We first alerted you to the opening of a new snowmobile dealership--indeed a rare event these days--in late November on our webpage. If you missed it, go here: http://www.snowest.com/snowmobile-news/display.cfm?ID=3579
We visited with Dave Lloret, owner of the new dealership as well as Advanced R.V., an Arctic Cat dealership in West Valley City, UT, about his new venture and asked him for a little more detail than what we were able to include in the web version of the story.
Advanced Powersports opened its doors for business Nov. 26. Lloret said his new dealership will carry Arctic Cat and Polaris snowmobiles, along with ATVs, side-by-sides and a complete line of parts and accessories as well as a service department to handle that end of the business.
The dealership is located at 111 Overland Ave. in Burley, which is on the south bank of the Snake River on the east side of the road. Advanced Powersports is right next to the John Deere dealer on Overland. The phone number is (208) 678-5111. The store will be open Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
We asked Lloret why, with the economy still fragile and the snowmobile industry maybe even more fragile, he would open a dealership and how easy that decision was.
“Any time a large investment needs to be made it takes a lot of thought,” Lloret said. “However, in this case, given the chance to hook up with two manufacturers the likes of Arctic Cat and Polaris, it was a no-brainer. This area needs a good dealer for both of these brands and we are excited to tackle this challenge.”
Some in the industry raised their eyebrows, or were at the very least a bit surprised, when they learned Lloret, a longtime Arctic Cat dealer (since the mid 1990s), was going to take on the Polaris line. We asked him about that as well.
“Earlier this year (2012), at the Salt Lake City 2013 snowmobile sneak peek, it was suggested to me by Russ Stebar, the Polaris DSM, that I apply for a Polaris dealership. I took his advice. Polaris contacted me and said they needed a dealer in southern Idaho. At that time I contact Rob Lewis, the DSM for Arctic Cat, and asked him if Arctic Cat needed a dealer in that area. He confirmed that they did and he would support us if we decided to start a new dealership.
“This opened up a whole new set of problems, from finding a building to finding help, getting inventory and all the stuff that goes along with a new business venture.”
Lloret said having a good crew in his Salt Lake dealership helped him make the decision to open a store nearly 200 miles away in another state. “I have a great crew in Salt Lake; their support means everything,” he said. “I could never do this without their help. Gary Adams and Jerry Cory share the duties of the parts and service managers, along with Justin Lloret, the shop foreman, and a crew of four more technicians who can handle just about anything that comes up.
“The one thing that was missing was someone to replace me so I could leave and start the second dealership. After a long search I was lucky enough to find Dean Feltenbarger, the former general manager of a large and very successful powersports dealership. Dean is now the general manager of the Salt Lake store and along with the rest of the crew will help in the training of our Burley employees.”
He continued, “The Burley store will start out small, with just a few employees. I will manage the store.”
And his expectations for the near future for the Burley store? “My expectations our first year is to meet pent-up demand,” he said. “There has not been an Arctic Cat or Polaris dealer in that area for years.”