CONNEAUT – John and Nancy Owen had owned a store selling parts and accessories for motorsports for nearly two decades.
When circumstances and Nancy’s desire to be closer to her family dictated a move, the Owens decided they’d bring that store to Conneaut.
With a ribbon cutting on Friday, March 27, Competitive Moto-Sports, 614-218-9511, opened for business at 223 Main St.
“I’ve been doing this, the shop, for about 18 years,” Competitive Moto-Sports owner John Owen said. “I was in central Ohio for 13 years and in Arizona for almost five. Family circumstances made it time to leave Arizona, and Nancy’s kind of from the area and she wanted to come back home.”
“My kids and grandkids are in the Columbus area, so we’re not that far away from them,” Owen continued. “This is also home for (Nancy), with a lot of family close by in Conneaut. I didn’t really want to go back to the Orient-Grove City area where we were before, and (Nancy) wanted to be close to family.”
It seems as if the shop is going to fill a need in Conneaut.
“Looking around and doing research, there’s not a whole lot in the area,” Owen said. “We’ve had so much feedback since we started posting we were opening, people coming in, even a couple people earlier today that came in that said, they can buy online, but they’d rather come in and see it, hold it in their hand,” Owen said. “They know what they’re getting.”
Competitive Moto-Sports will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
“Saturday is kind of up in the air, but probably like nine to one,” Owen said. “As we get closer in the spring and warmer weather, we’ll see when I need to be open. I’m open to whenever I find out I need to be open. Right now, nothing happens in Conneaut after six o’clock in the evening.”
Competitive Moto-Sports offers parts and accessories for basically any power sports, motorcycles, ATVs and side by sides as well as VP Race Fuel.
“We will have stuff for watercraft and snowmobiles,” Owen said.
There will even be some items for tractor owners and golf carts.
“I’ve even had people already asking (about tractors),” Owen said. “We’ll have, not a lot, batteries and tires for golf carts, because I know more and more these days people are driving those things everywhere. The same thing goes for the tractors because of the tractor pulls when they’re using the lawn tractors and stuff. Sometimes, it’s hard to find those things and I can get them.”
Parts and accessories for boats might be in the stores near future, as well.
“(Nancy’s) brother is going to be up here this weekend, and my goal is to sit down with him and go through the stuff for watercraft. He’s got a boat. He knows boats and jet skis, but if he would tell me what items I could stock, that would be helpful for people coming up to the lake. We might even get a couple of kids’ life jackets, one or two for adults.”
Ultimately, customer need will drive what gets stocked.
“Really, when I find out what people want and regularly buy, those are the things I will definitely stock,” Owen said.
Owen has a history in dirt bike racing and decided there was an opportunity to open a business.
“My son, as a teenager, raced motorbikes, and it was expensive,” Owen said. “I don’t care what kind of power sport, it’s expensive. He had a company that sponsored him that I helped them out at different events, and I saw how much money they were charging and, in my opinion, overcharging.”
“I don’t care what industry you’re in, manufacturers say there is a suggested retail price,” Owen continued. “Well, if you went to the Chevy dealer and the sticker suggested the retail price is $30,000 and (the dealership said) it wanted $40,000. It’s not a very good deal, right? There’s plenty of money for me to make a living selling it at retail. My big thing from the beginning was sell it at retail, where I can get people to discounts off for retail, and I make my living off of the volume and happy people. I’d rather have 100 people come through the door every day and I make a couple of bucks off each one, than to have two people come through and spend their life savings. It’s just too expensive. We all work hard for our money.”
Much of what Competitive Moto-Sports sells will be on the shelves with the possibility to order other parts.
“I try to stock all the basics,” Owen said. “We will have all the oils and I try to keep all the chemicals in stock. Most of what we have stocked is for off road stuff, because that’s primarily been the biggest part of my business for 18 years but, as I’ve even told people, if I get a bunch of guys riding Harleys that need certain things all the time, I’ll stock that stuff because who wants to wait?”
“Back when my son raced, I’d say, ‘Go over and buy a new clutch lever,’” Owen continued. “He’d come back and say, ‘Well, I gave him money, and they’ve got to order it. It’s going to be seven to 10 days.’ It’s like, ‘Really, levers aren’t that expensive.’ It’s amazing on silly things, or what I think are silly things. People come in and are surprised and I actually have the lever I need. That’s what I’m here for. I can’t make money if I don’t have what you need.”
Competitive Moto-Sports will also be trackside at TV Land in Pierpont Township at times and local race tracks, potentially.
“Over the 18 years, we’ve gone to events to set up and we have a vending trailer,” Owen said. “We go to tracks and set up at the tracks. When I’ve been able to, I’ve taken mechanics so we can actually provide service at the tracks.”
“Trevor Vines has asked us if we want to come out (to TV Land),” John continued. “He says he has food trucks, but now he said he’d appreciate maybe a vending truck that has parts and accessories so people there, if they need a spark plug, a chain breaks, they’ll have a way to repair it.”
Owen knows the importance of trackside vendors and mechanics.
“I’ve been there with my son,” Owen said. “You go to the track, you’re there 15 minutes and a chain breaks. You fall and break a clutch lever. Your day’s done.”
The store does not sell motorbikes or ATVs, but it does offer Stryders and Stacycs.
“The only vehicles that I sell are in the front window, the Stryders,” Owen said. “It’s a balanced bike. Basically, it’s a bicycle with no pedals for little kids. I’m just going to say, when they first came out, I was skeptical, and I’m going to tell you now, after I’ve been selling them for 15 years, I sell lots of them.”
Stryders, essentially, are a way to begin teaching young children balance at an early age with the goal that teaching them to ride a bike will be easier.
“The idea is you can start a kid out on it at about 18 months,” Owen said. “Everyone’s seen kids. They’ve got their little scooters, whatever you want to call them, the four wheels. They sit on them and push themselves around with their feet.”
“This is a bicycle,” Owen continued. “They do the same thing. It’s only two wheels. As soon as they can stand and walk, you can stick them on this, they hold the handlebars, and they just walk themselves around like a Flintstone mobile. They’re learning, as they get moving faster, the balance will come naturally. The next thing you know, they can ride a bike.”
