www. PowersportsBusiness. com Powersports Business • June 2026 • 21
ACCELERATE
CONFERENCE
ACCELERATE
From family-owned to director of Young Powersports
BY BRENDAN BAKER EDITOR IN CHIEF
When Young Powersports named Rad Gladfelder as director of powersports earlier this year, the move represented more than a leadership promotion. It was the continuation of a career that started in the service bays and showroom floors of a small-town, family-run business and evolved into helping oversee one of the industry’ s fastest-growing dealership groups.
“ This is essentially the only job I’ ve ever had,” Gladfelder said during a recent Powersports Business Power Hour podcast.“ I grew up in it.”
That upbringing started at his father’ s dealership in Logan, Utah, where Gladfelder spent his afternoons sweeping floors, emptying trash cans, and assembling machines before eventually racing motocross and snowmobiles himself. Long before he was managing multiple dealerships, he was learning the realities of dealership life from the ground up.
“ I’ ve worked in parts, sales, service— every department,” he says.“ I’ m an in-thetrenches kind of guy. I won’ t ask any of my people to do something I wouldn’ t do myself.”
That philosophy now helps shape the culture across Young Powersports’ growing network of dealerships, which currently comprises 11 locations, with additional growth planned.
Young Powersports celebrates a ribbon cutting ceremony for one of its newer locations, Young Powersports Euro in South Weber, Utah, which opened its doors Aug. 1, 2025.( Photo: Oz Marketing)
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GROWTH DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES While many dealers across the industry have spent the last two years tightening operations amid slowing demand and elevated inventory levels, Young Powersports has continued expanding. The company has added locations, invested in community outreach efforts, and earned multiple industry honors, including a recent Leadership Award from Powersports Business.
For Gladfelder, one of the biggest adjustments after moving from a family-owned business to a larger dealership group was learning how scale could create opportunity rather than bureaucracy and red tape.
“ When we sold our stores to the Youngs, I was worried I’ d lose all control,” he admits.“ But they told me,‘ Keep doing what you’ re doing. Help us get better.’”
The transition also exposed him to operational resources that smaller dealerships often struggle to build internally.
“ At our old store, we had no benefits. We ran a skeleton crew,” Gladfelder recalls.“ Now our employees have better support, benefits, and a bigger team behind them. Talent is hard to find right now, so taking care of people matters.”
Notably, Gladfelder said every employee who worked with him at his previous dealership stayed on after the acquisition.
BUILDING CONSISTENCY ACROSS MULTIPLE STORES
One of the challenges facing rapidly growing dealership groups is maintaining a consistent culture across locations. Gladfelder said Young Powersports has made that a priority through constant communication, training and clearly defined values.
The company uses a mission statement and value system that employees regularly reference during meetings and daily operations.
“ We spend more time with our coworkers than we do with our families,” Gladfelder said.“ We want it to feel like family.”
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That culture-first approach extends into training and leadership development. Managers participate in weekly calls, quarterly training sessions and cross-store collaboration programs that allow employees to move between locations without losing operational consistency.
“ If I move a sales manager from one store to another, they can step in and be effective within a day or two because the processes are the same,” he explains.
The approach also emphasizes empowerment rather than top-down management.
“ As an owner before, I made all the decisions,” Gladfelder acknowledges.“ Now I’ m asking managers,‘ What do you think is the best move here?’ You have to empower your people.”
A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH TO INVENTORY
Like most dealers, Young Powersports is navigating a more normalized market after the unprecedented demand spikes of the pandemic years.
“ We’ re back to real times now,” Gladfelder said.“ Inventory matters again.”
To better manage aging inventory across multiple locations, Young Powersports created a centralized build center where units are assembled and distributed according to need and inventory age rather than simply remaining at the store where they were originally shipped.
“ If one store sells a unit but another store has an older one sitting longer, we’ ll pull that one first,” Gladfelder explains.“ It helps reduce flooring costs and keeps inventory moving.”
The group also closely monitors aging reports, inter-store transfers and manufacturer relationships to balance inventory levels across different regional markets.
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“ You can’ t just let manufacturers dictate everything,” he says.“ At the end of the day, it’ s our money, and we have to protect it.”
THE RISE OF ACCESSORIES AND F & I Gladfelder believes one of the biggest profit opportunities in modern powersports retailing lies beyond the unit sale itself.
“ The opportunity now is in parts and accessories,” he proclaims.
That opportunity has expanded dramatically over the last two decades as side-byside customization exploded and consumers increasingly began treating powersports vehicles more like personalized automotive builds.
Young Powersports has leaned into that trend by displaying heavily accessorized units in showrooms to help customers visualize possibilities.
“ When someone walks in, I want them to say,‘ Wow, that’ s a cool machine,’” Gladfelder says.“ They need to see the dream.”
The company also studies accessory attachment rates and F & I penetration closely. Gladfelder admitted that earlier in his career, he underestimated how much profitability smaller dealerships leave on the table by focusing primarily on unit sales.
“ I used to think if we sold enough units, we’ d make money,” he shares.“ I didn’ t pay enough attention to F & I, extended warranties, or how each department performed individually.”
Now, the group tracks department-level KPIs ranging from parts margins and service efficiency to effective labor rates and accessory attachment percentages.
“ You really are managing multiple businesses inside one dealership,” he states.
LEARNING FROM HARLEY-DAVIDSON Young Powersports recently expanded into the Harley-Davidson segment, and
Gladfelder said the experience has reinforced the importance of lifestyle selling and accessory integration.
“ Harley stores are incredible at attachment rates,” he says.“ They’ ve been conditioned to do it for years.”
Watching Harley customers personalize motorcycles with garments, upgrades and aftermarket accessories has helped Young Powersports identify additional opportunities within its metric and sideby-side operations.
“ You look at some side-by-side deals, and maybe they only added a windshield,” Gladfelder says.“ There’ s so much more opportunity there.”
STAYING BULLISH ON POWERSPORTS Despite industry headwinds, Gladfelder remains optimistic about the future of powersports retail. A key reason for this, he believes, is seeing more first-time buyers.
“ We’ re seeing a lot of new people entering the industry,” he says.“ That gives me a lot of confidence.”
More importantly, he believes dealers must remember why they entered the industry in the first place.
“ We got into powersports because it’ s fun,” Gladfelder says.“ You have to keep it exciting.”
That mindset continues to drive both his leadership style and Young Powersports’ broader strategy as the group continues expanding.
“ Build around good people,” he says.“ Empower them, support them through hard times, and don’ t be afraid to change things up when something isn’ t working.”
For a dealership executive who started by taking out the trash after school, it’ s a philosophy rooted less in corporate theory and more in lived experience— one shop floor lesson at a time.