Manhattan's Mototainment makes big business out of small shop

Oct. 4, 2016
We rarely entertain the notion that a dealership, let alone a repair shop, can exist in the middle of Manhattan. And yet here’s Mototainment, a firm in the island’s SoHo district specializing in Italy’s Ducati and Britain’s Triumph motorcycles.

In the whole width and breadth of the United States, we rarely entertain the notion that a dealership, let alone a repair shop, can exist in the middle of Manhattan. And yet here’s Mototainment, a firm in the island’s SoHo district specializing in Italy’s Ducati and Britain’s Triumph motorcycles.

And you think you’ve got problems?

“It’s very difficult,” Service Manager Kerry Sano confirms. “We’re very high volume as far as sales and repairs, but we are constrained by space and parking and all of the things that you can imagine being in a major metropolitan city--the service department is in the basement and we can only get bikes down through a union-run elevator.”

At a Glance:
Mototainment
New York, New York
Location
Steve Radt
Owner
1
No. of shops
5
Years in business
800
Total square footage of shops
www.ducatitriumphnyc.com
Website

“It’s funny because it’s literally only 800 square feet,” remarks General Manager and owner Steve Radt. “But 800 square feet in Manhattan is gold, so we took that space and created something very unique, very SoHo, very New York: a dedicated apparel boutique which only has high end products like gloves, suits, and full carbon fiber helmets worth $4000 apiece.”

Like the Harley-Davidson business model, they’re not just selling bikes, they’re selling a lifestyle. The only independently owned franchise motorcycle dealership on Manhattan, Mototainment is also the only Ducati and Triumph dealer in New York’s five boroughs. “In calendar year 2015 we were the number one Ducati dealer in North America,” he observes. “That is what is novel about us; we’re an independent dealer and we’re able to put out that kind of volume.”

Meanwhile Radt brings his own sensibility to bear on the business; coming up through Ducati corporate as a mechanical engineer in product development, an opening at Mototainment caught his eye. “I was ready to do something else,” he explains. “I had never worked retail before, and I always wanted to work in Manhattan, so I actually took the opportunity to run the store.”

He had his work cut out for him. Upon taking over, the store was facing bankruptcy, but Radt was able to keep it open for another two years before the owner decided to sell, except with a lease set to expire in 2014 accompanied by escalating rents, no one was willing to buy.

“I ended up offering to buy the dealership myself,” reports Radt. However he and the owner couldn’t come to an agreement either, “so I walked out and the dealership closed.” But he had good relationships with the OEMs and the landlord, and kept his offer on the table should things get sorted out. Five months later they did.

“I signed the lease literally the next day with the landlord and restarted conversations with all the OEMs and our particular vendors,” Radt says. “But by that point the place had been picked over, an empty shell, so it took me about two and half months to actually rehab (the facility) and get it back open. The dealership had closed in December of 2010 and we didn’t open in earnest till August of 2011.”

Taking advantage of some unused space also allowed Radt to move the apparel department from the basement to an upstairs level. “By doing that we were also able to double our service area,” he reports. “While we were a high-volume dealer in terms of sales, we weren’t always able to capture the service aspect for our customers, which in essence drove them away from our dealership because we didn’t have the capacity. Now we’re able to retain our service work and keep our customer base, which allows us to continue to grow.”

That’s where Kerry Sano comes in. “I started out doing cars in North Carolina,” she recalls. “I went to school to work on race cars and I worked as a regular mechanic. Then I moved to San Francisco and got a job doing bikes, and fell in love doing motorcycles—a lot more than cars.”

Starting out as a technician with Mototainment, she became the Service Manager a few years ago, overseeing three techs, a service writer, and two porters. “(The latter) do things like drive the bikes for test rides, pick-ups and deliveries as well as moving them up and down from the street to our basement,” she explains.

“Motorcycles are a little different than cars,” submits Sano. “We don’t offer quite as many services because cars have such a high volume that they are able to recoup a lot more of their budget. Also it’s not like you can have someone pick-up a bike and take it to a detailer or just drop it off and have them take care of it and bring them back to you. It’s a little bit more involved because not everybody is capable of riding a motorcycle. We also used to have a detail shop across the street which is now a condo, so it is increasingly difficult to go above and beyond with our service.”

Besides doing basic maintenance and warranty work, they’ve also been building a line of custom bikes. “We can do that on a commission basis for the customer,” says Radt, “but very often we build the bike on our own and then present it to the customer base.”

Between Radt’s own background in product development and input from seasoned veterans on the technical staff, Mototainment has really carved out a market niche for itself. “There are a lot of custom houses out there,” Radt observes, “but I think we build very unique, very custom bikes that still come with a two year full factory warranty from the manufacturer.”

As pictured on their website, Mototainment’s custom lines are quite extensive and individualized; it’s simply amazing how a shrewd use of accessories and custom parts can mold a bike’s character--much like the city of New York itself. As Radt notes, “having never worked retail, having never owned a business beforehand, if I failed, I’d fail spectacularly. But there is something about Manhattan; if I was going to go for it, I’d go for it here.”

Sponsored Recommendations

Best Body Shop and the 360-Degree-Concept

Spanesi ‘360-Degree-Concept’ Enables Kansas Body Shop to Complete High-Quality Repairs

ADAS Applications: What They Are & What They Do

Learn how ADAS utilizes sensors such as radar, sonar, lidar and cameras to perceive the world around the vehicle, and either provide critical information to the driver or take...

Banking on Bigger Profits with a Heavy-Duty Truck Paint Booth

The addition of a heavy-duty paint booth for oversized trucks & vehicles can open the door to new or expanded service opportunities.

Boosting Your Shop's Bottom Line with an Extended Height Paint Booths

Discover how the investment in an extended-height paint booth is a game-changer for most collision shops with this Free Guide.