Street Chrome USA, 4704 Martha Berry Highway, closed at the end of the day Wednesday. (Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune)
Anna Whitehead at Street Chrome USA said the last two years have been difficult for the business, prompting a decision to close at the end of the day Wednesday. (Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune)
Anna Whitehead said the decision to close the store at 4704 Martha Berry Highway was solely based on the state of the economy.
“We have fought it for four years,” Anna Whitehead said. “There’s just not enough jobs and money in this county to support something on this scale. There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.”
She said that when they first opened the shop things were pretty good, but things started to sour in 2009 and 2010.
The inventory at the store was liquidated quickly.
“If you go 50 percent or less on something they knock your doors down. Everybody wants a bargain and I don’t fault them for that,” she said.
“When it comes down to a family deciding whether or not they’re going to eat and provide a roof over their head or put that pretty piece of chrome on their motorcycle, that piece of chrome will wait and they’re going to feed their family, and I get that,” she said.
Street Chrome USA operated out of a 1,800-square-foot showroom and a 3,500-square-foot service department. The business specialized in high-performance and custom motorcycle work. They offered a wide array of motorcycle gear from clothing to accessories.
She said the nature of the business leads her to believe that sales will be among the last things to come back when the economy does finally turn around.
Trae Whitehead has a full time job at the Budweiser brewery in Cartersville, while Anna Whitehead said she might go back to school in the fall.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” she said.
Whitehead said she’s been around motorcycles since she was 7 or 8 years old, riding with her father.
“My favorite is the Harley,” Whitehead said.
She said the couple would continue to work with charities in Rome to help organize fundraising motorcycle rides.
“That is the one thing that we will miss, is helping out with local and national charities,” Whitehead posted on the company’s Facebook page.
The decision to close Street Chrome leaves a tremendous void in Rome/Floyd business community.