By Noelle Edwards
nedwards@salisburypost.com
Keep It Roostin, a motocross supply store that opened recently in Granite Quarry, is actually not new. It’s been open seven years as a Web site ó and technically as a store in Faith, though owner Jeff Lomax said that store never really got off the ground.
The Granite Quarry location is different. Lomax and business partner Shea Jordan opened the store because having a set location helps them get better prices from dealers.
The Web site is keepitroostin.com, and they kept the name for the store. Roost is the dirt that flies up from the back of a bike, Lomax said.
They both live in the area and are plugged into the racing crowd, which Jordan said is pretty active around here. Both their sons race dirt bikes.
“People coming in here are dealing with people that’s pretty much on their sides,” Lomax said.
He and Jordan and other people who work in the shop know what they’re doing, Lomax said. They also understand the cost of motocross and try to sell supplies and parts as cheaply as possible.
They buy in large quantities, for instance, and sometimes sell older model supplies.
The store is a way to help online business grow, and that segment will probably stay the dominant part of the business, Lomax said.
But there are advantages to the store on its own. The location at 121 N. Salisbury Ave. is prime, Jordan said, on one of the busiest thoroughfares in town.
They have a service department in the store, and eventually they plan to add street bikes to the repertoire.
“It’s too big not to,” Lomax said.
But he also said specialization is how the company has done so well so far, and he doesn’t want to stray too far from what Keep It Roostin is good at.
People shopping in the store also benefit from the online business.
Jordan said if an item isn’t in the store, they can get it.
Transitioning from primarily an online business to a storefront took time and money but otherwise wasn’t too hard, Lomax said.
It took him and Jordan three months to get everything set up and get the necessary permits.
“A lot of long days and long nights,” Lomax said.
The inventory was already in place, Jordan said; they just moved it from Faith to the Granite Quarry store.
But otherwise, not much changed, Lomax said. From the beginning, he set up the company in such a way that it could turn into a storefront one day. Because it was based in North Carolina, it already operated under North Carolina sales taxes.
Jordan joined Lomax a few years ago, but he isn’t new to business ownership.
He owns Kannapolis Roto-Rooter, and he still operates it with his wife. He said it demands a lot of his time, along with what he’s already putting into Keep It Roostin.
“I don’t think anything runs itself anymore,” he said.
He joined Keep It Roostin because he wanted to see the inside of another business and add to his management experience.
But the biggest reason is his love for racing. “If I could be at a track every day, I’d be there,” he said.