Mike’s Famous- New Castle
Location: Wilmington, DE
Owner: Mike Schwartz
Size: 40,000 s.f.
Mike’s Famous Harley Davidson is the world’s first Harley-Davidson dealership, restaurant and museum combined. The components of this project are: Mike’s Famous Harley-Davidson, Service Department, showroom, Warehouse Grille, The Museum of the American Road, Mike’s Famous 2-Go, Restroom Building and the Welcome Center.
Market studies were used to identify trends in multi-use retail, establishing the design of an environment that would stimulate a guest’s total sensory experience. Brand identification becomes inherent through fused themes of turn-of-the-century warehouse to Art Deco to Route 66. The exterior flaunts contrasting heights, shapes, colors, textures and lighting to create a traffic-stopping roadside attraction. Reclaimed materials serve as functional and ornamental aesthetic enhancements to the retail space. These details include components such as one-hundred year old yellow pine flooring, bricks from abandoned warehouses, an old wooden steam shovel and machine part molds that serve as seating and dressing room doors. These design elements make a visit to Mike’s Famous Harley-Davidson an authentic as well as memorable experience.
