Quadrophenia movie inspires downsized worker

[Brian Cady <brianinatlanta2001@yahoo.com>]

>From the Wichita Eagle at:
http://web.wichitaeagle.com/content/wichitaeagle/2002/01/11/business/0111scooters_txt.htm

His future's riding on scooters

By Deb Gruver 
The Wichita Eagle 

Kurt Starks calls them the "ultimate fashion
accessory." 

He hopes others will find vintage Italian scooters --
reminiscent of '50s Hollywood -- as hip as he does.

Starks recently opened Scooter Planet in the Eaton
Hotel, at 519 E. Douglas Ave, selling vintage and new
scooters.

A layoff and the movie "Quadrophenia" in part inspired
Starks to open his first business.

He saw the flick starring Sting about 10 years ago. A
poster of the movie showing the actor and musician on
a scooter hangs on the exposed brick wall in Starks'
shop.

Starks bought his first scooter five years ago.

The former accountant for Koch Industries and Pizza
Hut decided "now's the time" after he lost his job in
September. He had planned to restore scooters this
winter and open Scooter Planet in the spring. But so
many people started peeking in the front windows and
dropping by that he decided to open now.

Starks' goal is to open five shops in five years. He's
looking toward Lawrence in the fall if business goes
well.

A totally restored scooter from the '50s or '60s sells
from about $2,500 to $3,000, depending on the age and
details such as chrome. A new scooter retails for
$2,700.

Starks is working with a distributor in Chicago that
imports the shapely scooters from Italian makers such
as Lambretta, Malaguti and Vespa.

Technician Stacy Gensler restores the vintage scooters
in a back room of the shop.

Before opening Scooter Planet, Starks spoke with the
owners of many other scooter shops, and all said the
key to a successful business was a solid technician. 

"I was lucky to find him," Starks said.

Gensler said he had ridden motorcycles all his life
and had taken a small engine repair class.

Scooter Planet offers complete repair services.

Depending on how busy the shop is, Gensler can restore
a scooter in about a month. Custom painting --
incorporating the ice-cream colors of days long gone
-- is done off-site.

Starks also lives at the Eaton and says the scooters
are a great match with downtown dwellers.

"It's an Old Town-scene type of thing. You can park
anywhere with a scooter," Starks said, adding they
also get about 100 miles to the gallon. "But the
bottom line is they're just hip." 

Scooter Planet is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Its Web
site, which is under construction, is
www.myscooterplanet.com.


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
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