We stopped by today, and briefly talked to the sales guy, and spent some time with the mechanic. Above is his kingdom.
What had happened? Naturally customers would shop around to buy their new scooter where ever they could get the best deal, and that might not have been exclusively at Urban Wasp, although sooner or later they'd all show up for repair and maintenance due to the quality of their shop. But new vehicle sales is what's counts in the big picture, and here our dealer must have lost against competition. Very sad, but when it comes down to business it is obviously the survival of the fittest.
On the plus side, the mechanic is a bit of a celebrity in his field, and several other motorcycle dealers seem to be interested in his talent. We certainly hope that he decides to stick around, and we can continue to have Bella serviced by his capable hands.
Sonja:
ReplyDeleteI almost rode down there today too. It was Piaggio's fault for letting the other dealer sell scooters at a loss, but the mechanic there is a moron. I had a run in with him many years ago when he was employed by the previous owners of UW.
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
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Usually a contract dealer gets a protected district for sales, I do not understand why this didn't happen in case of those two dealerships in Vancouver, which are maybe 5km apart from each other. Some things just don't seem fair.
DeleteAlways nice to see things grow and prosper, sad to experience them fading away. It seems most anything and too much of everything around here, things focused on recreation especially, have been too close to the edge lately.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to imagine how or why the close proximity was allowed, unless it was to purposely push someone away.
Bummer. It's so difficult to lose a good shop. I hope the mechanic you like ends up available again to Vespa owners.
ReplyDeleteSurely a defunct Vespa dealer "buzzes off"?
ReplyDeleteN snowed in in Wiesbaden
Too bad, though this may be one instance where they weren't driven out of business by Internet sales (you can't buy a Vespa from Amazon yet can you?). I would have thought that most of their income came from the shop and not from sales. You only buy once but you return for service many times.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad when a favorite shop closes. Hopefully if the mechanic is so well know that he will be snapped up by another dealer or maybe open up his own mechanics shop without the sales involved.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the sales weren't high enough for Vespa head office and they yanked their brand. Not an odd occurrence down here.
That's too bad. Good dealers have a hard time because of people trying to get the best deal without thinking about long term maintenance and other things.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you can keep the mechanic - it's so hard to find a good shop. Some of the independent shops are pretty good, but you have to find them.
It's sad when a local business closes down and you lose something in the bargin. I would be lost if my mechanic closed down but these are the only guys around here who deal in Honda and in particular farm trikes and small boats ..(which always seems weird to me when I go in there with the cruiser) and they are pretty popular things round this area, so I'm confident I wont lose my mechanic any time soon.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping your mechanic starts up somewhere close by so Bella still gets to enjoy his company.
Interesting, I always though that dealerships made their money from the return business of vehicle services....can't imagine their profit on new sales is that great.
ReplyDeletedom
FYI - The mechanic has moved to Pacific Motosports
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