Hawkesbury’s iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles dealer Goulet Motosports is closing its doors.
The announcement was made August 27 on the Goulet Motosports Facebook page by the store’s owner Sophie Goulet, who expressed her sadness with the decision by Harley-Davidson to pull its motorcycles from the Hawkesbury store.
“It is with a lot of emotions that I am writing this letter regarding my adventure with Harley-Davidson,” Goulet wrote in her Facebook post. “Forty one years ago my dad opted to sell this legendary brand and the business acumen has been second nature to me since my tender age due to the exposure to the motorcycle world.”
“I must sadly communicate with you that Goulet Motosports will cease operations on October 31st and this has nothing to do with the dealership performances. It’s a matter of not enough motorcycles sold in our region. The population does not warrant a dealership in Hawkesbury.”
The Hawkesbury dealership regularly attracts large crowds of motorcyclists from all over Quebec and Ontario, who gather in the store’s parking lot on weekends even when the dealership is closed. Goulet’s post on Facebook noted the store has organized events which have drawn up to 25,000 attendees and has raised more than $100,000 for local charities.
The post about the store’s closing has drawn a great deal of reaction from customers, with hundreds of shares, comments and expressions of disappointment at the Harley-Davidson corporate decision. An online petition started on change.org in support of Goulet Motosport had garnered almost 6,000 signatures as of Monday evening.
“There is a large portion of people in the region who know Hawkesbury only because of Goulet, because they came here for that specific purpose,” said Antonios Tsourounakis, owner of Deja Vu Restaurant & Bar in Hawkesbury, whose patio is crowded with motorcyclists on summer days. “Losing that business is a blow to the area – it’s very unfortunate – and we are going to feel the repercussions. It’s a negative for the town for sure.”
Tsourounakis, who is also a councillor with the Town of Hawkesbury, said that while he would be willing to lobby Harley-Davidson on Goulet’s behalf, he believes there is little which can be done to save the franchise at this point.
“I’m sure the town would be willing to help in any way they can, but there’s probably not much they can do to change Harley-Davidson’s decision,” Tsourounakis noted, while expressing hope that the store’s customers will continue to visit the community. “Hopefully the people that Goulet brought to the area will continue to visit, because they’ve gotten to know Hawkesbury and have fallen in love with the area.”
“I want to thank (Goulet Motosports) for putting Hawkesbury on the map and for all those years of promotion for the town, because that’s what they do – they’ve promoted the town by having such a well-run and highly-regarded store.”
Contacted by The Review, a spokeperson for Harley-Davidson Canada declined to comment on specifics of the dealership’s closing.
“Because Harley-Davidson dealerships are independently-owned businesses, Harley-Davidson Canada does not comment on individual dealer situations or operations,” replied Vicki Seaton, of Harley-Davidson Canada’s media relations department, in an email to The Review. “However, we can confirm that through existing Harley-Davidson dealerships, our team will be working closely with customers impacted by the closure to ensure they continue to receive the highest level of customer service.”
