January 2020 January 2020 | Page 19

A conversation with Minnow Speidel A big thank you to Minnow for sharing this insider look at Winters Recreation. Tell our readers a brief history of Winters Recreation… Believe it or not – the story of own- er/operator Matt Winters starts back when he was a teenager. Between him and his dad, they repaired snowmobiles and sold them for a profit out of his garage. A little ad- venturer and an American Entrepre- neur at such a young age was not just another daydream. His passion for running a business was real. He likes a challenge. So what started out by selling a cou- ple of used snowmobiles quickly led into hundreds. Besides just sleds, he dabbled into ATV’s, vehicles and more. Back in 2000 (just after his high school graduation), Matt’s specialty was wholesale deals and that is when Centre Motor Sports, LLC was officially established. Fast forward a few years, Matt rented out a storage facility to house the entire inventory while working from his “home office”, aka – the bedroom! This only lasted so long before he soon outgrew that, relocated to a Brick N’ Mortar and hired his first employee. Years passed, connec- tions were made and business was good. 2008-ish, Matt purchased a handful of Penske Box Trucks from Texas. To help pay for fuel back to Minneso- ta, he loaded them with golf carts. And I’m sure you could guess what that led to – more wholesale deals. Quickly these wholesalers turned into retailers asking for a rear seat, then lights, paint… One turned into two, quickly turned to three and so on. Demand was in the present. Matt held on tight and ran with it. In 2017, this was one of the driving forces of Centre Motor Sports LLC rebranding itself to Winters Recre- ation. With a fair amount of golf cart customization under our belt, we have acquired a reputation for JANUARY 2020 19