No. 1 Massimo dealer continues to put customers first

This article originally appeared in the March issue of Powersports Business

Chad Hutchens’ dealership, Uncharted Adventures, was going through some ups and downs. Selling trailers and campers out of his small West Virginia storefront, Hutchens said a string of struggling sales months had the company preparing to file for bankruptcy.

But instead of folding up shop, Hutchens decided to make some changes. He was exclusively selling trailers and campers, but with sales still slow, he took a gamble that might sound counterintuitive for a struggling business — opening a second location. But the second location would deviate from the trailer and camper business and instead focus on powersports.  

He kept his trailer and camper dealership in operation and opened a second store inside Mercer Mall in Princeton, West Virginia. 

“I had previous powersports experience working as a general manager for several years, and I thought maybe I needed to get back to my roots,” Hutchens recalls. “We opened in September 2024 with just a couple of hundred bucks left in the bank and just kind of gambled it all away. But it has really taken off for us.”

The 7,000-square-foot space was small, but sales picked up, and almost immediately the dealership started increasing revenue, moving around 15 to 20 units a month. By the end of the year, that number grew to 40 units, mostly used ATVs and UTVs. Sales were strong enough to get Uncharted Adventures out of the financial quicksand.

The small operation he launched out of the West Virginia strip mall wasn’t a big move, but Hutchens said it served as a stepping stone to get the business back on its feet, similar to a recovering athlete. 

“You know, these professional [baseball] players, when they get hurt, they have to get sent down to Triple-A. I just needed to get my feet wet again, you know, back in the game,” he says.

Mid-level UTV success

Hutchens has since retired from his first dealership location and now uses it as a storage garage. He has since opened up a fourth location in Beckley, West Virginia. The dealership still sells trailers and campers, but Hutchens says the business has been mostly thriving in ATV and UTV sales. Its current powersports brands include Segway, KYMCO, Aodes, and Moto Morini. But his best-selling vehicles have been Massimo and, in 2025, he was named the No. 1 Massimo dealer in the U.S, selling more than 200 units last year.

“It was a huge surprise. It’s kind of our bread and butter with that price point, which is super hard to beat… But whenever you’re talking about a machine that you can get out and do what everybody else can do on a Kawasaki or Polaris, but getting it for a lot less — yeah, we’re doing really well with that.”

The mid-level UTVs have been Uncharted Territories’ bread and butter, Hutchens says, and a major driver of the dealership’s success. He recalls back in his general manager days, when a $40,000 to $50,000 UTV was unheard of. Now it’s kind of the norm, and Hutchens says his store serves as an alternative.

“We’re affordable. I wouldn’t say cheap, but affordable. It’s because we don’t have any of the big OEMs. I think we’re where the market should always be,” he says. “But everybody must have that luxury of heat and air conditioning and roll-down glass windows. It’s nice, but it’s not practical for a lot of hardworking people. [Our brands] like Segway and Massimo are meeting the customer halfway with the entry point of price.”

And Uncharted Territories isn’t just meeting its customers on price, but also on expectation. Hutchens emphasized the popularity of the fully enclosed side-by-side cab, as well as the importance of affordable units. The Massimo Sentinel 570, for instance, is the best of both worlds. The Sentinel series has been one of his most popular machines in the last few months. The fully enclosed, HVAC-equipped UTV comes with the luxury of some of the more expensive units, but at under $15,000. 

“We got in around seven Sentinels in, and we sold them all except for one within two weeks — the last one sold on Christmas Eve. So, we did well with them.

The customer is always first

Customers will continue to be the backbone of the dealership, and retaining their business will always be a top priority.  Hutchens says his dealership doesn’t necessarily carry all the big brands some are used to, and he wants to make sure his customers leave with confidents, even if there is some unfamiliarity at first with the machines they’re purchasing. 

“Anytime you purchase a machine from us, we deliver free of charge. And everything utility-wise with a dump bed, we are adding a free lifetime powertrain warranty.” — Chad Hutchens

“The reason we’re doing that is you’re taking a chance on us as a dealer. You’re taking a chance on us standing behind this machine. Whether it be Massimo, Segway, or Aodes, brands that our customers might not have heard of. But these are great brands. And we stand behind them enough to throw in a lifetime powertrain warranty. We want to build that strong customer relationship.” 

As for what’s next for Uncharted Adventures, Hutchens says he wants to continue to grow the business and add more OEMs, but also scale down. Currently with four locations across Virginia and West Virginia, he says he is looking to consolidate operations. With only 16 full-time employees in its dealership network, Hutchens hopes that with fewer physical stores, his team won’t be so spread out and focus more on customer relationships.  

“We’re building up, instead of just branching out. Being short-staffed is leading to us not giving our best because we don’t have the time to interact. Everybody wants more stores, but I think if you look to see what’s best for the longevity of the business, it’s all about the customer coming back and being happy,” Hutchens says. “I don’t know if a customer can be 100% satisfied if you’re rushed all the time to get through deals. So, I just want to get back to basics.”