A 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle as viewed on the Harley-Davidson-USA website, February 20. - Contributed

Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

Harley-Davidson In-corporated, world renowned for its motorcycles, is to invest over US$2 million ($135 million) over the next two years to establish its own retail stores in Jamaica.

The conglomerate which manufactures heavyweight motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel, and general merchandise through its subsidiary Harley-Davidson Motor Company, hopes to create a new niche in Jamaica's tourism product by linking its motorcycles with Jamaica's new highway network.

But while the Harley-Davidson brand is already selling in Jamaica, Anders Vestergaard, franchisee owner and operator of the Montego Bay based Harley-Davidson Jamaica Limited, said the company is facing serious challenges with piracy and unauthorised use of its brand name, and is now engaged in a clean-up.

Local press advertisements to that effect warning that litigation would flow if the unauthorised distributors did not desist from commercial exploitation of trademarks and the names associated with them: Harley Davidson, Harley, H-D, and HD.

Harley-Davidson loses some US$8 million to US$10 million per year (J$536 million-$670 million) per year from counterfeiters in the apparel sector alone, said Vestergaard, who tag their garments with the brand name and logo sans permission.

The destruction of the brand name, he said, could not be priced.

High-powered lawyers

The company has detected 125 local firms illicitly using its brands in violation of its intellectual property rights and is already going after 10, using high-powered lawyers.

"We are working with DunnCox since the end of December to January to clean up the counterfeiting in the island," said Vestergaard. "Our brand is the most counterfeited in Jamaica and we are most concerned with the apparel."

Jamaica is the only country in the world, he said, where Harley has this level of piracy. The problem extends to gift shops and tourism retail centre stores in Montego Bay and Negril that have been counterfeiting the brand for close to 10 years.

Harley-Davidson Jamaica has already cleaned up 50 to 70 per cent of the illicit market, but has made no headway with a small group of stores.

"We are looking at five to 10 companies who have been warned and are continuing to sell the products — and given letters. The next step will be to put a judgment against them." Vestergaard said the second warning was the full page advertisement in the press on February 16, and that there may not be a third.

"The three million Americans who are taking back apparel poorly made are upset and it is affecting the brand when they are inundated with counterfeit signs," he said.

In the meantime, H-D Jamaica is pressing ahead with the stores.

Vestergaard, the owner of the Great Dane Productions, which holds the Harley-Davidson franchise, said the company plans to open its first Harley-Davison retail store in leased space at Island Village in St. Ann. The outfitting of the store starts next week, March 1, to be completed by April 2007.

Two more stores are planned for Montego Bay.

"We are moving to locate the second one at the Montego Bay international airport which we want to start construction on in October 2007," said Vestergaard, adding that the third site in the tourism capital was already under consideration.

The brand is not yet in the other Caribbean islands but Vestergaard said expansion there was also in the plans.

"They readily want to have a local presence in Jamaica and present the brand to Jamaica," he told the Financial Gleaner.

The US$2 million will establish "three or four with the motor bikes".

"One of the things that excite us is the Highway 2000," said the franchise holder, adding that his company was trying to engage the Jamaica Tourist Board on how the organisation could connect the highway with the Harley-Davidson brand.

"The highway and freeways are synonymous with Harley-Davidson, which goes by the slogan to 'Live to ride, ride to live'," he said.

Jamaica is currently building out two highways - North Coast, which connects the resort capitals, and Highway 2000, which links the capital Kingston to dormitory communities and Jamaica's central parishes.

With over 100 million members in its special club for Harley-Davidson riders known as the Harley Owners Group (HOGS) and a cruise ship called the HOGS on the High Seas which docks in Jamaica, Vestergaard believes this would be a good market for the Jamaica Tourist Board to go after.

The Harley-Davidson group consists of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Buell Motorcycle Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services, Inc.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com