed in the business and the people they served. Things really began to unravel earlier this year. The owner decided to "hold the line" on bike pricing when others in the area were dealing. There were also some rather profound changes in upper management. The former GM was fired while on injury leave after crashing his bike and the former service manager was elevated to GM. He ruled with an iron hand and basically overrode and overruled decisions by mid line management in his effort to protect the owner who can't even check his email without help. The true root cause of the downfall of Biggs was the greed and poor decision making of the owner. He lived like a king while his employees were so poorly taken care of, many lived below the official U.S. Government poverty line. Then, one morning in October, he awoke to discover he had not planned for slow times, had no money left and immediately responded by laying off 16 good people. The shop began to stumble when inventory replenishment orders were cut and bike sales fell. The last act of this desparate man was to close his Oceanside store and lay off an additional 20 or so employees, including managers, mechaincs and others who had been with the company for years. He even fired the HOG liaison for cryin' out loud! The Oceanside store is CLOSED, folks. It is not being renovated. It will most likely be developed into condos. The San Marcos store has such high overhead, the owner's only option is to relocate, downsize and try to regroup. H-D will not let the loyal Biggs customers down. They will be protected. Even the service customers whos bikes are sitting torn apart in Oceanside will be taken care of. But ask yourselves: do you want to ever patronize this man again? Do you, the members of the H-D/Buell family want to put another dime into the pocket of a man who would treat his loyal trusted employees like this? San Diego H-D/Buell is a wonderful shop owned by a man who has principles. Agree with him or not, the man stands for something. What does Richard stand for?
#70
01-04-2008, 02:24 AM
RE: What happens when a dealership dies?
ORIGINAL: 12034me
Having been intimately involved in the rise and fall of Biggs H-D/Buell, I feel I need to clarify a few mistatements and errors in the analysis of the impending demise of that dealership. Firstly, the current state of the business is the sole responsibility of the owner and his financial advisor. For the most part, the staff and management of Biggs was first rate. They truly believed in the business and the people they served. Things really began to unravel earlier this year. The owner decided to "hold the line" on bike pricing when others in the area were dealing. There were also some rather profound changes in upper management. The former GM was fired while on injury leave after crashing his bike and the former service manager was elevated to GM. He ruled with an iron hand and basically overrode and overruled decisions by mid line management in his effort to protect the owner who can't even check his email without help. The true root cause of the downfall of Biggs was the greed and poor decision making of the owner. He lived like a king while his employees were so poorly taken care of, many lived below the official U.S. Government poverty line. Then, one morning in October, he awoke to discover he had not planned for slow times, had no money left and immediately responded by laying off 16 good people. The shop began to stumble when inventory replenishment orders were cut and bike sales fell. The last act of this desparate man was to close his Oceanside store and lay off an additional 20 or so employees, including managers, mechaincs and others who had been with the company for years. He even fired the HOG liaison for cryin' out loud! The Oceanside store is CLOSED, folks. It is not being renovated. It will most likely be developed into condos. The San Marcos store has such high overhead, the owner's only option is to relocate, downsize and try to regroup. H-D will not let the loyal Biggs customers down. They will be protected. Even the service customers whos bikes are sitting torn apart in Oceanside will be taken care of. But ask yourselves: do you want to ever patronize this man again? Do you, the members of the H-D/Buell family want to put another dime into the pocket of a man who would treat his loyal trusted employees like this? San Diego H-D/Buell is a wonderful shop owned by a man who has principles. Agree with him or not, the man stands for something. What does Richard stand for?
Having been intimately involved in the rise and fall of Biggs H-D/Buell, I feel I need to clarify a few mistatements and errors in the analysis of the impending demise of that dealership. Firstly, the current state of the business is the sole responsibility of the owner and his financial advisor. For the most part, the staff and management of Biggs was first rate. They truly believed in the business and the people they served. Things really began to unravel earlier this year. The owner decided to "hold the line" on bike pricing when others in the area were dealing. There were also some rather profound changes in upper management. The former GM was fired while on injury leave after crashing his bike and the former service manager was elevated to GM. He ruled with an iron hand and basically overrode and overruled decisions by mid line management in his effort to protect the owner who can't even check his email without help. The true root cause of the downfall of Biggs was the greed and poor decision making of the owner. He lived like a king while his employees were so poorly taken care of, many lived below the official U.S. Government poverty line. Then, one morning in October, he awoke to discover he had not planned for slow times, had no money left and immediately responded by laying off 16 good people. The shop began to stumble when inventory replenishment orders were cut and bike sales fell. The last act of this desparate man was to close his Oceanside store and lay off an additional 20 or so employees, including managers, mechaincs and others who had been with the company for years. He even fired the HOG liaison for cryin' out loud! The Oceanside store is CLOSED, folks. It is not being renovated. It will most likely be developed into condos. The San Marcos store has such high overhead, the owner's only option is to relocate, downsize and try to regroup. H-D will not let the loyal Biggs customers down. They will be protected. Even the service customers whos bikes are sitting torn apart in Oceanside will be taken care of. But ask yourselves: do you want to ever patronize this man again? Do you, the members of the H-D/Buell family want to put another dime into the pocket of a man who would treat his loyal trusted employees like this? San Diego H-D/Buell is a wonderful shop owned by a man who has principles. Agree with him or not, the man stands for something. What does Richard stand for?
I shopped at both Biggs locations (never bought a bike from them) but I feel they took pretty good care of me. Kinda selfish but Biggs was the only dealer in the county (and I had been to all of them) that gave a 10% Military discount on any purchase. SD Harley refused. I spoke to the front office about it directly. (NY Mike with his patriotic commercials and all) Biggs HOG chapter (I was a member but not very active) also had "packing parties" for sending care packages to Troops deployed. They did it every month for at least a couple years.
I agree that the O'Side store was not as fancy and big but if you needed a part and they didn't have it they would bring it in from SM. I lived on base at Pendleton for years and Bigg's (O'Side) was 10 minutes away. Sorry to hear they are closing that shop as Paul was good people.
Hope the folks that got laid-off find work soon.
NOTE: I was not an insider so I know nothing about the owner or upper management......
S/F
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