Indian Motorcycle Sturgis Building 22,000 Square-Foot New Dealership

1indiansturgisDuring the 2014 Sturgis Rally, I had an opportunity to sit with Bruce Eide, owner of the Sturgis Indian Motorcycle dealership, who shared with me his plans for expansion and special celebrations during the 75th rally edition. Now, it’s official. Regarding expansion, a ground breaking ceremony is planned this Thursday November 20th for a new 22,000 sq. ft facility just south of the current location on Lazelle Street. The new building, with parts, service and customization departments and showroom should be ready on time for the 2015 rally. A series of very special events still to be announced will be held and very personalized new “Sturgis Indians” will be offered to bikers who will travel to South Dakota to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Sturgis rally August 3-9.

23 Responses to “Indian Motorcycle Sturgis Building 22,000 Square-Foot New Dealership”


  1. 1 Gary Nov 18th, 2014 at 9:50 am

    Already the most selling Indian dealer in the US!

  2. 2 Rodent Nov 18th, 2014 at 10:00 am

    Groundbreaking or ice chipping, snow shoveling ceremony?

  3. 3 Mr Dick Nov 18th, 2014 at 10:00 am

    Good for him, hope it does well for him. Check out his website, 2014 Chieftain w/ Dirty Bird bodywork, sweet.

  4. 4 richard Nov 18th, 2014 at 2:28 pm

    If I read the Indian web-site correctly there are only two Indian dealers in the state of Minnesota. They are going to have to do a lot better than that…I wonder what’s the holdup?

  5. 5 TJ Martin Nov 18th, 2014 at 2:45 pm

    My question being .. can the tiny little town of Surgis out there in the middle of godforsaken nowhere and only on the map for what ….. one week out of 52 really support an enterprise of the size and magnitude ? Do they really need to expand ? Is there even the slightest viable business model to support this ?

    Or is this potentially a case of way too much … far too soon ?

    I hope for their sake its not . Because …. the ole Hollywood ” Build it and they will come ” adage has proven to be much more cinematic myth than reality as well as the precursor of doom for more than one entity/business or another

    BTW .. saying this dealership has the largest sales numbers of any Indian dealer in the US .. errrr …. when put into perspective business wise … really isn’t saying much … for the moment at least 😉

  6. 6 nicker Nov 18th, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    Lots of businesses have a limited “sales season,” nothing new there.
    But one week out a year……???
    Is-zat a business model one would confidently invest into……???

    -nicker-

  7. 7 Lyle Landstrom Nov 18th, 2014 at 4:01 pm

    Can you imagine what their overhead is?

  8. 8 highrpm Nov 18th, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    insane. bubble economics.

  9. 9 Robert Pandya Nov 18th, 2014 at 6:53 pm

    Kudos to the dealership and all of the future customers and employees.

    Great to see our network expanding with the speed and confidence we knew it would. Many customers will be fired up to buy bikes in Sturgis, and I’m sure there will be many custom bikes coming out of the dealership over the winter months. I know that area is full of hearty people including the construction workers who will be building while others curl up to a latte somewhere.

    Great to see growth in American motorcycling.

    Robert Pandya
    External Relations Manager
    Indian Motorcycle

  10. 10 Dave Blevins Nov 18th, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    I am very pleased that there are folks willing to venture money, time, and heart into a dream… especially one as big as this. Shame on those who would choose to shit all over it. Their success or failure will cost you nothing.

  11. 11 Rodent Nov 18th, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    Forget the small profit on the bikes, think profit on the tshirts will more than pay the mortgage. They’ll mail order them from all over the world for the logo Sturgis Indian and won’t have to pay Good Sports any vig.

  12. 12 Brandon Nov 18th, 2014 at 9:32 pm

    Indian of Sturgis sold a lot of bikes during the rally. Indians are sold with a special Sturgis badge on them. And people will flock from far away all year long to get one like that (or order from far). Tons of tee shirts and merchandise, too, Bruce Eide understands business better than all of you. He is also the owner of Indian Sioux Falls and of many car dealerships in South Dakota. How many of you are as successful as him? None I bet.

  13. 13 Matt W. Nov 18th, 2014 at 10:30 pm

    Great to hear. A brand new Indian dealership just opened up in my town. It’s quite impressive.

  14. 14 BobS Nov 19th, 2014 at 7:17 am

    Eide is no idiot. He took a very large multi brand in Sioux Falls and broke it up into a couple different locations with Indian and Victory paired up in the original location. Then he brought in a custom builder and lots of aftermarket. What he’s doing is risky, maybe Indian (and Victory) never grow to the level that will make buckets of return on his investment. But taking risk is what every successful business man has done. If he is successful, that means more cool stuff for us in the future. I wish him well.

  15. 15 Tom D Nov 19th, 2014 at 10:37 am

    To TJ Martin…”Godforsaken Nowhere” Really? Where you from?

  16. 16 1550tc Nov 19th, 2014 at 11:24 am

    Should be a great new business for Sturgis

    Jeff Ulvestad is a great guy to deal with 🙂

    http://www.indianmotorcyclesturgis.com/default.asp?page=xNewInventoryDetail&id=703805&ni=1

  17. 17 A 1 CYCLES Nov 19th, 2014 at 11:44 am

    JEFF ULVESTAD WOULDNT PUT HIS NAME BEHIND IT UNLESS IT WAS GONNA BE GREAT

  18. 18 Motorcycle Marc Nov 19th, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    Business is tough. It’s really tough when supply and demand don’t match location wise. This said, all the best. You’ll surely thrive during the month of August every year.

  19. 19 Doc Robinson Nov 19th, 2014 at 3:25 pm

    Given the history of Indian in Sturgis I think it is awesome that there is a top shelf Indian dealership right in Sturgis. I visited the current one during the Rally and thought it was very well done. This new one looks to be several levels above that. People forget that the Black Hills and surrounding areas is a very popular destination for riders all through summer and for a while in Spring and Fall as well. And East Coast people head through that way while riding out to Yellowstone, the Tetons and points beyond. So motorcycle traffic is by no means limited to the “one week of the year” situation.

  20. 20 Pop Nov 19th, 2014 at 5:40 pm

    So in a business that peaks what, half of the year in the northern climes you have a marquee brand smack dab in the middle of motorcycle mecca, which for a couple of insane weeks a year is dripping ducats. The other 11 and a half you move what the market will bear, field shirts and trinkets on the interwebs and throw together some customs that keep up the buzz. You have casinos down the road to parlay some stock, local press always willing to do a spotlight and generally you have the benefit pf a global interest in the brand, global inet in the location and your efforts, not to mention the mention that you get from CH et al.

    Yeah, tough way to get a couple of nickels to rub together. Poor guy, my heart bleeds for the plight of this wretch.

    Why didn’t he set up spinning wrenches in Paducah or Tallahassee like so many other shops that get no mention and see no glory? Must suck to be him.

  21. 21 Blackmax Nov 19th, 2014 at 6:37 pm

    If I was in the market for an Indian and:
    1. I had the scratch to pick it up in Sturgis
    2. Could stand to be in a car on the way to pick it up
    I’d be happy to do so & get special badging too.
    I’d do it !
    After all Pappy Hoel was an Indian dealer, right ?
    Jackpine Gypsies started the Sturgis rally, right ?
    Seems like a natural to me & I’m sure they make more $$ in that 2-3 weeks
    than your average dealer makes in an entire year .
    Both bikes & merchandise

  22. 22 Randy Aron Nov 24th, 2014 at 9:20 am

    These are smart people. They are from the area and know how to run the business correctly.

  23. 23 BruceEide Nov 24th, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    Hi Cyril. Hi comment guys!
    Bruce Eide here from Indian Motorcycle Sturgis.
    Yea, our journey from start up to now has been quite a trip.
    We did a ground breaking with a big ass backhoe last Thursday. turned into quite the party, complete with Gaby the pet goat!
    Bringing Indian to Sturgis is like bringing the prettiest girl to the best party. Even in the winter season we have so much to do, it’s lots of work, and a bunch of fun. We just leased a nice 10k sq ft building in the Sturgis Industrial Park that will become a remote showroom, and detail area for inventory.
    The kids are readying an IMS float for the downtown parade on Dec. 5th, can you believe the holidays are all on top of us.
    To all you guys that provided your thoughts and comments- Thanks! Way enjoyable for me to hear what you think. TJ, I couldn’t agree with you more, a store this size, in a town this small, doesn’t make much sense. By year end we will have sold about 300 new and used bikes, having started May 12th. Our 2015 goal is to sell 254 new, and 180 used. Who knows??
    Oh, by the way! We’re gonna be the EagleRider Rental franchise for Sturgis!! Should be under way in early 2015. Thanks for listening! We’ll see y’all in Sturgis!

Comments are currently closed.
Cyril Huze