Triumphrat

Matthew in TO

Would a Triumph-only dealer in Toronto 416-proper (not GTA) be a viable business? How many bikes, maintenance/repair work and gear would you need to sell each week to pay for your operation, rent/lease, payroll and make a reasonable profit? What would you do in the winter?

In the Beach(es) area of Toronto a Vespa dealership opened to much fanfare, especially since we're in the middle of a scooter boom here with free on-street parking for motorcycles and scooters and high gas prices pushing young workers onto Vespas. They sold Vespas, Vespa clothing and kit, etc. The dealership lasted about two years, and then folded. It's now an empty store front.

So, if you had 1/2 to 1 $million to invest in a business in Toronto, would you start a Triumph dealership? What would your business plan be? Personally, much as I love Triumphs, you're more likely to find success in buying a Tim Hortons franchise.

daveysew

In Canada single marquee motorcycle shops really don't have a hope. Bikes are such a niche product with a limited riding season in Canada really doesn't make it a viable proposition. The only real single marquee dealers are HD (Buell not withstanding) and they make most of their cash selling T-shirts, shot glasses, belt buckles, et al. Honda's trying it with their Powersports shops but they also sell chainsaws, generators, lawn mowers, snow blowers, et al. BMW does it, but supported by cars in combined dealers. When you figure the low number of total sales of Triumph motorcycles in Canada you might as well just light your cash on fire... Too bad, as it would be great to have a decent Triumph dealer in Toronto proper, and yes I do know about Rev cycles but I said a decent Triumph dealer.

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Dee_Soto

I say good luck, but if you focused alot on good service/performance tuning for European/American/non-japanese sportbikes and had a small retail frontage it may work. There is a specialized service shop(no bike sales) like that in Calgary and they are more than busy enough. If you do it I'll come visit when in T.O.

Matthew in TO

J&R Cycle http://www.jandrcycle.com/ located in Stayner, Ontario is a single motorcycle marque dealer, just Triumphs. They also sell Polaris ATVs and snowmobiles to stay busy year round.

Now, you can't sell ATV and snowmobiles in Toronto, but you could sell Triumphs and something else motorsport related but not motorcycles, such as Vespas.

Kirk

Dave and Suzanne own Triumph of Detroit and they sell only Triumphs. They also have a full line of Triumph accessories and clothing, so you can try on anything you want instead of ordering from a catalogue and waiting. They are a successful shop because both Dave and Suzanne get really involved with their customers and are very supportive as a dealership. When you combine all of this, you have a very loyal customer base, who in turn, support their dealer. Now Detroit is lot more economically depressed than Toronto and their weather is not different from Toronto, after all they call Detroit, HockeyTown; so I can't believe that Toronto couldn't support a single brand dealer, if the dealer patterned their business plan around people like Dave and Suzanne.

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Matthew in TO

I have to agree their website is top notch www.triumphdetroit.com/