Meet the Foerster's of Kawasaki of Universal City Right Here in Alamo Heights
Kawasaki of Universal City may seem a world away from Alamo Heights, but in fact, the Foerster's, who own and operate this exciting power sports dealership, are your neighbors. Jeff and Stacy Foerster have been living in the Alamo Heights community since '97. Their oldest daughter, Emma, is 12-years-old and goes to Alamo Heights Junior School, while their youngest, Elissa, is a first -grader at Cambridge Elementary.
Stacy's parents, Gerry and Gail Booher started the business. Gerry has always been fascinated with anything motorized and started in the motorcycle business in ‘69. They have been at the Universal City location since '71 – first with another brand, then in the parts and accessories wholesale business and back to a dealership with Kawasaki in '85.
Stacy and Jeff met after college, while working at Enterprise in Dallas. “After we were married, Stacy's folks invited us to come down and help them with the business,” says Jeff. “I grew up in Plano and always loved coming to San Antonio for fun, so it was something of a sweet surprise that I ended up living here.”
“Many people don't know that we have the Kawasaki dealership, so we just wanted to share that with our neighbors who may love the active lifestyle as much as we do,” explains Stacy, who isn't kidding when she talks about the family being active. Jeff rides a motorcycle (currently an orange Kawasaki Ninja 650) to work practically every day; Elissa has an ATV 4-wheeler, and Emma rides a dirt bike. The whole family loves to go Jet Skiing and race around on ATV's and MULE utility vehicles when they're out at the family ranch.
“We're enthusiasts of the business. We see it, touch it, feel it, do it,” adds Stacy. What better place to shop than at a store where the owners know and love the products inside and out. And what products, indeed! They have quite literally something for everybody, whether you're a hunter, farmer, rancher, water sports enthusiast or into competitive racing sports, or you just want to ride a street bike.
“People use our products for all sorts of things. We have street bikes for commuting or cruising the Hill Country, including sport bikes, such as Ninja's, cruiser styles like Vulcan's, dirt bikes for trail riding, a motocross line for racing, Jet Ski's, ATV's, Teryx RUV's, working utility vehicles like the MULE, which have industry and military uses and are often used for security,” says Stacy. They also sell parts and accessories for all of these vehicles as well as provide maintenance services.
Kawasaki of Universal City has been a Kawasaki dealer since 1985, and they have been an Ichiban classified dealer for just as long. Ichiban means number one in Japanese, and when a dealer is a member of the Ichiban Club it means that they are one of the top dealers across the nation. They continue to earn this prestigious distinction year-after-year.
The whole family is extremely proud of their brand. “One of the things I've learned from doing this for 17 years now,” says Jeff, “ is Kawasaki is just a great company. They make superior products, and they're also great to work with. The people at Kawasaki are in this business because they love doing it. We only get to see the Kawasaki representatives a few times a year, but they know who we are. It's a personal relationship.”
The Kawasaki products are indeed superior and utilize the latest advancement in technology. Every vehicle they have, from the smallest to the largest V-twin Cruiser are fuel-injected and operate entirely by electronics. Every street bike is originally designed as a racer, so riders get a good idea of what it feels like to be a racer.
The Foerster's are not only physically active but socially active as well. They support school functions for the Alamo Heights school district, and have been involved in the San Antonio Zoo's Zoobilation Ball and the Junior League of San Antonio. Kawasaki of Universal City takes part in supporting the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, and also sponsors an AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) Pro Flat Track race team.
“What we really want to do, as a family, is extend an invitation to the Alamo Heights community to come visit us in Universal City, and let us get to know our neighbors and help you, if we can,” says Stacy.
Jeff is always delightfully surprised when he meets someone from the neighborhood. “Just the other day, a man came in and it ended up that his son had just gone hunting with some close friends of ours. It's a small world and that's why we love it,” says Jef.