Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson – ‘Harley enthusiast’s dream’ comes true

Described as ‘a Harley enthusiast’s dream’, a spectacular new Harley-Davidson® dealership has just been completed at Lakeside Harley-Davidson® on the Lakeside retail park, West Thurrock, Essex, for Jardine Motors.

At 500m², the new facility is 30% larger than the current showroom, giving staff and customers a vastly improved space to enjoy.

Main contractors for the project are Horizon; interior designers are Fresh Design.

The building has been constructed on the site of a former car park on the company’s original site.

“The new showroom is a Harley enthusiast’s dream. Over the last five years our business has grown rapidly and it was necessary to expand our premises accordingly,” said Heather Whittaker, Brand Manager at Lakeside Harley-Davidson®.

The new single storey showroom building has a ‘warehouse’ look and is structured around a steel frame with corrugated metal cladding to part of the frontage, with the remainder of the frontage and the side and rear elevations being fully glazed to provide 360 degree views of the showroom’s spectacular interior.

A single storey Harley-Davidson ® workshop is attached to the rear of the showroom building and has been constructed in corrugated cladding and concrete. The workshop includes a six bay workshop with a trike ramp and MOT facilities, expanding the aftersales department.

Internally, the building maintains the ‘warehouse’ ambience, with wood cladding and mood lighting including directional spotlights, which will highlight the many Harley models on display, as well as biker clothing and accessories and a specialist Harley parts department.

The interior also includes staff areas and a Harley Owners Group (HOG) lounge where customers can meet, have a coffee and talk ‘Harley’.

“We decided on this because our is a very sociable business, and customers will have to walk through the biker clothing department to access the lounge, so it is a good way to promote sales too,” said Heather Whittaker.

External works include mainly hard landscaping around the building.

“The new showroom interior has been designed with great attention to detail and is much better and far more spacious than our original one,” said Heather Whittaker.

“The main contractors did a very good job and we are really happy with the building. This was a big project which started in January and involved the builders having to excavate deeper than originally planned to accommodate the 75 tonnes of steel needed to reinforce the floor of the building, as the bikes which will be on display are quite heavy,” she added.

The showroom opened with a flourish on the 30^th of July with live bands, a hog roast and an eagerly awaited competition to win a Harley-Davidson ® Sportster® Iron 883TM.

“We are absolutely delighted with our new building and we couldn’t wait to get into it. It is an excellent upgrade from our original space and we are now able to operate much more efficiently. We are really looking forward to welcoming everyone,” said Heather Whittaker.

CAPS group were involved in the creation of this new look dealership for Harley-Davidson®.

Speaking to Premier Retail, Nick Nelson, Workshops Operations Director for CAPS group, said:

“We are very proud to have taken part in this monumental upgrade of the Lakeside Harley-Davidson® dealership.”
Nick added:

“As both Harley-Davidson ® authorised showroom fixtures and workshops suppliers, we delivered a variety of product for this site. The unique showroom fixtures are part of our standard H-D product line, but the workshop element of this project was technically the most challenging. We were responsible for designing, supplying the new equipment and moving other existing kit. All while minimising the downtime of the existing workshop and keeping our promise of maximising customer experience.”

Harley-Davidson’s ® big day

The Grand Opening took place on Saturday 30th July from 9am – 5pm, with the big crowds kicking off around 11am, and everyone (rider and non-riders, singletons and families) welcome.

Not only did customers have the chance to see the all-new ‘pad’ but for the uninitiated it was the perfect opportunity to experience the brand and talk to the friendly team first-hand.

With a welcome drink upon arrival everyone felt right at home from the word ‘go’ – and rocked out to the live band, Bloodstone Blue, feasting on a free HOG Roast and the rest of the refreshments including hotdogs, donuts, ‘slush’ drinks and more.

The lovely MCN girls were on-hand to meet and greet the crowds, and there was also a barber on hand for anyone who fancied a beard-trim, and a caricaturist who scribbled sketches throughout the day.

Best of all, everyone who came on the day had the chance to win a brand new Harley-Davidson® Sportster® Iron 883TM (after spending £50 or more on parts or clothing to qualify – multiple were entries allowed). The winning ticket was announced at 4.30pm and with other spot prizes on the day there was more than enough to keep everyone entertained while they explored their new all-American home.

Heather Whittaker, Brand Manager for Lakeside Harley-Davidson® was very excited for the new store opening, “we were absolutely delighted to re-launch Lakeside Harley-Davidson this summer.”