Closure Notice at AMC
The American Motorcycle Classics (AMC) Harley-Davidson dealer in Albany, OR., is going out of business at the end of the month. They’ve called it quits.
Years ago the business was run by John Lewis, Sr. He retired, moved to Las Vegas and sold the business to his son, John, Jr. The G.M. was Joe Saltarello. Was it the poor economy? Sure didn’t help. Were other H-D dealers complaining how Albany was cannibalizing their business which is only good for the consumer? Did they invest in the business? Depends on your definition of “invest.” Maybe John, Jr. was having problems making the payments to Sr., who may have held on to the real estate and now decided to liquidate the assets, cut his losses, sell the real estate and call it a day? Or, maybe they were FORCED out by the H-D motor company?
Hey, now that is an interesting question. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above. Who knows? If you do know send me a note. I’m discreet.
Here is what we do know. Over the last two years H-D is trying to consolidate its dealerships one way or another. H-D may have just sent a letter of retirement to Albany/John Jr. In essence it withdraws approval for the H-D franchise. I called and spoke to the finance manager at AMC earlier in the month and he indicated that H-D was “forcing them out.” Similar to the Chevrolet and Chrysler dealership forced closings. Maybe it was sour grapes, but his statement went something like “HD was demanding they expand the store” and while they had committed a half-million $$ in infrastructure investment to H-D in what could be viewed as mini “Super Store” … they just didn’t have the sales revenue for such an investment, essentially being forced out by the manufacturer. It’s not clear if AMC was selling a reasonable volume of licensed products, but I think it’s unlikely given the location. The finance manager also stated they were doing about half the motorcycle sales volume they once garnered 4 years ago so clearly the economy has had a relevant impact.
Businesses fail all the time so what’s the point of this post?
Well, AMC H-D is well known in the northwest for being the cheapest H-D dealer in Oregon. If I had interest in a new motorcycle I would always call or drive down and get pricing whether it be a motorcycle or parts. That then became my new starting price to leverage any deal at a local dealer closer to the Portland metro area. I never did purchase a motorcycle there, but I have 4 buddies who all purchased motorcycles during the last 2-4 years from Albany. They obtained below MSRP on every purchase, including additional discounts on aftermarket parts and walked away saving $1000’s and big smiles!
And even though they saved all those $$’s… cheapest does not always work. You can’t always make it up on volume and it now seems that little was dropping to the bottom line to keep the doors open and make the payments. We’ve seen this behavior in other type businesses. A person will throw an “open sign” up in a strip mall and offer cheap prices — way below the current market — but in less than 24 months they disappear. It means they were not making enough money, and just screwed up the market for everyone else.
AMC H-D had a “No pancakes, No S*****t, no rock band, no bull” slogan which was essentially an anti-social slam toward other dealers who subscribe the post-sales mantra. But you know what? That doesn’t work for some folks. Yeah saving a few bucks is important (always!), but many of us are motorcycle enthusiasts and are looking for a dealer that will be in business (long-term), one that’s like a social “club” to hang out, talk shop, talk custom modifications and they are willing pay a little extra $$ to have that option. Personally I like the fact that Paradise personnel (Mike(2)) know who I am and will call me by name when I walk into the dealer. We’re not BFF’s, but I know, that they know, that I over paid a few hundred $$ for that privilege on my last motorcycle purchase, and for me it’s more than just a money transaction – its genuine relationship building – AFTER the sale.
Maybe this is what happened at Albany? They had “A Beautiful Mind” moment. Did you see the movie? In the movie Russell Crowe plays John Nash, a mathematician who won the Nobel Prize for developing the concept of non-cooperative game theory. In case you’re not familiar with the theory, it roughly means that to make the best decisions, you have to consider the actions of your competitors.
This may sound harsh, but in my view, the AMC H-D building was “lipstick on a pig.” Functional, but not a place you’d socialize or hang-out long. I’ve been there in the early morning and remember how they didn’t even have coffee for customers?! Call me Mr. shallow. From an outside-looking-in viewpoint, the company didn’t have much of a Facebook presence, didn’t do any blogging or customer outreach, the email system announcing sales totally sucked and defied any reasonable logic from a marketing viewpoint, and did I say the web site was dated? At the end of the day it just didn’t look like they were putting a lot into promoting the business or appealing to those who were looking for more of a social gathering atmosphere at their local dealer. Yeah they could “splain” that all off as low overhead giving YOU the customer the best price, but when every other dealer around you is struggling and willing to lower/match prices to compete and your shop has no amenities… you’ve cast your destiny
There are consequences other than it’s “Christmas in July” for Paradise H-D, Salem H-D and Team Latus! There is the loss of 10-19 people who are no longer gainfully employed – and I’m not trivializing this because the folks there are hard working people and deserve better – but, PowerSports Network (powered the website) loses a customer and AMC H-D also sponsored the Pioneer H.O.G .Chapter (newsletter PDF HERE). It was the first northwest chartered H.O.G. chapter (#4085), and it now has no home.
I’m sorry to see the dealership close and I’m sure for many of you it feels like losing an old friend. I’m just glad I don’t have any pre-paid expensive special parts on order!
Photo courtesy of American Motorcycle Classics.
Northwest Harley Blog 
Well there is another thing I can tell you about AMC….those of us that lived in Albany frequently went elsewhere for our service, Like Salem or even Paradise up north. Why, because just to damn many of us had bad experiences with AMC. In fact, Salem warrantied a repair that even though the bike was out of warranty, it was looked at months before by AMC and I was told, oh it’s not that bad. Hell that’s just lazy.
As far as consolidating, yep, HD doing a lot of that. Redwood City California Dealership is gone. So is the one in Fremont. Bod Dron long time HD owner in Oakland closed up. Folks that had Fremont opened a brand new HD dealership in Oakland right across the street from the old one.
I don’t see the company going away ever, but they sure don’t do themselves any favors. Should be some standards not just for sales but for service too. And when those that fall below those standards close, not a lot of tears should be shed for them.
Considering that I drove to Medford HD when I needed tires, instead of across the freeway, I’m not broken hearted to hear of their demise.
It’s all about how you treat people and the service you provide them, These folks are getting just exactly what I knew they eventually would.
This is a really confused, poorly-reasoned post. We live in a market economy.If H-D forced them out, they did it for financial gain – no more, no less. If you want to pay more than MSRP for your bike because you see some value in that transaction, then go ahead. If you’re the only one in the state who feels that way, that dealer won’t last either. Take the moralizing out, though. Your projecting psychological traits onto what are really cold, hard economic decisions. Go read an intro book to economics. It will help you understand the world better.
@ Jonesy – I’ll work harder to meet your high writing standards. NOT.
Heard of Consumer involvement Theory – CIT? Its one way to understand the psychology and behavior of your customer. There are others. But none quite so quick, simple and insightful as your go read an economics book.
Involvement refers to how much time, thought, energy and other resources people devote to the purchase process (pre and post). The emotional / rational scale is a measure of reason vs. impulse, desire vs. logic, passion vs. prudence. That sort of psycho stuff….which you so easily dismiss.
Cheers
In my experience AMC Harley Davidson was a straight up dealer who went out of their way to make their customers happy. If you look at the economic situation in Albany it is tough at best.
Harley is trying to pressure dealers into facility upgrades to see who sticks and AMC most likely did not feel there was any future in these uncertain times in putting more money the business. In fact I feel John’s big fault was the loyalty shown one or two underperforming employees that was not reciprocated.
I will miss this store as I purchased my bike there and it is the only place it has been worked on. John and his wife and the other outstanding employees of AMC Harley Davidson will be missed as well.
Again I always found the service outstanding and was never disappointed in the deals I drove from Portland to get. I will miss them as well.
Adios
I was the owner of AMC for ten successful years. Bought it when I only got 30 new bikes from the factory a year. When I sold it; it was close to 400. While I was there promotions, events, and give backs to the community were plentiful. The worse thing I did was to sell the dealership to my oldest son. He, in my opinion destroyed the dealership and I am in the process of legal action against him. The factory or Economy are not the blame; only terrible management on Johnny’s part! I will miss AMC and the joy it brought to many customers. I thank the many great customers AMC experienced and apology for the dealership closing. My best. John, Sr.
@ John – Have you ever thought about a “Jr vs. Sr” reality TV show?! They seem to be on every channel these days. 🙂
I’m kidding of course. I’m sad for the employees and it’s disappointing to learn that management issues brought this on the business. I appreciate you taking the time to provide us your insight and to help end some of the speculation.
-mac
Well, I don’t need pancakes, rock bands, or anything else like that – I know darn well I’m paying for it – and top dollar, at that. What I’ve received from one unnamed dealership doesn’t match the pricing, and the work wasn’t tidy either.
I guess there are indys for folks like me, to do the stuff I can’t do myself.
what could of happened?
I never could understand why he never rode a bike himself,, no passion for riding , no passion for the business..
[…] Father who sold the company to him some years ago. Damn shame as it was only 45 min from my place. When Cheapest Isn __________________ 2000 carbed FLSTC S&S 95"BB S&S 510G Cams Baisley Pro-Street […]
I am one of those who was overjoyed to hear of AMC going out of business…I am a former employee who was terrorized daily….we never knew when we would be fired-only that it would be without cause and they would do EVERYTHING to make sure that we didn’t get unemployment upon termination and there would be a battle to get it. The management (John Jr. and Joe) took joy in lying to the State about why employees were terminated.
AMC was a poorly run shop-and if The Company forced them out, they knew it was because they couldn’t complete. If AMC was unwilling to do the upgrades to their shop to meet Company standards, then Harley has every right to shut them down. AMCs business practices made the market worse for all the dealers in Oregon. I heard that Salem HD’s goal was to shut AMC down. And I bet Doyles in Eugene was cheering the closing of AMC too.
I hope John Sr. gets every dime his b*****d son owes him. And Joe can rot in H*ll for what he did to all of us.
John Sr. alienated the “old guard” as soon as he bought the dealership from Mike Farmer in the early ’90s. He made it known that he didn’t want people hanging around unless they were buying something. AMC stopped being a place for the bikers to gather as soon as he started catering to the money crowd and brought in the Playboy bunnies and rock bands to sell his 30 bikes a year. I’ve heard lots of stories of how they wouldn’t back up their sloppy repair work and it didn’t take long for the locals to take their business elsewhere.
stan is right about that john did not want people hanging out i put a deposit on a bike in sept 94 and did not take ownership until aug 95 i would go in look at part to up grade and visit they just had no time for me they went from a small freindly shop no a bunch of assholes and i never went back i took by bike elsewhere for service . as far as hd they are gong for the the big flashy mega stores mom and pops are a thing of the past where you could drink coffee and shot the brezze that is a thing of the past they want th new breed of yuppie bikers they are great for business if they have a probem with anything they bing it in to get fixxed unlike the blue collar riders who want to spend time cleaning and tuning up their own bikes. they want you at an exit right off highway with good visabilty jigh dollar spot tha gas station and hotels fill . sad lose of the mom and pops
So, many years after the publishing of this article, I decided to post my thoughts on this article.
Many shops are doing their best to woo customers on Social Media Platforms and sponsor MMA watching events, hot dogs feeds, coffee, and swap meets.
The bottom line is HD has long since reached their peak and are now struggling to please the new demographic buyers.
The V Rod they unveiled has failed to generate new buyers and is history. Now they are trying to attract them with their extremely overprice electric models. Our new generation is shaming anyone who uses any vehicle the relies on fossil fuels as they sip their nonfat soy pumpkin lattes.
The Harley pride that filled parking lots with potential buyers when the new stock orders were released, kept the demand up. But the need to keep investors happy with rising stock prices created and over supply of bikes into a dwindling market.
Coffee and hotdogs won’t save the brand.
I have a 2007 Street Glide in my garage that I bought from John Jr. and a bobber I built in 2014. Hell I even have a knock off moped I bought, just to make the purists crazy. I didn’t work for John Jr. but I did socialize with him on a few occasions. He treated me well but I saw the emotions escape a few times that I realized were of a man haunted by trying to run a successful business. I’ve been a business owner and know the stressors. I’ve supervised people for other’s who ran organizations. And even though I don’t think my management skills were born of choices like those made by John Jr, I have fired people and I’ve closed a business I recognized was no longer successful.
Think what you want of John Jr. Talk all the s**t you want. But people are human and make mistakes in their personal and professional lives. Business’ rise and fall, and the market shifts and wanes. John Jr. treated me well and gave me better deals on the 2 bikes I bought from him that any other dealer in the valley would.
I ve been treated shitty by other dealers in Oregon, I’m thinking not everyone one speaks highly of Gene in Salem, before he was forced to build the new shop on Silverton Road, just to save his franchise.
But I’ll end with this. If you do business with anyone long enough, you will eventually experience a disappointment.
I enjoyed doing business at AMC and I get no pleasure in the failure of anyone’s dreams or work products. John tried, he failed, and so have I and I will again!
Hopefully, I’ll get to ride my bike again tomorrow.
Roadkill Bill
Thanks for taking the time to comment Bill.