All in the Family

People have been saying that the family business is giving way to the big, non-personal mass market chains like Wal-Mart. However, there are at least a few thriving family businesses in the heartland of the United States who are providing personal, straight from the heart business. Witness the success of Mies Outland, a Polaris ATV and snowmobile dealer in Watkins, MN with a smaller second location in Paynesville, MN. The company also offers motorcycles from Victory and farm equipment and lawn mowers from John Deere. It was the first dealership to be inducted into the Polaris Hall of Fame.

Mies just didn’t come on the scene within the last 10 or 15 years or so. The company was started by Mike Mies in 1947 as a John Deere supplier and has been run by members of the Mies family ever since. In fact, the dealership is now under the watchful guidance of Jeff and Steve Mies, the third generation of Mies.

Steve and Jeff’s dad, Tony Mies, was an early participant. He used to work at the store after school and during the summers. After a stint in the Army during the Korean War, Tony returned and joined the business full time. It was under his guardianship that the dealership added Polaris products in 1965.

Like their father, Steve and Jeff also started working at the dealership when they were still kids after school and during the summers. They took over full time in the 1980s. It was 1985 when the dealership sold its first Polaris ATV. According to Steve Mies, Mies Outland had already built a good reputation with farmers in the area. So when they began to offer ATVs, Tony made a strong effort to interest his farmer clientele to buy them. “My dad worked hard to push ATVs with our farm customers,” said Steve Mies. “He had a Polaris ATV demonstration vehicle in the showroom and wasn’t shy about putting farm customers on it and encouraging them to try it out. ATVs sold well for us from the start. They proved to be a great utility or work vehicle for farmers.”

The dealership has serviced ATVs and has offered ATV accessories from the start. Steve pointed out that one-third of the 30,000 square foot facility carries accessories including wrenches, plows, windshields, thumb warmers, tires and rims for the Polaris ATVs. There is also a maintenance or service department that includes 13 employees. And for the kids, the dealership also sells toys -- John Deere toy tractors and Polaris toy ATVs. The inventory of toys also includes remote control radio vehicles.

Today Mies Outland carries the full line of Polaris utility and sports ATVs. The long list of models include the Sportsman Series ranging in price from $9,999.00 to $6,299.00 suggested manufacturers retail price; the Hawkeye Series ranging in price form $5,049.00 to $3,899.00 suggested manufacturers retail price; the Recreation/Utility models (Magnum 330 4x4, the Trail Boss 330, and the Sawtooth) ranging in price from $5,299.00 to $3,299.00; High Performance Series (Outlaw, Predator 500 Cross Country Limited Edition, Predator TLD, and Predator 500) from $6,899.00 to $6,199.00; Sport Collection (Scrambler 500, Trail Blazer, Phoenix 200 Limited Edition, and Phoenix 200) ranging in price from $6,199.00 to $3,199.00; and the Youth Series (Predator 90 Cross Country Limited Edition, Predator 90, Sportsman 90, and Predator 50) priced from $2,499.00 to $1,899.00. The inventory also includes used ATVs, said Jeff Mies and the store has an average of 180 ATVs on display. Steve noted that he rides the Sportsman 700 EFI and his son rides the Sportsman 90.

According to Jeff, a customer who comes in to the dealership to buy an ATV can expect to leave with it. If he or she wants the vehicle customized, the parts are on hand and the vehicle can be customized immediately. Safety is a concern. Steve pointed out that whenever they sell an ATV the salesperson will spend time training the buyer on how to operate it.

The store sells ATVs to farmers, hunters and fishermen, and landowners who want or need a utility vehicle for work on their property, and to local fire departments and rescue squads for search and rescue purposes. The store also sells ATVs to some racers, “But that’s a very small number,” said Jeff. He estimates that about 85 percent of ATV sales fall under the utility category and 15 percent are for sports.

The dealership uses billboards, cable TV, newspapers, magazines, and a lot of word of mouth to promote. Moreover, they do a lot of repeat business with families they have been servicing for close to 60 years.

Having been selling ATVs since the mid 1980s, Jeff has seen the demographics of the buyers change. “In the mid 1980s the only people who bought ATV/4 wheelers had a specific need. They were farmers or contractors, people like that. The largest growth in sales now is with sportsmen like hunters and people who use them to plow the driveway or do odd jobs around the house,” he said.

Jeff forecasted that the line between ATVs and utility vehicles will blur as time goes on. “We will see a lot of side-by-side ATVs sold as utility vehicles within the next few years,” he concluded.

For more visit: http://www.miesoutland.com