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Motorcycle shop rides off into the sunset
By ANNE LINDBERG
© St. Petersburg Times, LEALMAN -- One of Lealman's landmark motorcycle shops, Honda of St. Petersburg, closed over the weekend, a victim of its success. Owner Debbie Shelton sold the inventory to Barney's Motorcycle and Marine, 10411 Gandy Blvd. "The last five years, it's grown astronomically," Shelton said of her reasons for selling. "Too many hours and not enough time for play." She and her husband, Jim, who handled sales at the Honda dealership, plan to move to Tennessee once they sell their home. Until then, they plan to work at Barney's to help during the adjustment. The former Honda store at 5985 49th St. N will not stay vacant for long. Shelton has sold it to John Hendershot, who plans to open Legends Motor Car Garage around Sept. 17. Most of the public will be interested in Legends for its paint, body work and fender repair, but the business will have a more specialized aspect. Since age 16, Hendershot has restored classic cars, street hot rods and muscle cars. Now he plans to turn his hobby into a business. Not only will Legends restore such cars and automobile memorabilia, such as vintage gas pumps, it also will display and sell the items, Hendershot said. Shelton said the closing was hard for her and for many of her customers. When she began announcing it, she said, many of them came in, sat down and cried. The last day, she said, "Everybody stood around and cried." Shelton said she and her husband worked to make customers and the business' seven employees feel like part of the family. That made her especially cautious when she decided to sell. She wanted to make sure both customers and employees were taken care of. That's something Shelton said she thinks Barney's will do. The prices are fair, she said, and all but one of her employees have moved over to Barney's. "I think my guys will be a good asset for them," Shelton said. Like Shelton's Honda, which began selling Cushman cycles in 1958, Barney's is a family-owned business. That's typical of motorcycle dealerships, said Beverly Hempstead Newton, one of Barney's owners. "This is a very, very difficult business," Newton said. "It's a lot of hours and a lot of working off of a very small profit margin. . . . People stay in this industry because they love it." Barney's opened in 1946 in Illinois and moved here in the 1950s. The third-generation business has three stores: on Gandy, in Brooksville and in Brandon. Buying Shelton's store means Barney's will be able to add Honda motorcycles to its inventory of Yamaha cycles. Barney's also carries Yamaha, SeaDoo and Aprilla personal watercraft. While Barney's is expanding its inventory, the past year has been difficult. On June 25, 2000, lightning struck the store and burned it down. The estimated loss was $5-million. Barney's spent about eight months under a tent and Newton gutted a neighboring building to use until renovation occurs. The old building should be rebuilt by Memorial Day 2002, she said. When it opens, it will be almost three times larger than the old space. Barney's will keep the buildings currently inhabited for a service area. "It will be quite large," Newton said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
