George Gatto is riding the wave of change.
As his family-owned Gatto Cycle Shop marks its 60th year in Tarentum, it’s shifting focus to the growing popularity of boating in the Alle-Kiski Valley.
Gatto’s opened a Marine Center on Saturday in its former Harley-Davidson storefront along East Sixth Avenue.
“The only constant is change,” said George Gatto, company president. His parents founded the store on Fifth Avenue in New Kensington before moving to Tarentum in the late 1960s.
“People don’t look at the rivers as a polluted mess anymore,” Gatto said. “Industry died and the rivers have gotten clean. People want to be water skiing, boating and kayaking.”
Customers who browsed the inventory at the grand opening got up-close glimpses at jet skis, wave runners, fishing boats and pontoons.
Bob McMunn of Indiana Township said he was considering a new fishing boat. An avid water enthusiast, McMunn spends a lot of time on the Allegheny River near Harmar.
“I’m glad this is open here,” he said. “There’s not too many places nearby.”
Gatto’s general manager Dennis Peters said the goal is to provide the Pittsburgh area with a full-service boat dealership to meet a growing need.
The new store carries lines of Yamaha, Kawasaki and Smoker Craft, among others.
Peters said covid impacted the amount of time people spend outdoors, boosting sales of personal watercraft and other boats. He said the store will cater to a blue-collar clientele, with wave runners starting at about $11,000 and fishing boats starting at about $20,000.
Gatto first announced the Marine Center in late 2022 when he shipped his lot of Harleys to the family’s Shaler dealership. That mega-store, Three Rivers Harley- Davidson, is the only Harley dealer in the county.
The Marine Center will not be manned just yet. Anyone interested in looking can call for an appointment or stop by the power sports headquarters inside the old YMCA on E. Seventh Avenue.
Peters expects at some point, sales will command the store to be open full time.
Recent action by Tarentum Council to eye revitalization at the borough’s riverfront park is exciting to Gatto and Peters.
“I don’t know what impact the loss of the private docks will have, but we’re excited about what Pittsburgh Brewing is doing with their property and the increase of public water access there,” Peters said.
Plans include an outdoor amphitheater along the riverfront for concerts.
Gatto said he has no intention to open a marina in Tarentum, nor has he discussed the idea with the borough. But he is interested in the efforts to transform the shorefront and believes river activity will increase.
“That’s the trend,” said Gatto, who lives along the water at River Forest in Allegheny Township and has seen the increase in boating traffic there.
“We’ve had to switch gears a lot over the years,” he said. “We used to be really big into bicycles, and then that shifted. You have to keep changing.
“My parents started this business. And although they’re long-retired, this is a family affair. We’re proud of the legacy.”
Tawnya Panizzi is a TribLive reporter. She joined the Trib in 1997. She can be reached at tpanizzi@triblive.com.