Continuing from yesterday for #365daysofKegelHD, is the first 2 pages of the dealer profile Dealernews wrote on us for winning their Top 100 Dealers in 1998!
From the article:
Serving Up Motorcycles Family Style
Whether it's a custom seat or special-order cheeseburger, Harley fans can get anything they want at Kegel Motorcycle Co., where brand loyalty is thicker than a creamy Kegel Diner milkshake.
by Marry Sorensen
photos by Steve Pitkin
On today's transitory society where few people stay in the same job or even home for more than fine or 10 years, the folks at this year's Dealernews Top 100 Grand Prize-winning dealership, Kegel Motorcycle Co. in Rockford, Illinois, are an anomaly. Joe Kegel, a.k.a. Grandpa, first added a Harley-Davidson franchise to his fledgling motocycle shop in 1911.
Back then they served up H-D motorcycles and first-rate service. When the time came, Joe's son Bob assumed the helm. Now, 87 years after the doors first opened, Bob's children Karl Kegel, Mark Kegel and Carole Egler still emphasize service when selling Harley motorcycles, parts and an assortment of clothing and accessories unimaginable to Grandpa - not to mention Buells, BMWs and a lunchtime burger special... extra mayo, hold the pickles, please.
Next Stop, Kegel Motorcycle Co.
Not content to rest their laurels as the "World's Oldest Harley Dealership," two years ago the Kegel family moved from a self-described 12,000-sq./ft. "grungy old store on the wrong side of town," to a brand new 23,000 sq./ft. custom building in Rockford's retail hub. Well, O.K., they may have been content, but a little prodding from the guys in Milwaukee provided motivation.
"Harley-Davidson is our bread and butter. They told us, 'You don't have to move, but if you don't, we'll have to put in another dealer on the high-profile side of town," general manager Karl laughs. "We had to decide whether to stay with it and slowly die or take a risk, expand business and grow with Harley-Davidson."
Some choices are tougher than others. Kegel's new location in this mid-sized city about 85 miles northwest of Chicago is across the street from a major mall and is visible from Interstate 90. A dynamic design, the attached Kegel Diner and mall/freeway proximity have dramatically affected not just the number of customers they see each day, but the kind of people who come into the store.
"Since the move, business has increased five times or more," says Karl's wife Mel. "Our location has made us a s much a shopping destination as a motorcycle shop. Being between Chicago and Milwaukee, we always got passed by. With the design and the diner, we wanted to make ourselves a destination."
For proof that they've achieved this goal, Mel points to the many group rides that either start or end at the diner, as well as the countless non-enthusiasts who come into the diner to eat and then end up looking around the store. "On one of the first nice days this spring, the parking lot was filled with motorcycles," Mel says. "Someone came in and asked me, 'Are you having some kind of event?' I told him, 'No, just good weather.' The increase in traffic still overwhelms me two years later."
Years of quality service and family treatment mean the store's long-time customers have remained loyal, too, Karl says. For example, 72-year-old Rockford resident Bill Maxey has been coming to Kegel's since 1948 - sometimes to buy, sometimes to have a bike worked on and sometimes just to kill time.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the story!
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