LEWISTON – After 84 years, the Schott-owned Harley-Davidson dealership is changing hands.
George Schott, whose father, Emil, founded the business in 1922, sold his Main Street dealership Monday. Tuesday, an “L/A Harley-Davidson” sign proclaimed the change.
The new owner plans to expand inventory at the Harley store and convert an adjacent warehouse into a Honda/Yamaha motorcycle dealership.
“George was looking to sell and we were looking to buy,” said new owner David Veracka, a Massachusetts-based businessman. He and his partners were attracted to Lewiston because “the L-A market is a good motorcycle market.”
It had a bit of a head start. When Emil Schott started the business on Strawberry Avenue, it was the first Harley-Davidson dealership in Maine. When he passed away in 2002, Schott was considered a Harley icon.
Plans call for expanding the 40,000-square-foot Harley facility by adding to its inventory of bikes, clothing and accessories, said Dan Desmond, general manager. Renovations on the 24,000-square-foot warehouse next door should be completed in time for the Christmas season. The new dealership, named Central Maine Power Sports, will sell and service an assortment of Honda and Yamaha motorcycles and accessories, as well as Polaris snowmobiles.
Although neighbors at 839 Main St. location, the dealerships will remain separate business entities.
“A Harley experience is different than other products, it’s a lifestyle,” said Desmond, who ran a New Hampshire Harley dealership for five years before coming to Lewiston. “The clothing, the accessories, the motorcycles, they all go together.”
Desmond said he expects 7,000 to 8,000 square feet of the new Harley dealership to be devoted to clothing. The deal includes the Harley-Davidson inventory, which tallies a couple hundred motorcycles that typically sell for $18,000 to $20,000 each.
There are also plans to move the service area from the back of the store to the front.
“It’s easier access for the customers,” said Desmond. All of the Schott employees will be retained and new folks will be hired for Central Maine Power Sports.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but the buildings are relatively new. The warehouse was built just last year, and the former Harleys-R-U.S. was rebuilt in 1999 after a February fire caused more than $3 million damage.
Schott declined to be interviewed. He did say he’s moving his fleet of Hummers, Jeeps and other military vehicles, which he stored at the warehouse, to an undisclosed location.
“You can say I’m still in military vehicle sales,” quipped Schott.
In the last two years, Schott has made several real estate investments in new retail complexes. He sold the Auburn Plaza shopping complex, then in September sold the old Wal-Mart property on Mount Auburn Avenue to a firm developing a Kohl’s department store. Earlier this year he announced that a Ruby Tuesday and Longhorn steak house were opening on another retail parcel he owns in the same area.
While Schott passed on the opportunity to comment on this milestone, Desmond did not.
“Mr. Schott and his father have done a great job over the last 80 years building a great and loyal customer base,” said Desmond. “Our hope is to continue that work and grow it.”
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