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Indian Motorcycle business set for April
Company makes it official, dealership coming
in 2008
Thomas Monigan
October 31, 2007 - 11:05PM
Two months after it was reported that Indian Motorcycle had bought
3.78 acres in Lowell for $625,000, the company made it official
Wednesday.
Slated for completion in April is a 10,000-square-foot dealership
just off Exit 22 on I-85.
This is the first of 50 dealerships the company has planned as it
attempts to come back under new owners from being out of business.
Financial terms of the investment were not discussed.
But the company Web site lists $4.1 million as a necessary
investment to become a dealer.
“You’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Dave Wagner from
Wagner Murray Architects in Charlotte. Saying the final design was
not yet completely approved, company officials declined to issue the
architect’s rendering of what the store would look like.
Indian Motorcycle is already building prototypes at its new facility
in Kings Mountain, and has plans to launch a new line of clothing in
January. “We’ve got between six and 10 and we’re making more daily,”
Heese said.
Heese credited county officials with getting the project launched
quickly.
“It’s taken us three months to do here what would’ve taken us a
lifetime where we live in Florida,” he said. “We want this to be a
destination kind of place … a landmark with profound design.”
Hoke Enterprises from nearby Earl is the general contractor, and
project manager Ron Garner said completion is targeted April.
Concrete work is scheduled to begin in two weeks.
Indian is making every bit of the new motorcycles itself, including
the engines. Company Chairman Stephen Heese called this “a
gargantuan task.” The company also has plans to launch a new line of
motorcycle clothing, with a New York City launch scheduled for
January.
“Start smart and grow slow,” said Indian general manager Chris
Bernauer.
