MOTORCYCLE lovers are saying goodbye to an iconic dealership after 110 years of business and more than five years of new management.
More than a dozen workers at San Francisco’s historic Harley-Davidson dealership were abruptly laid off in June, with no knowledge of the fate of the motorcycle dealership that survived two world wars and a pandemic.
two
Beloved Harley-Davidson location unexpectedly closed its doors just weeks ago, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Local Mission reported.
Although employees were told the company would take control of the site, Harley-Davidson headquarters has not commented on the future of the San Francisco dealership.
The problems began when new management purchased the dealership in 2018, according to former employees.
San Francisco Harley-Davidson was founded in 1914 by Dudley Perkins before being passed down through three generations of the family.
Until 2018, the location was the oldest family-owned Harley-Davidson dealership in the world.
Cliff Chester, who previously owned two other Harley-Davidson dealerships in Idaho and Nevada, is one of two people who purchased the dealership from the Perkins family.
It only took a year for things to reach fans with the San Francisco Harley-Davidson website.
“Everything was kind of in chaos,” said Carlos Martinez, who worked at the dealership for 22 years until he was recently laid off.
Although the brand’s dealerships are independent companies licensed to sell Harley-Davidson products, they must comply with corporate standards.
Despite the expectation that its franchises would follow certain protocols, the new management was unable to enforce a series of rules, several former employees emphasized.
Many car parts sat in a room without labels and merchandise regularly went missing.
There was no system for employees to organize invoices or packing lists, so orders went unfulfilled and there was much less focus on building good relationships with customers, according to former employees.
“It just became a dealership,” Martinez admitted.
“That’s not how Dudley Perkins was… you were part of a family, part of the motorcycle community.”
Mechanic Christopher Weber emphasized that the San Francisco location where he worked was “like a museum” for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts.
He confessed that, in the last few days of operation, the place seemed to have been “torn down”.
Weber said he only saw the store owner, Chester, once every three to six months.
This was a big change for the employees, as Perkins used to be at the dealership every day.
Weber spoke about concerns regarding theft within the business earlier this year, telling Mission Local, “I just don’t want the dealership doors to close.”
After the location finally saw its final days and closed its doors, employees were referred to an independent accounting firm to voice their human resources concerns.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
