Tucker Rocky not ready to stand still

Distributor realigns business model while adding distributed brands

Grow. Innovate. Increase efficiency. Tucker Rocky president Dan Courtney and vice president of marketing Hank Desjardins used these terms often as the two described where Tucker Rocky/Biker’s Choice currently sits and where the distributor is heading in the future.

The company demonstrated at its late July Brand Expo in Frisco, Texas, that it’s twisting hard on the throttle and making a long-term investment into its future.

“If you don’t change what you do, you lose relevancy, so we need to move — products change; vendors change; it’s a very fragmented industry. We have to actively manage our segments, our sales force, our infrastructure, or we just lose relevance,” Courtney said.

In an effort to stay relevant and increase its business, Tucker Rocky is adding distributed brands, realigning its business model and creating a variety of opportunities for internal and external job candidates.

Adding brands, attracting dealers

The growth of Tucker Rocky/Biker’s Choice was evident immediately upon entering the show floor at the Brand Expo. The floorplan was littered with highlights of the companies now being distributed by Tucker Rocky.

Among them were 100%, Metzeler and Pirelli, GIVI, Rockford Fosgate and JustOne Helmets. In addition, there was Performance Machine, Roland Sands Design and Vance & Hines, all added to TR’s lineup as a result of the company’s merger with Motorsports Aftermarket Group (MAG).

That showing, along with the presence of many mainstays and Tucker Rocky’s house brands, brought total exhibitor attendance up from 2013.

But exhibitors weren’t the only ones filling the expo hall floor. Dealer registrations increased nearly 9 percent, bringing a record number of dealer attendees to the show.

“It’s an increase, which is good, so we’re really excited about that. The vibe has been great,” Desjardins said.

Dealers were attracted by word that had spread in advance about the new brands, and as reps worked harder to get their dealers face-to-face with Tucker Rocky’s partners.

“We’ve been a little more deliberate in terms of marketing and creating a value proposition for dealers to come to the show,” Desjardins reported. “We had an Earn Your Wings promotion where we helped offset some of the expense. We had done that in the past, but I think … the team did a much better job, a more effective job of being just deliberate, going after the business, giving people a reason to come here.”

MAG merger

With Performance Machine, RSD and Vance & Hines making a big splash with sizable displays next to their sister MAG company Küryakyn, and marketing images plastered on the host hotel’s elevators, Tucker Rocky’s recent merger with MAG was evident, but Desjardins says little has changed and little is expected to change in the future.

“Leadership at all those companies stays leadership at those companies. They have their plans; they’re doing what they’re doing; they’re developing what they develop. They develop their prices, their collateral, everything. We are now able to be a customer of theirs, so we are going to buy from V&H and RSD and PM,” he said.

The MAG brands will have to compete for catalog space just like any other distributed brands, supplying data on top sellers, worst sellers and more.

“It’s stays within the system. We’re not going to buy a system that we don’t think we can sell. Just like any other vendor, we’re going to rely on them to provide us data,” Desjardins said.

He added, “The good news for us, frankly, is now we have access to them, where we didn’t before. So they will run their businesses as they run their businesses. So will we, but we’re eligible to be a customer.”

As far as MAG’s Retail Group, partnerships will also remain the same, with J&P Cycles and Motorcycle Superstore continuing to be regular customers of Tucker Rocky.

“It truly is separate because honestly, that’s the only way it’s going to work. We can’t advantage them; it’s not in our interest to advantage them. It’s not, frankly, in their interest; it’s not in the industry’s interest,” Desjardins said. “Even though they’re big customers, if you take in total Tucker Rocky’s business, which is still brick-and-mortar-centric — and that’s a fact, and it’s going to remain a fact for the foreseeable future — we’re not going to jeopardize, for what is a relatively small amount of our business, the greater whole. It doesn’t make good business sense.”

New business model

Though it was obvious from the increased brand presence that Tucker Rocky has continued to commit to the industry, the distributor also has a lot happening in the background that it hopes will show improvements in the short- and long-term future.

Tucker Rocky/Biker’s Choice has moved to a merchandising/purchasing business model wherein each of the company’s five segments — Street, Off-Road, Apparel, ATV/UTV and Biker’s Choice — will operate as their own entities contributing to the whole. Each of the segments will have its own segment director who will be supported by about two segment specialists.

“The idea is the segments will lead the product portfolio in terms of looking at it from a commercial view, a dealer view,” Desjardins explained. “They’ll manage the portfolio; they’ll manage the strategy within each category with that book, and they’ll have profit/loss responsibility, and basically it’s their business. If you imagine conceptually that that catalog’s their store, they’re the store manager.”

The segment specialists for each catalog are: Aaron Abreu — Street; Steven Reed — Off-Road; Laura Spears — Apparel; Aaron Whitney — Biker’s Choice; and James Kramer — ATV/UTV. The five will report to Charlie Hadayia, who is now senior director, segments.

Tucker Rocky has also promoted Sean Phillips to senior director, brands for QuadBoss, BikeMaster, Covermax, Bully and Speed and Strength, and hired Phil Davy, formerly of Leatt USA, as senior director, brands for ANSR, MSR, ProTaper, Firstgear and River Road.

Though the merchandising/purchasing model has been proven in other industries, Desjardins said it’s new to the industry. The team at Tucker Rocky had been discussing the restructuring before Courtney arrived, and he approved the project shortly after he was named president in December 2012.

“We think it’s going to be way more effective. It’s going to streamline the process for us to investigate new brands. It’s going to make our portfolio cleaner, and ultimately more effective, more impactful,” Desjardins said.

In addition to segment directors being held responsible for their catalogs, house brand managers may have to work a little harder to get their products in the catalogs, as Tucker Rocky looks to increase the quality of the books, thereby offering no brands a free pass.

“Our notion is that they have to be just as aggressive as any distributed brand. They can’t just get a free ride, so they have to make the same business case, and that segment director is still responsible for their products selling. So just because it’s ours and it’s our kid and we love it, you still got to get good grades, so it’s not a give-me; maybe it’s been in the past a little bit,” Desjardins said.

Continuing to improve

The business restructuring at Tucker Rocky/Biker’s Choice has allowed the company to take a new look at its segments, and though Desjardins says he sees opportunities in each, Helmet and Apparel is receiving a renewed focus.

“We’re developing a Helmet and Apparel sales force to augment our existing one. I think if you look, Tucker Rocky historically has been very good at replacement maintenance, very good at tires, very good at the nuts and bolts stuff. We’re pretty good at that. Where there’s a lot of opportunity, I think, is clothing and helmets, so we’re looking at areas to fill there,” he said.

In adding to that sales force, bolstering rep numbers for Biker’s Choice as MAG brands are introduced, filling segment specialist positions and recruiting talent in other areas, Tucker Rocky is on a hiring spree.

But personnel isn’t the only area growing. Tucker Rocky is also working on making its facilities more efficient, expanding the Jacksonville, Fla., and Jessup, Md., distribution centers.

“We’re adding conveyor systems in buildings to be more effective, which is really customer service accuracy and getting cut off times and next-day delivery. That will allow us to carry more skus in those buildings, which improves our service level with the customer,” Courtney said. “So we have access to new brands; we’re increasing capacity. And that actually started somewhat with Metzeler/Pirelli but has only been made more appropriate by adding MAG brands as well.”

Tucker Rocky is also about a year and a half into an optimized content Op-Com project that is digitizing its product database, increasing efficiencies for Tucker Rocky employees, dealers and consumers. All 2015 catalogs will be published using the Op-Com system, and the eventual goal is to use it to improve TuckerRocky.com and TRDealer.com.

Though a lot of gears are turning at Tucker Rocky, Desjardins and Courtney say each step is for the long-term health of the company and improving its partnerships with dealers and vendors.

“We’re obviously bullish on powersports,” Desjardins said. “We’re excited about our new brands, our capability, our new model.”