Longtime Barney's Motorcycle and Marine sells Tampa Bay portfolio
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 23, 2022

Long-standing Barney’s Motorcycle and Marine dealerships throughout Tampa Bay are officially under new ownership.

Performance Brokerage Services announced the sale of the company’s three Florida locations — including the iconic St. Petersburg dealership along Gandy Boulevard — to Dave Veracka, who has been in the motorcycle industry for more than 50 years. In 2019, he split his company into two groups; his sons run the Harley-Davidson dealerships, and Veracka established The Motorcycle Co., a consulting group based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

A deed filed in Pinellas County shows the St. Pete location sold for $10.375 million and closed on Nov. 17. A Hillsborough County deed shows the Brandon location sold for $4.325 million. A deed has not yet been filed for the Brooksville location.

Barney’s Motorcycle and Marine is a third-generation family business that has been active in the motorcycle industry for 76 years. The company moved to St. Pete from Illinois in 1951 and has remained ever since. A Brooksville location opened in 1998, and a Brandon location opened in 1999. The Brandon location was expanded in 2002 and 2009. The company offers off-road, on-road and marine products at its three locations.

According to a release, the dealerships will remain and have been renamed:

Rockstar Powersports of Brandon at 9820 East Adamo Drive

Rockstar Powersports of St. Petersburg at 10411 Gandy Blvd.

Rockstar Powersports of Brooksville at 14430 Cortez Blvd.

Barney’s was sold by owners KC Wood and Todd Hempstead, according to Performance Brokerage Services.

“After 76 years and three generations of owning Barney’s Motorcycle and Marine, our family made the difficult decision to sell our three dealerships,” Wood said in a release. “When George Chaconas and Courtney Bernhard first reached out to us, we had not yet made the decision to retire. They provided valuable information as to what the sales process would entail, and before we knew it, they brought us an offer from a well-respected company in the industry.”

Bernhard of Performance Brokerage Services said she approached the owners of Barney’s Motorcycle and Marine a year ago to see if they would be interested in selling.

“We knew in order to be the right fit, the buyer would really need to grasp the immense dedication that Barney’s had within the racing community, their passion for the outdoors, and above all, the love of their staff,” Bernhard said in a release.

Wood and Hempstead were represented by Robert Bass and Greg May of Bass Sox Mercer in Tallahassee. Veracka was represented by Mark Petti, general counsel for The Motorcycle Co., and Ed Gildea, partner at Fisher Broyles LLP in Boston.