Always an Arctic Cat lover, Tom Rowland, who owns Thomas Sno Sports in Ogilvie, Minn., with his wife, Renae, is still mulling the latest news from northwest Minnesota.
Textron Inc., owner of Arctic Cat of Thief River Falls since 2017, said recently it was indefinitely suspending production of its snowmobiles, ATVs and side-by-sides, and possibly looking for a buyer.
“When Arctic Cat first announced a pause in production in November, it wasn’t that unexpected,’’ Rowland said. “Textron would rather not build machines that dealers can’t sell because of excess inventory or too little snow. But this latest announcement, that the plant is shutting down and the company might be sold, was a surprise.’’
Rowland was just 15 when he bought his first snowmobile.
Twice his dad raced in the Winnipeg-to-St. Paul back breaker that, years ago, was part of the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
And beginning in the 1960s, his parents were selling and repairing Arctic Cats in a shop on the outskirts of Ogilvie, about 80 miles from the Twin Cities.
So snowmobiles are in his blood.
“Even as a kid I liked wrenching on them, riding them and reading everything I could about them,’’ he said.