I was at Walmart the other day and saw a whole row of 90cc quads. I couldn't tell what brand it was but it had running boards and a Polaris style clutch. The price was about 1700. It doesn't really surprise me that Walmart would sell something like this but I'm really surprised that they felt they could sell them in the Chicago suburbs. Yards are small here, there are no public riding areas within 30 miles (closest one in Wisconsin) and most of the people that live around here yuppies! I see 2 possible outcomes from this....
1- The yuppies will see that they were robbed by their conglomerate builders and money grubbing politicians in that they live in junk houses on small lots that they payed too much for, where small abused roads lead to the local mega mall (Gurnee Mills). They will then form an uprising that will demand more public lands for all uses, including ATV use. (Probability factor from 1-10, 1)

2- Some spoiled brat that gets one for his birthday will ride over the neighbors cat/flowers/kid/Laura Ashley hose reel, and the neighbor will sue the parents of the spoiled brat for not supervising the brat. The parents will then sue Walmart which will be forced to pay billions of dollars for selling such a "dangerous" machine. Then the rest of the yuppies with form an uprising that will demand that NO public lands be used for any kind of ATV traffic. They will gladly pay extra in taxes to see to it that extra police are hired to guard the public areas from people that have any kind of ATV. Then like most yuppies the company they work for will transfer them to another vinyl sided paradise where they can brag to all of their new "friends" about what they did in the last community they lived in. These new "friends" will gladly adopt the "anti everybody but us" attitude and the cycle will repeat itself. (Probability factor 10+)
I'll keep you posted.

 

Let's think about this for a second.
Wal Mart's combined buying power is far greater than than any dealer of m/c's or atv's. If this store manager's plan is successful and begins to eat into the profits of a local Chicago dealer who charges 200% markup on inventory, be it parts or product, I think the dealer losing business would lower his prices a bit to attract potential buyers. I think a "super" Wal Mart located near a combined metropolitan and rural area, lets say Gainesville, FL would have pretty good success.

Lets face it, dealers charge way too much for fun machines and way too much for parts and service. I give my vote to Wal Mart's marketing dept. for this idea and would like to keep an eye on their idea as it develops.

 

I have to agree, wait and see how it devolps.

Back in the '70s my grandpa was at a party and told the guy next to him (Who grandpa knew owned an auto parts store) that he was stopping by k-mart on the way home to get brake shoes, since K-Mart sold them for $10, and the auto stores were double that. (I said this was several years ago) The store owner asked him when the last time he was in an auto parts store for brake shoes, since they don't charge that much anymore.

A couple years latter grandpa was in that k-mart and they didn't even carry brake shoes! So I'm all for compitition. Even though I want to see the little guy dealer make it, the money comes from my back pocket where I'm very sensitive.

 

I don't know. How many 16 year old, part time helpers at walmart do you think will know anything about these quads? And what if you have a problem with it after the purchase. Do you see any qualified mechanics at Walmart?
It is a great idea, but I will stick to someone who knows what they are doing in the off road business.

 

Good point Lurch. But how many salespeople know anything about the product they sell. Most of them are trained negotiators to make money, both for themselves and the dealer. A small percentage of salespeople can talk intelligently about the product they sell. I was amazed as how little sales staff knew about atv's when I was shopping before my purchase. It is up to the consumer to educate themselves - caveat emptor!

The sevicing department will be a question mark until Wal Mart can prove they can service what they sell. Now Wal Mart has automotive service available. Atv service isn't out of the question.

Atv manufacturers micro fiche parts cards on the internet, and a knowledgeable mechanic can get the job done.

 

The pricing structure is similar to new vehicles, in which the profit margin is relatively low on the initial purchase, more like exchanging dollars, it is the parts, accessories and service, were the largest profit is made.
You can buy a new car for say, $15,000.00, but if you were to build the same car from scratch, from a parts dealer, the bill would be over $100,000.00

 

$1695 in Brunswick Georgia, Super-Wall-mart.I too was also amazed. They also had a minie quad ride on a stick, for kids for a quarter right next to the front door.

 

Who would you rather support?

Poor old Wal-Mart who is barely making it in th business world... (exageration)

Or the local dealer who is supporting the off-road community, might help with clubs and money, is a rider himself, etc. A lot of dealers are riders that started up a shop! I would rather give my money to them.

As for little kids quads though, I guess their like go-carts, but I wonder how long they will last because of liability. At least go carts have roll-cages and seat belts. Most people shopping at Wal-Mart for "off-road fun" have no idea how to teach their kids how to ride these things.

 

Pdavis,have you ever run a dealership?Lets face it, you have not. You have no idea what you are talking about.Your employer takes care of you, paid vacations, K401 with matching dollars, someone managing your retirement money,health insuarance, dental insuarance,pension plan, limited or unlimited sickdays,union benefits not listed.
The dealer has nothing. ZIP. He has to make all the money to pay the basic insuarance and worry everyday of lots of things.We should live and let live.
So you go to Walmark to buy a quad and when you need a service, go back and let those high school drop outs work on that.I go to the local dealer, I do not mind paying more, he will be there when I need him.
Sorry, my post is little angry,but you pushed my button.
P.S.
The Polaris dealership was for sale in Crystal Falls, Michigan for 2 years. The building , lot , inventory, customer base,all in very good shape. Price 250 000 dollars.Cheap, nobody was interested in buying it for 2 years!!!!I bought all my quads there,excellent service.They delivered my first quad 45 miles for free on Sunday morning.Just to make a customer happy and maybe one day make little more money ....I paid him for delivery and remained his loyal customer.
It doesn't seem to be a lucrative business ,does it? My vote goes to small, family business.

 

Lurch, Walmart usually contracts a local lawn mower repair shop to repair their lawnmowers. Thats what they will do with their quads, contract some atv dealership to fix'em