Winter Solstice 2011

Greetings:

The year 2011 is fast drawing to a close and I bring you news of the events of the business and life this year.  Many projects were accomplished including rearranging the warehouse building to accommodate more winter storage bikes and utilize less electricity in the off hours.  We have completely inventoried and organized our “take-off” (used) parts, which will enable us to sell them faster on e-bay or over the counter.  The Sales Department has new database software and both stores received a few new showroom fixtures.  All of our major events such as Hogs n’ Hot Rods, Customer Appreciation Days, Kick n‘ Chili, and Farm Tour were well attended and enjoyed by many.  Dana, my husband, has redesigned our website this year and continuously updates it for each season.    

This next year we are launching a seat rental program, which will allow for trying out specific seats before purchasing them.  Seats are such an important part of the rider’s comfort and this will help ensure more peace of mind about making the right choice.  My parents and husband continue to share managing the Exeter store while I am in Warwick.  Several of the dealerships in the area have closed this year as we continue to struggle against this tough economy.  We are blessed with what I believe to be the hardest working and dedicated staff in this industry.  Many of our people have been with us for a long time.  This has been a very pleasant holiday shopping season in terms of people’s generosity of good spirit, patience, and kind words and we appreciate that very much! 

I have been contemplating what this Winter Solstice letter would include for a couple of weeks now.  A few recent occurrences led the direction. My Mom’s family down south has been involved in a lumber company and family farm for over a century now and both of those era’s came to a close at the end of this year.  The lumber company succumbed to the economy and competition from the big box stores after 90 years in operation.  The newspaper article quoted my family member, the outgoing owner, as saying:  “it was very special to come to work each day to a business with your father’s name over the door.”  The Gettysburg family farm succumbed to the higher real estate, school district, and new fire taxes imposed on the land.  My family had farmed that land since before the civil war.  There are still bullets in the fields to this day.  These are such common stories in our country today.  It highlights how lucky I am to still come to work each day at a place with my Dad’s name over the front door.  I am truly grateful to all the people that make this possible.  Thank you for your continued business and have a great 2012!

 

For the nonce. 
Sincerely yours,
Amy Renee Bishop