B.R., Hammond Harley-Davidson dealerships sold for $4.15M

After selling Harley-Davidson motorcycles for 38 years, Malcolm Zanca has sold his two dealerships—one on Siegen Lane in Baton Rouge and another in Hammond—for $4.15 million total. Zanca says selling was always a retirement option, but it was spurred by the death of his wife, Donna Zanca, in April. “It was part of an exit strategy that she and I had planned 10 years ago,” he says. BMR LA Properties LLC, which is based in Phoenix, purchased the two stores, according to the city-parish Clerk of Court. A manager at the Siegen Lane location says the new owner is Robert Dodson of Oklahoma City, who is listed as a “member” of BMR, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission. Dodson, who is now based at the Siegen Lane store, did not return calls seeking comment in time for publication. Zanca says the economic downturn also affected his decision to sell the stores. “We were still going strong until the third quarter of 2008,” he says, adding at that point financing for customers began to freeze up. “In three months, we went from six major lenders to one.” The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010 made the motorcycle business worse, Zanca says, noting a large portion of his customer base has ties to the petrochemical industry and drilling moratoriums following the disaster had a negative effect on motorcycle demand. Business eventually improved, but Harley-Davidson was revamping its stores and Zanca says he “had reached a point in my career where I was unwilling to make changes.” The sale of the two dealerships closed Dec. 21. —Adam Pearson