Tom Scott, owner of Harley-Davidson Of Anaheim-Fullerton in Fullerton, California, has his share of good memories from that era. After all, it was during that time that he fell in love permanently with Harley-Davidson® motorcycles. "I'm the youngest of five, and my older brother had one," Tom, a Pennsylvania transplant, says. "I worked for my brother on the weekends and saved my money. I had my first Harley® bike, bought and paid for, at 15. It was always Harley. I've never owned anything else." He laughs. "Brainwashed!" However, he also contends that the motorcycling industry has come a long way since then for the better, believe it or not. "I never thought I'd see motorcycling evolve to what it is today," he says. "When I was growing up, if you rode a motorcycle, you were known as an uncouth, uneducated monster whose only interest was to make trouble for someone. I read that in the paper and wondered, even back then, how I could improve that image."

In star struck Southern California, where fame and fortune can be fast and fleeting, Harley-Davidson of Anaheim-Fullerton's constancy is something of an anomaly. Just four miles from Disneyland, the landscape surrounding the dealership still included orange groves and family farms when the Scotts, Tom and his wife, Barbara first moved to Fullerton in 1967. The family business was already two years old at that time, because the Scotts had originally opened a Harley dealership in 1966 in Santa Maria, a couple hundred miles north of Fullerton.

In a quirk of fate, a year later, the Scotts met a Harley dealer who was having troubles of his own. "He was tired of the rat race, and we were struggling in Santa Maria," Tom recalls. "We decided we either needed to go into a big city, where we could make a decent living, or walk away." The solution: Swap stores. "We came down here in 1967, and he went up there," Tom says.

The Scotts settled into the Southern California store, which they named Harley-Davidson of Fullerton. But they soon decided to build their own facility, and chose a location nearby with convenient freeway access. After purchasing the land, the Scotts built a one-story, 5,000 sq. ft. store in 1970, shortly after their son, Brian, was born (he's now the store's GM). "Other dealers asked, `Are you crazy?' for spending that kind of money. It was a palace back then," Tom laughs.

In 1973, they expanded the service department. The physical layout of the facility stayed the same for the next decade or so, until Harley CEO Jeff Bleustein came to visit in 1984.

At a seminar given by store planner Clark Ritchie, Bleustein, at that time in the Parts & Accessories Division, became enamored of a marketing concept called the "traffic loop," a way to clearly, if subconsciously, guide customers through the store. Bleustein's vision was to test the traffic loop in several existing Harley dealerships. Tom listened intently. "T-shirts were just starting to come into the black," he says. "But we went through a period when we leveled off; we couldn't increase it anymore. So I told Clark, `I'd like to sell more, but I don't know how. What can we do about this?' He said, `Oh, you'd be surprised.' Soon after, Tom traveled to Oconomowac, Wisconsin, for Harley's national meeting. Bleustein and Ritchie were there, with a surprise. "They had my store all drawn out in picture form, with the traffic loop and everything!" Tom says.

He agreed to give the traffic loop a try, as did a store in New Hampshire and one in Harley's hometown of Milwaukee. Whatever trepidation Tom might have felt at the outset of the project was put to rest when he looked at his one year sales figures. "We tracked it very, very carefully," he says. "In the first year of business with the traffic loop, our apparel sales doubled." Tom was sold on the idea of working with his OEM and professional marketers to improve his business.

Fast forward to 1993. A decade has passed since the traffic loop revolutionized Harley-Davidson of Fullerton's apparel business, and Tom was looking for something big for the rest of the store. In a word: expansion.

However, a lot had changed in the nearly 25 years since the Scotts first moved to Fullerton. Orange County was becoming known more for big business than dwindling orange groves. The Scotts and their "palace" were now surrounded by other properties. "We owned the property, and we still had great freeway access," Tom says, explaining why he didn't want to move. "I tried to buy that property" he gestures to the building beyond his parking lot" but the owner wouldn't sell to me."

"Most people who come in see the stairs, so they know there's something up there," Tom says. "It makes them want to look up." A huge skylight in the cathedral style roof brightens both floors; so does a giant neon Harley Bar & Shield with eagle on one wall. Opposite the eagle is a square, replaceable window visible from the street.

The final result is a wide open feeling, with both staff and merchandise clearly visible to customers and staff members who work on the first level. Tom admits this wasn't the least expensive way to add a second story, but adds, "We wanted our store to have a warm feeling. We wanted a modern approach, but a warm feel."

Technically, Harley-Davidson of Anaheim-Fullerton is a tri-level store. The main staircases take customers to the men's apparel section on the second level; climb a few more stairs, and you'll find yourself on the store's third level, home to women's and children's apparel, collectibles and the ever-popular customer lounge. To the store's younger visitors, the lounge is like being at home... only better. Stocked with a Harley soda machine, vintage jukebox and pinball machine, in addition to the requisite sofa, table and chairs, the lounge also contains a coin-operated, pint-sized Harley, complete with headlights and potato-potato-potato sound effects.

"I thought we were going to be able to save the floor, but we had to put in a whole new one," Tom says. City ordinances even required a new parking lot, to make the service department wheelchair accessible. The Scotts were able to do some recycling: Beams that held a Harley-Davidson of Fullerton marquis in a former life were reconditioned and are now incorporated into the "industrial look" ceiling.

As challenging as it was to keep the store open during construction, Tom says being on the premises enabled Harley-Davidson of Fullerton to complete their renovation in just six months. "If you're not in the store as it's being built, the builders can set their own pace. But we were there the whole time, asking, `When is this going to go in? When are you going to get to that?'"

While a lot has changed at the renovated Harley-Davidson of Fullerton, the store remains dedicated to the customer service that has made it successful for nearly 30 years. "Customers today want variety," Tom notes. "They expect a lot out of specialized stores. Back when I was growing up, you had one jacket, and it lasted. Now, people don't have just two jackets, they have three or four. They like to have choices."

To cater to folks who are accustomed to shopping in malls and big name department stores, Tom says, "Even mechanics need to have a certain amount of rapport with customers. Everyone has to be sales minded. If you have a problem with your car, you go to a dealership, talk to a service writer and leave your car. That's the only contact you have with the dealership. But with a motorcycle, it's different. People who ride want to meet the mechanics who work on their bikes."

Over in the parts department, Tom says, "We do next-day ordering if we don't have something in stock. I get frustrated sometimes, because no matter how big an inventory you have, you can't have every single part in stock. Everybody wants everything to be turnkey." Then he smiles. "But I understand too... we all want the same thing. We all want it now."

In the showroom, Tom adds, his reps do a good job of communicating with both long-time riders and the newer professional, white collar enthusiasts. "We do an excellent job up front because we remember we're in the entertainment business," he says. "A guy on a motorcycle wants to forget his troubles. You can go to a movie, and the movie will last two hours, then it's over. But you can get on your motorcycle and make it last as long as you want. You can change into your leathers, change your personality, and off you go into another world. When you come back, you're ready to go to work."

"I was talking with the builder, and he told me he had a little room for overflow inventory, but it was up on the top level. I told him, `I've got to have a place to store the T-shirts, and I don't want them in view. There is no way we're running up there to get a T-shirt." The architect gave in and added a small, corridor like space perfect for rows of T-shirts, right in the apparel department. Problem solved? Well...

"He put a big door on the room," Tom grins. "I said, `I can't have this door here. This door is going to be opened more than 100 times a day and somebody's going to be walking by, and... no!'" The final solution: Swinging, saloon-style doors that hide the inventory, but lend visibility for increased safety. "The architect told me, `I've done seven Harley stores, and I've never done that,"' Tom remembers. "I said, `Well, you're doing it now.'

Tom hired other experts to do the woodwork that prominently sets the store's style, and matched the maple hues on the walls and stairs, another costly decision. He's almost sheepish as he opens the door to his second floor office. Classical music plays over stereo speakers, his desk is maple and marble, and carpenters have just installed small spotlights in his personal collectibles cabinet next to the wet bar. A computer system sits on his desk. The store has a website, which does significant apparel sales and brings locals into the store for a closer look.

Does this look like the office of an uncouth, uneducated monster? Tom grins. "I spent a little money on it," he says, "after all those years of working out of a closet!" Then he becomes more thoughtful. "When it comes right down to it, it's just a building," he says. "I know everyone says this, but what makes the difference is how our staff makes customers feel."