J&P Cycles store staying in Anamosa

J & P Cycles plans to keep its retail center in the same location north of Anamosa where it has operated for more than 30 years.

The largest retailer of aftermarket parts, accessories and apparel for Harley-Davidson and V-Twin Cruiser motorcycles and its corporate parent, MAG Retail Group, on Wednesday announced that they have signed a long-term lease for the store off Highway 151.

'I have grown up in the Anamosa location, as my parents grew the business into a leading retail brand in the motorcycle industry.” said Zach Parham, general manager of J & P Cycles, in a news release.

”Our customers of Iowa and the Midwest have supported us from the beginning. I am glad we were finally be able to announce us staying.”

Parham's father, John Parham, and his wife Jill founded J & P Cycles in 1979 in a small motorcycle shop. Over the years, J & P Cycles has grown into one of the largest mail-order catalogs and e-commerce websites in the motorcycle parts industry.

MAG Retail President Kevin Strawbridge, who has only been with the company a short time, said in a news release that he has seen how Anamosa, as well as the Eastern Iowa region in general, supports J & P Cycles.

'Everywhere I go, people discuss the values and the personality that exists in J & P and how that was born out of the community in which J & P Cycles started,” Strawbridge said. 'Because of this, it was incumbent upon us to keep those roots in place and remain in the Anamosa location.”

MAG Retail Group, which acquired J & P Cycles in 2012, announced in June 2015 that it was relocating its warehouse to Louisville, Ky., administrative offices to Irving, Texas, and call center operations to Ormond Beach, Fla. The moves idled about 125 employees.

J & P Cycles has hosted an annual open house for customers and suppliers for many years. It moved last year's two-day event to the Jones County Fairgrounds due to the size of the gathering, which topped 35,000 in 2014.