Its Customer Appreciation Extravaganza is a three-day bonanza that kicks off with a catered BBQ dinner. The long weekend is peppered with special sales, giveaways and raffles of everything from Alpinestars jackets to Shoei helmets, and even features performances by the “Wheeling Elvi,” a locally known group of Elvis impersonators who perform stunts on 50cc motorcycles. “The weekend is just about having fun, giving back, and saying thank you for supporting us throughout the years,” Kenny says.
RECESSION-PROOF
Cycle Center has been a mainstay in Denton since the 1960s. Randy Martin, Kenny’s father, purchased the store in 1998, and brought on Gonzalez on in 2005. In 2010 the owners purchased an abandoned lumberyard on which they would build a new store from the ground up. “Our old facility was very small,” Kenny says. “It was 7,500 sq. ft., and we needed more room. Our goal when we purchased the business in 1998 was to grow and expand.”
All this seems normal, until you realize Cycle Center planned its expansion smack in the middle of the Great Recession. The dealership suffered but was not deterred when the local economy took a downturn. “We’ve been fortunate that Denton County is one of the largest growing counties in Texas,” Kenny says. “We went forward with the expansion because we were able to get better pricing for construction costs due to the economy being down.” Construction costs dropped between 15 and 20 percent, he notes.
The business also managed to get through the recession rebuild without laying off a single employee. “Though we had a reduction in unit sales about 40 percent, we were still able to get through it by watching our expenses,” Kenny says. “Denton has been very rewarding to us. The community has given back to us, so we spent a lot of time developing how we are involved in the community.”
The new facility incorporates design elements the three owners thought were imperative to community feel, most notably the floating offices in the center of the showroom floor. Kenny’s office sits among them, with short, 5 ft. walls, and not a single door. “We are constantly available to our customers, right on the floor,” Kenny says. “We can see what’s going on, and we have a 360-degree view of the entire dealership. Customers can come in and chat. It builds that relationship, and the customer ends up being part of the family.”
