24 • July 2023 • Powersports Business

BY BRENDAN BAKER EDITOR IN CHIEF

As a third-generation car dealer , Teddy Morse has a passion for motorcycles , which he discovered at a young age while living in Coral Springs , Florida , where he rode a YZ80 around the empty allotments next to his house . He ’ s been hooked ever since – so much so that he bought his first Harley store and powersports dealership last year and plans to keep adding more .

“ I love the car business – I was kind of born into it – but I gravitated more towards the motorcycle side of it on my own . I ' ve been riding Harleys since I was 20 years old ,” says Morse .

Morse ’ s grandfather , Ed , started the automotive group in Florida after WWII and grew the business to multiple dealerships in the sunshine state . After Ed Morse passed away in 2012 and Ted Morse ( Teddy ’ s father ) passed away in 2016 , Teddy became the chairman and CEO of the business . Under Teddy ’ s leadership , the company was the number one Cadillac dealer in the country and has grown to more than 2,000 employees across a portfolio of dealerships that now includes Daytona Harley-Davidson ( formerly Rossmeyer ’ s ), Cowboy Harley-Davidson in Texas , and now Grand Junction Harley-Davidson in Colorado .

Morse says that his early childhood riding experience hooked him on powersports and motorcycles . However , turning that corner and making it part of his dealership portfolio has been a new and exciting challenge .

Ed Morse Automotive Group recently added Grand Junction Harley-Davidson to its growing portfolio of motorsports dealerships . ( Photos courtesy of Ed Morse Auto Group )

The Grand Junction dealerships are Ed Morse Group ’ s first powersports dealerships in Colorado .

Teddy Morse is the chairman and CEO of Ed Morse Automotive Group , a company founded by his grandfather in the late 1940s . ( Photo from Ed Morse Automotive Facebook page ).

“ We came into the powersports business almost by accident ,” Morse recalls . “ We were growing our company after my grandfather died in 2012 . And then , my father passed away in 2016 . After that , we started a pretty aggressive expansion throughout the company with our dealer groups and buying dealerships .”

Morse says he wasn ’ t looking for any brands in his quest to acquire new dealerships . He wanted to find the right deals . If it made sense , he would do the deal .

However , after several of these deals were done , Morse asked his chief operating officer to find a Harley store .

“ I said all right ; we ' re going to do things a little differently now . I want you to find a Harley store . After a couple of months , my COO came to me and said , ‘ I found a deal . I want to talk to you about some Harley stores .’ I asked for one Harley dealership , and he said , ‘ Well , this is the deal – it comes as Cowboy Harley-Davidson of Austin , San Antonio , and Beaumont and Cowboy Powersports of Beaumont . The package was part of the deal . I knew I wanted a Harley store . But when the powersports store was part of it , it made it much more exciting .”

Morse says he enjoys that the powersports business is about having fun and that most people are excited to buy when they come in . “ It ’ s a want and not a need ,” he says , making sales easier . And while Morse doesn ’ t have decades of experience in the motorcycle industry , he knows the dealership model well .

“ When you ' re talking about running a dealership , we spent 77 years selling and servicing vehicles . And that ' s what you ' re doing out of a powersports store ,” Morse explains . “ Some of the things with the side-by-sides and PWCs , we haven ' t exactly been involved in when you ' re talking about doing a test