Janus Motorcycles is expanding its space to allow customers to better view its products.
The Goshen-based company that builds a line of cycles powered by 229 cubic centimeter engines with the look of vintage machines, is located at 211 S. Fifth St. Until recently, Janus occupied the back of the former Fiedeke Dry Cleaners building but has now taken over the front half of the building that had been used by the Thomas-Stiegliz Brewing Co.
“This is going to be a showroom for our bikes and goods,” said co-founder Richard Worsham as he stood in the former Thomas-Stieglitz bar space.
The Janus crew had been cramped for space and kept a selection of their motorcycles in the same area where the cycles are assembled, tested and prepped for sale. Production of the motorcycle frames is completed off-site in Elkhart County.
With the goal to significantly boost production to 200 or so motorcycles this year, more space was needed.
On some Saturdays, the company hosts Discovery Days open houses when customers can tour the small shop and check out the three models of cycles and their various colors and option packages. With the new space, customers will be able to do that in a showroom atmosphere, according to Worsham.
“It will provide the interface with the customers that has been seriously lacking,” he said. “We (now) have a dirty overhead garage door in the back that nobody can find.”
That door opens onto the alley between Fifth and Main streets and only a small sign on the building denotes there are magnificent motorcycles inside.
Worsham and his partner Devin Biek and Grant Longenbaugh, marketing specialist for the company, said they may hang some of the cycles so they can be seen from Fifth Street through the large front windows of the shop.
“Our goal this year is to produce over 200 motorcycles, which is a giant improvement over the last years,” Longenbaugh said. “That involves growing with our cottage network of vendors and increasing our volume with them and also increasing our presence in Goshen. It has always been important for us to be a downtown Goshen company. We had this opportunity to grow into the entire space and it aligned well with our goals to stay in Goshen and also our necessity of growth.”
To introduce the new space to the public, the Janus team has set March 23 for a soft opening.
The company was founded in 2011 and now has eight employees, according to the owners.