New Owner Making Changes at Scooter Centrale

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

As a dentist, Dr. Mike Maroon deals with apprehensive patients all day, and that’s part of reason why three months ago he bought Scooter Centrale/Vespa Hartford in Plainville. At the scooter store, he gets to see smiles on the faces of potential and returning customers. “It’s a release for me. The dental profession – mentally, it’s tough,” he said during the dealership’s open house yesterday.

Scooter Centrale/Vespa Hartford owner Dr. Mike Maroon

A scooter and motorcycle lover, Maroon purchased Scooter Centrale from Doug and Sue Day. The deal closed March 1. Since then, Maroon’s been assessing his investment. “We remodeled a little; decided to focus on three quality brands,” Maroon said. He pared the lines of scooters sold, dropping Keeway, Tomos and Eton lines to concentrate on the Vespa/Piaggio, Kymko and Genuine.

Maroon’s also raised the store’s profile and has marketed it aggressively on social media. New posts appear frequently on its Facebook page. “That’s what I do with my dental (practice). Creating enthusiasm and buzz – that’s what sells. Excitement sells,” he said.

One big selling point of scooters is fuel efficiency and the fact that it only costs $5 to $10 to fill up. “It’s easy to get excited about scooters. Gas prices are going to continue to go up,” said Maroon, who bought his first Vespa five years ago. Now his three grown daughters ride them as well. He also has a 2009 Triumph Bonneville T-100 and a 2011 Harley-Davidson Road King in his garage.

Maroon said that his goal with Scooter Centrale is to sell “quality scooters, reasonably priced.” One aspect that has surprised him since taking over is the gap between what he pays for a scooter and what he sells it for. “Everybody thinks there’s a lot of mark-up. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room,” he said.

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More to read:

– The 26th annual Rolling Thunder ride in Washington, D.C. was today and “The Daily Mail” reports 250,000 motorcycles participated. The story with loads of pictures can be found here.

– A Lojack recovery agent has tracked some motorcycles that were stolen in N.Y.C. to a garage in Tuckahoe. “The Journal Register” in Westchester County has the story here.