Auto dealer acquires third powersports store
Auto dealer Dan DeVos recently purchased Grand Rapids Harley-Davidson in Hudsonville, Mich., bringing his Fox Powersports division up to three dealerships.
DeVos, an Amway heir, purchased the dealership from David Veracka and his sons Paul and Michael, according to a report in The Grand Rapids Press. The Verackas owned Grand Rapids Harley-Davidson for four years and only sold it because DeVos’ offer was too good to refuse.
“Although it is difficult to sell a business that we are passionate about, we are pleased to hand over the reins to Dan DeVos and his team at Fox Powersports,” David Veracka told the newspaper. “We are confident that our customers will receive the excellent, first-rate service they have come to expect from the brand Harley-Davidson.”
DeVos will retain the dealership’s 70 employees, and the Veracka family will focus on their dealership in Olathe, Kansas.
DeVos now owns 21 auto and powersports dealerships in Michigan carrying 41 brands. In addition to his latest purchase, he owns two other powersports dealerships, Fox Powersports of Kenwood in Kenwood, Mich., and Fox Shawmut Hills in Grand Rapids, Mich.
“We are thrilled to add the prestigious Harley-Davidson brand to our expanding powersports group,” DeVos said in a statement. “Harley-Davidson is one of the strongest, most recognizable brands in the world.”
Motorcycle business is dead. These big guys and all their money will destroy this industry too. Its ashame, I guess the world has gone by me. There is no room for the little guy anymore, I feel like Lazarus the beggar at the door of the rich man fighting his animals for a scrap of food.
There is nothing more appealing that buying a Harley from someone who wears his pants up to his chest. Devos knows nothing about the motorcycle industry, he’s just looking for cool ways to spend his money.