Aries Northwest LLC, a Spokane company owned by Scott and Carolyn Schmidtman and a family trust, has bought the assets of the big Westside MotorSports dealership on the West Plains for an undisclosed sum.


Scott Schmidtman, an attorney, former Spokane corporate executive, and avid motorcyclist, says Aries Northwest acquired the dealership assets from longtime owner Ken Wimer, who had operated it through a company here called Serendipity Enterprises Inc. He says Wimer still owns the 18,000-square-foot building and five-acre site that the dealership occupies, and is leasing them to Aries Northwest.


The dealership is on the south side of Interstate 90 next to the Geiger Boulevard interchange and employs about 25 people. It sells new Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki motorcycles; Polaris and Bombardier all-terrain vehicles; Polaris, Yamaha, and Ski-Doo snowmobiles; Yamaha WaveRunner and Kawasaki Jet Ski personal watercraft, and Honda and Yamaha scooters. It also sells Wells Cargo, Big Tex, and other brand trailers. In addition, the dealership offers a wide range of motor-sport accessories, including some apparel, and operates a large service department.


Schmidtman says Aries Northwest intends to keep the Westside MotorSports name, and adds, My plan is to keep doing the things that made the dealership successful, but with added emphasis in some areas. For example, he says, We intend to make the showroom more exciting, including by adding a theater, videos, cable TV offerings, and background music.


Schmidtman is a lifelong Washington resident. He has lived in the Spokane area since 1986, when he became in-house attorney for what was then called ISC Systems Corp., at Liberty Lake, after having been in private practice in Seattle and Yakima. He became vice president and general counsel for ISC successor Olivetti North America Inc. in 1991 and held those positions until 1998, when Wang Laboratories merged with the Spokane operation, by then called Olsy North America Inc., to create Wang Global.


Since then, Schmidtman has served as president of MEI Solutions.com Inc., a small software company here, and vice president of business development of TriGeo Network Security Inc., in Post Falls.


Ive been thinking about buying a dealership for about four years, and finally the timing worked out as a good opportunity, he says.