See video with inside look at Ted's Motorcycle World below:
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For the Stewart family, motorcycles are definitely in their blood.
Ted’s Motorcycle World is known far and wide by cycle enthusiasts, but what some don’t know is the amount of sweat and dedication put in by Bill Stewart, Melinda Stewart, Kyle Stewart to get the business to this point.
Bill Stewart said his love of motorcycles came when he was younger and he started building go-carts and anything with motors after age 5.
“Motors, wheels and gears are still in my heart today,” he said.
Bill spent years as a top-notch salesman and even served time as a mechanic, so he knows the business upside and down. Bill and Melinda Stewart purchased Ted’s Motorcycle World in 1999 from Ted Burrelson with a handshake deal.
Kyle Stewart, Bill and Melinda’s son, is not only an expert in technology and motorcycle sales, but he is a champion weightlifter, bench-pressing 545 pounds free weight.
Kyle started with the dealership in 2011 after graduating from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Kyle has built a website for Ted’s Motorcycle World and has taken it into the tech age of business promotion and interaction with customers.
Bill Stewart said website designers and dealers are calling Kyle about his improvements to Ted’s website and to seek advice to help their own businesses.
Melinda’s father was a motorcycle dealer in St. Louis and she said she was raised in the business. Bill also started his career in Missouri.
“I love working in the business,” she said.
Melinda handles many of the bookkeeping and financial portions of Ted’s Motorcycle World. She has served in that capacity for many years at Ted's and started with that many years ago.
Bill and Melinda are no longer married but have a wonderful relationship with their son and remain “best friends,” and business partners, both said. Bill and Melinda were both working in the industry and met that way, starting as friends, then transitioning into a deep relationship.
Today, Ted’s is a Harley Davidson, Honda and Can-Am dealer. Ted’s Motorcycle carries ATVs and UTVs in addition to motorcycles and also accessories. The business has a strong service department, which is utilized by many with products purchased at Ted’s. Bill and Melinda allow their employees to work with customers and make decisions to satisfy them on the spot, not through any red tape.
Ted’s originally opened under Ted Burelson in 1966. He had a cast of two employees until 1974 when he was forced to increase the workforce. Bill and Melinda met Ted in Australia and started talking about Ted’s business and if he would ever sell. Bill said he believes that autonomy helps make the business even more successful.
Bill proposed a sweat equity deal to purchase Ted's Motorcycle World, but in the beginning Ted told Bill he wanted all the money for the business up front.
After some more discussion, Ted changed his mind and said he was willing to bank on Bill and Melinda’s talents and the two joined the Ted’s staff in 1997. Bill was the general manager and Melinda worked in the office at that time.
When Bill accepted the deal, he said he was broke and would have to borrow money for the purchase and again asked about sweat equity.
“I said to Ted how about 2 to 5 percent a year for our sweat equity work? ,” Bill said. “I said it very fast and Ted said 25 percent sounds fair. Then we talked about the second year and Ted said how about 50 percent of the profit. That was a lot more than I expected. By the third year, the business tripled in business and volume and we bought the business.”
From the time, Bill and Melinda started with Ted’s Motorcycle World, the business has done nothing but grow.
“We built a new building and it has done nothing but grow ever since,” Bill Stewart said.
Ted's Motorcycle World hosts many charitable events and contributes to several others, which is a part of the overall company mission.
To contact Ted’s visit 4103 Humbert Road in Alton or call 618-462-3030 or 1-888-695-4750 for those out of town.
Bill and Melinda agree that people in this region put a high priority on their motorcycles. For some, their motorcycles mean as much to them as their house.
“I have always loved the power of live motors and the smaller the motor, the better I like it,” Bill Stewart said. “For me personally, riding is not as important as the business. I enjoy the motorcycle business. I look at the walls and what we have and the accessories and I get goose pimples.
“I know if I ever lose the goose pimples like I have now, I would quit.”
