Bossier City Harley-Davidson is co-owned, along with Shreveport Harley- Davidson, by Bradley Mayo and T. Wade Culbertson, Jr. The two were college roommates and made their success with a CPA firm here in Shreveport, which they ran together for 20 years-servicing such clients as Medic Pharmacy, Otto’s Fuel Marketing, and the old Huckabay Hospital in Coushatta. With the idea that they wanted to get out of accounting and “do something fun with their lives”, they decided to buy Wallace Harley-Davidson from James Wallace at a time when Harley-Davidson Motor Co. was pressuring him to build a new facility.
Wallace sold Shreveport Harley-Davidson to the pair and soon the two expert number crunchers had convinced the Motor Company to let them build a second dealership in Bossier. And getting permission from Harley- Davidson Motor Company in Milwaukee, which acts as an umbrella corporation to its distributors, is no easy task. The process can take anywhere from 2-5 years and requires the writing of a novel-like business plan that must convince the company of the area’s need and desire for their product.
Seemingly, the 150 mile buying region reached by Shreveport and Bossier City Harley-Davidson has been more than receptive to the product and have made the two dealerships a large success over the past ten years. This past year, Shreveport and Bossier City Harley-Davidson increased their units sold net profits by an impressive 38%, selling 722 units, compared to 524 units the previous year!
They were also awarded recognition as the top ten performing dealerships in the region by a quarterly Harley-Davidson publication called F&I Update. Bossier City Harley-Davidson alone has tripled in terms of sales over the past seven years.
So just this year (2008) Bossier City Harley-Davidson expanded and moved into a brand new dealership off Benton Rd. near i-220. Brad Mayo, who primarily manages the Bossier location, while his partner T. Wade Culbertson manages the Shreveport location, says of the expansion, “Our customers are very excited about the new store and although some give the impression they will miss the smaller dealership because of its intimate atmosphere, the new dealership has so much more space and so much more of what they’re looking for-which is more Harleys,” said Mayo. To be exact, the new dealership has been promised to house approximately 80% more bikes than in 2007. More Harleys is great news for the Shreveport location as well since customers can choose bikes out of either dealership regardless of their point of sale location.
The beautiful new dealership features a 18,000 square- foot showroom, full service department and parts department. There will also be a larger- than- before customer lounge area, tall ceilings with the painted, open pipes and rafter effect and a larger outside parking area.
Shreveport and Bossier City Harley-Davidson are the only two dealerships in the Ark-La-Tex selling Harleys at MSRP pricing. They also offer award- winning Rider’s Edge motorcycle instructional courses and authorized Harley-Davidson rentals. The two dealerships offer monthly rides and events at each location as well as a full line of parts and accessories, Buell sports bikes, Motorclothes apparel/riding gear and motorcycle customization and service.
