Morris Baker and his wife, Sharon
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If you're a dealer in Texas, you've no doubt heard of Morris Baker and his network of six Family PowerSports retail stores
that are spread across the state.
Baker owns dealerships in Lubbock, McKinney, Weatherford, Odessa and San Angelo, which all specialize in powersports products.
A second operation in San Angelo deals mostly in marine products.
Family PowerSports in San Angelo employs 28 people. "You can find warm bodies, but it's sometimes hard to find talent," says
Baker. "Once we discover we have some talent, we work to keep them." Morris Baker's Family PowerSports dealerships are surrounded
by the wide open fields of west Texas.
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In this issue of Dealernews, we take a look at Baker's San Angelo store, a location that was awarded "Business of the Year" this year by the local chamber
of commerce.
Opened in 2001, San Angelo Family Power- Sports is a 21,000 sq. ft. store sitting on 2.5 acres of land adjacent to the Houston-Harte
Expressway — the main loop around the city. Although the operation sells every niche of two-wheeler, much of its business
comes from landowners and outdoor enthusiasts seeking utility quads and side-by-side vehicles.
"San Angelo is the ranching capital of Texas — we're talking large ranches, anywhere from 20,000 acres to 190,000 acres —
and we've got cotton farming, the oil industry, military installations, a strong medical community and colleges and universities,"
Baker says. "With that said, business right now is good, not great. My goal has always been 8 percent annual growth, and we've
been trending year-on-year growth until this year. Right now we're off 31 percent for the year, but we've been working hard
on expense control for the past year and a half, so we're sitting in pretty good shape."
SHOWROOM
Designed by Retail Design Associates, the rectangular showroom features polished floors, cedar trim and 30-foot ceilings.
A receptionist's desk is directly left of the front door, book-ended by floor displays and displays suspended from the ceiling
that are changed seasonally. Vehicles are grouped together by type and brand, with in-season units positioned at the front
of the showroom. Management offices are located along a second-floor mezzanine, while track lighting serves to attract customer
attention to highlighted areas.
"We do a lot of UTVs and ATVs. Despite the open land, we have a very small off-road community," Baker says. "But, with the
military operations and the colleges, we also have a good contingent of young people coming in looking at sportbikes."
Family PowerSports has been trying to build its used inventory to achieve a sales goal of one-to-one, used to new. "We haven't
quite got there," Baker says. "We're running about 80 percent used at this time."
Having the right inventory at the right time is always key, and having six stores gives Baker an advantage in moving vehicles
to where they are needed.
"There's a lot of trading going on," Baker says. "In fact, we just bought four new Dodge Sprinter vans, each converted to
hold a 16-foot flatbed and outfitted with winches that we use to transport vehicles. They're on the road constantly hauling
crated, new or used units."
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