Steadman’s, a Tooele-based family-owned outdoor recreation retailer, has been selling Honda products in Tooele County for 50 years.
Officials from American Honda Motor Company visited Steadman’s on Wednesday afternoon to recognize the store for its 50 years as a Honda dealer.
“This isn’t something we do very often,” said Steve Nicholson, zone sales manager for Honda. “Honda has only been in the American market since 1959.”
Nicholson presented a plaque to Steadman’s that commemorates the 50-year achievement.
Albert Steadman moved to Tooele 72 years ago to open a tire store, according to Bruce Steadman, Albert’s son.
Bruce Steadman and his brother, Nolan, are the current owners of Steadman’s.
“My dad planned to stay in Tooele for one year to get the tire store started,” Bruce Steadman said. “But he fell in love with Tooele County and stayed.”
Albert Steadman’s first tire store bounced around to three different locations in Tooele’s business district near the center of town, according to Bruce Steadman.
In the early 1950s, Albert decided he was tired of renting stores and decided to build his own place on the northern outskirts of town on a lot surrounded by trees.
“No bank in Tooele would finance the building because it was one mile from the center of town,” Bruce Steadman said. “He had to go to Salt Lake to get financing.”
Around 1953, Albert Steadman opened an OK Tire store with gas pumps out front of the building now occupied by Victor’s Tires.
“We sold tires, gas, recapped tires, and garden supplies,” Bruce Steadman said. “And when winter came around we sold Christmas trees.”
Bruce Steadman said he has fond memories of hauling Christmas trees from the lot to customer’s cars.
In the early 60s, Albert Steadman bought the Dalton family’s feed store just to the south of the OK Tire store.
He continued to sell feed out of the store.
In 1967, Bruce and Nolan Steadman talked their father into buying 10 Honda motorcycles from a Honda dealer in Salt Lake City.
This was to be Steadman’s first escapade into the motorsports market. They brought the motorcycles to Tooele with plans to sell them out of the OK Tire store.
But it wasn’t that simple, according to Bruce Steadman.
When trying to get a license from the state as a Honda dealer, the Steadman’s ran into an obstacle.
It turned out the Honda dealer in Salt Lake, who claimed to be a distributor for Honda, had no authority from Honda to approve or sell to other dealers.
Albert sent Nolan into Salt Lake to talk to the state official in charge of approving dealership licenses.
“Nolan said the guy looked at the dealership application and then moved his glasses down to the end of his nose and said, ‘Mr. Steadman, what makes you think you are a Honda dealer?’” Bruce Steadman said.
After Nolan explained the details of what happened, the state official made a few phone calls. One was to Honda, on behalf of Steadman’s.
After purchasing a few more Honda machines and meeting a few other requirements, in a little over one month Steadman’s became the fastest dealership approved by Honda, according to Bruce Steadman.
Steadman’s originally sold the Honda’s out of the OK Tire store.
When Albert Steadman and his wife, Oneda, went to Australia to sere a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Albert left Bruce and Nolan in charge of the business.
While they were in Australia, their sons moved the feed out of the feed store, essentially stopping most feed sales. They filled the feed store with motorcycles.
The motorcycles sold well, Bruce Steadman said.
“We let our parents know what we did a year before they came home so they would have time to get over it and not be mad,” Bruce Steadman said. “They were still mad when they got home, but we never moved the motorcycles back.”
The outdoor motorsports vehicle market continued to experience growth in Utah, especially with the introduction of the three-wheel ATV, according to Bruce Steadman.
“We brought in three wheelers and everybody loved them,” he said.
While the three-wheel ATV was a boom for Steadman’s, the three-wheeler later almost broke the company, according to Bruce Steadman.
In 1987 amidst safety concerns, outdoor motorsports vehicle manufacturers voluntarily banned the sale and production of three-wheel ATVs.
“We were stuck with a lot full of three-wheelers that we couldn’t move,” Bruce Steadman said. “Originally, Honda wasn’t able to help us.”
The Steadman’s scraped together every bit of cash they could to keep their doors open, Bruce Steadman said.
The new four-wheeler proved the salvation of the business.
“People missed the three wheeler,” Bruce Steadman said. “When the four-wheeler came out, sales took off again.”
Steadman’s best selling product today is the side-by-side, a four-wheeler with two front seats.
As sales grew over the years, Steadman’s closed the tire store, remodeled the feed store, which is the current location of the business, and expanded into a building to the south of the feed store.
Just last year Steadman’s, with the help of Tooele City’s Redevelopment Agency, purchased, fenced, excavated and partially paved the lot behind the store to increase storage space and provide a place for customers to park big trailers.
Steadman’s owes their longevity to Albert’s marketing strategy, according to Bruce Steadman.
“My dad knew there weren’t enough people in Tooele to sell motorcycles to,” Bruce Steadman said. “He started marketing into the Salt Lake area.”
At one point out-of-county sales accounted for 80-percent of Steadman’s sales, according to Russ Steadman, Bruce Steadman’s son.
Russ Steadman, along with his brother-in-law Greg Thompson, and Russ’ cousins, David and Kirk Steadman, manage Steadman’s today.
Out-of-county sales now account for 50-percent of Steadman’s sales, according to Russ Steadman.
“That’s not because out-of-county sales have shrunk,” said Russ Steadman. “But because of the growth here in Tooele County, our in-county sales have increased.”
Steadman’s advertising tag line “It’s only 30 miles back,” used in advertising along the Wasatch Front, was born when outdoor television show host Chad Booth overheard Bruce Steadman talking to a customer on the phone, according to Russ Steadman.
“My dad told the guy on the phone, ‘You people in Salt Lake think it’s 300 miles to drive out here, but you have to understand it’s only 30 miles back,” Russ said. “Chad was sitting there listening to my dad, and when he hung up, Chad said. “Hey, you’ve got to use that line on your advertising.”
Walk into Steadman’s today and big boy toys are everywhere. The sales floor is jammed wall-to-wall with big equipment bearing the names of Honda, Yamaha and Polaris. There are dirt bikes, street bikes, scooters, cruisers, side-by-sides and snowmobiles.
If it’s powered and you ride it outside, you will find it inside Steadman’s — or somewhere on their lot.
Looking around the store, Steadman’s customers will also find smaller gas-powered equipment, like generators, snow throwers and lawn mowers. The store also has a full-service parts department.
A family business, ownership of Steadman’s passed from Albert to his sons, Nolan, Gary and Bruce.
Albert’s sons are working on transitioning ownership to the third generation of the Steadman family.
Steadman’s is located at 916 N. Main Street in Tooele City.