Bay Area dealer shut down!

[themayer]

A shocking thing happened this morning. BMW corporate pulled the plug on MotoMarin, San Rafael CA. They called first thing this morning to give owner Cary Littell the news, then the trucks arrived a couple of hours later to begin removing bikes, parts, etc. This was a truly outstanding dealership, owned and staffed by dedicated enthusiasts. When Cary bought the franchise, it was just a hole in the wall, going nowhere. He put, literally, everything he had into the business and had just signed the contracts and leases on a major expansion when the economy collapsed. The only choices then were to either throw in the towel, or go forward and fight like hell. Cary is not the quitting type. It has been tough the past few years, and he was deeply in debt. But he tried everything to stay afloat and felt that he could make it if only his creditors would give him enough time. BMW North America wouldn't. He and his staff will be sorely missed by many long term customers and friends of the shop.

[darrylri]

On their website this morning:

To all MotoMarin enthusiasts -

It is with great sadness that we tell you that our doors are currently closed for business.

We've weathered many storms since the opening of the original BMW of Marin in the 70's, adapting to all kinds of variables throughout the decades of being in business. Unfortunately, the current economic storm has brought such a decline in revenue that we have lost our credit facilities with BMW.

The BMW, Aprilia, and Moto Guzzi franchises are intact for the near future, but we have lost our credit facilities that are necessary to have bikes on the sales floor. We will do our best to transfer the franchises so that you can continue to get local Parts, Sales and Service here in Marin County. In the meantime, you will need to work with other Bay Area Dealers.

If your bike is here, you should have been contacted by now to arrange its return in the same state it was left here, or repaired. Our service operations will remain open until all current Repair Orders are completed.

If you have further questions or require assistance please call 415-454-2041 and leave a message in the appropriate departmentÔÇÖs voice-mail box and someone will get back to you

Thank you very much for your patronage these past years. Stay tuned for more information.

[88bmwjeff]

Bummer, Moto Marin (Marin BMW) is closing it's doors. Another casualty of the economy.

Their website states this:

To all MotoMarin enthusiasts -

It is with great sadness that we tell you that our doors are currently closed for business.

We've weathered many storms since the opening of the original BMW of Marin in the 70's, adapting to all kinds of variables throughout the decades of being in business. Unfortunately, the current economic storm has brought such a decline in revenue that we have lost our credit facilities with BMW.

The BMW, Aprilia, and Moto Guzzi franchises are intact for the near future, but we have lost our credit facilities that are necessary to have bikes on the sales floor. We will do our best to transfer the franchises so that you can continue to get local Parts, Sales and Service here in Marin County. In the meantime, you will need to work with other Bay Area Dealers.

If your bike is here, you should have been contacted by now to arrange its return in the same state it was left here, or repaired. Our service operations will remain open until all current Repair Orders are completed.

If you have further questions or require assistance please call 415-454-2041 and leave a message in the appropriate department’s voice-mail box and someone will get back to you

Thank you very much for your patronage these past years. Stay tuned for more information.


http://www.motomarin.com/

[mckayprod]

That's really sad. I've been meaning to visit those guys. I guess the next nearest dealer to me, now, is in Livermore? That or San Jose.

[88bmwjeff]

FWIW, Diablo BMW is located in Walnut Creek; however, they don't seem to stock much in the line of parts except routine maintenance items.

Also in the Bay Area is San Francisco BMW and California BMW in Mountain View. I've been to all the dealers except SF.

[darrylri]

From Dixon, of course, your closest dealer is A&S in Roseville. But you have a lot of choices within a couple hours or so:

(In roughly ascending distance)

Tri Valley in Livermore
Diablo in Walnut Creek
Santa Rosa
San Francisco
Cal BMW in Mountain View
San Jose
Santa Cruz County in Watsonville
Ozzie's in Chico
Sparks, NV

It's a real shame that Cary got shut down. His new store was beautiful and located directly off the freeway, and they had a lot of great stuff to see in person. But his timing was really bad. I hope he'll come back again in some way because his enthusiasm for the sport is catching.

[oldhway]

Merged the two MarinMoto threads together.

[JohnTena]

It's a real shame that Cary got shut down. His new store was beautiful and located directly off the freeway, and they had a lot of great stuff to see in person. But his timing was really bad. I hope he'll come back again in some way because his enthusiasm for the sport is catching.

Correct. MotoMarin was a class business. Their timing for expansion was worse than unfortunate. They assumed a lot of debt just in time for the well known economic downturn.

For those that don't know, Marin BMW moved and expanded their dealership to a snazzy, beautiful new facility, and added new lines of bikes in addition to BMW, thus the name change to MotoMarin. As we all know, sales are down, and there wasn't adequate capital to weather that storm.
I feel very badly for Cary and all of his staff.

[matt.the.ogre]

Latest I've heard is that they will be open on Fridays and Saturdays for the near term -- able to provide service with in-stock items.

There is hope! This is actually more of a restructuring than a closure, at least at this point.

[sibud]

Very sad turn of events. He was nationally known as a BMW enthusiast. He started the BMW Sport Touring forum and the folks there have nothing but good to say about him.

I wish him well!

[calnalu]

and guess whose ride is currently in the service center at MotoMarin?? Fortunately, Nick and the service guys are (whew!) going to finish up my bike before closing the service area. Sad to say that my bike will be one of the last serviced by this version of MotoMarin. Ditto on the positive comments to Cary and his group. You will be hard to replace. Let's hope this is only a temporary thing.

[themayer]

Marty, if you need a ride out there, let me know.

[calnalu]

Thanks, Bill.

It sounds like it will work out OK. Once I get Nalu back, let's figure out a ride!