For Terry Trom, owner of TT Motorcycles in Blooming Prairie, customizing and rebuilding motorcycles isn’t just a job, but a lifelong dream.

“I’ve always been into motorcycles,” Trom said. “I’ve had motorcycles since I was nine years old. My goal and dream is to make Blooming Prairie a motorcyclist destination.”

Although TT Motorcycles has been a work in progress intermittently since 1984, it didn’t become a full-service shop and showroom until Trom re-opened the business in the historic T.S. Morton & Sons plumbing and heating building in downtown Blooming Prairie. The newly renovated shop made its debut in April of this year after seven months of construction and remodeling.

“I tried to maintain a cosmetic appeal to the building to stick with the downtown look,” Trom said. He also explained that the building was the first Ford dealership to come to town. “Henry Ford was actually in this building. There’s a lot of history here,” he said.

Trom said he had wanted to move the shop into town from its former location at his home in between Blooming Prairie and Hayfield for the last few years, but the opportunity didn’t present itself until spring of 2009.

Now the shop has a full showroom for the first time, which, Trom said, “gives customers more of a shopping experience.” The showroom boasts of a variety of aftermarket products, apparel, accessories and, in the near future, a new leather line.

TT Motorcycles offers more than just a new showroom and accessories, though. Trom said he and his two full-time employees are able to customize, repair and rebuild Harley Davidson bikes, as well as perform minor repairs on metric bikes. “We can do oil and tire changes on metric bikes, but 98 percent of our business is with Harley,” Trom said.

Trom’s two full-time employees, Eric Hancock and Todd Jensen, have a combined total of over 20 years of Harley experience. Hancock is also a Motorcycle Mechanics Institute technician and a Dynojet technician.

Business has also improved since the shop moved into town from its previous location in the country. “Foot traffic has increased by about 15 percent,” Trom said. He also said he is enjoying interacting with the public more frequently and contributing to the business atmosphere of downtown Blooming Prairie.

Trom also said that fellow business owners in Blooming Prairie have been very supportive of TT Motorcycles, especially since the building had been vacant for five years and was beginning to deteriorate.

Even though the shop is located in a small town, Trom said that most of his business comes from out of town. “We range from as far as the Cities to parts of north Iowa,” he said.

Trom has been working on building TT Motorcycles since 1984 when he first began the business in the back of his garage. The shop was open until 1994 when he decided to close so he could spend more time with his two children. Trom opened shop again in 2000 and transitioned to a full-service shop at his home in 2005, which is where he ran the business until opening in downtown Blooming Prairie this year.

Trom said that he is looking forward to watching his business grow and evolve as he continues to form new ideas and concepts for the future.

“There are bigger and better things to come,” Trom said. “We’re here to grow the company and the motorcycle phenomenon in this area.”

TT Motorcycles is located at 402 E Main St. in Blooming Prairie and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the exception of Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.