As an eighteen-year-old, Sam Kitchens began working with E-Z-GO golf carts in the parts department. By the time he was twenty-two, Sam branched out and started his own business which focused on transporting, rebuilding, and servicing golf carts. In 2014, he and his wife, Keelie, ventured into the retail side of the business and opened the Cart Barn in Evans. Keelie, using her years of experience in real estate sales, focuses on the retail side of the business while Sam runs the shop.
In addition to being an authorized E-Z-GO dealer, the Cart Barn offers customization of carts, refurbishing of old carts, and retail of new and used carts. “Our main business is golf cart sales, refurbishing and servicing carts, and part sales,” says Keelie. “On the retail side, we customize all those golf carts by picking out different accessories and color combinations. We can also refurbish somebody's golf cart that is older. For example, they might want a new body, new batteries, or any variety of things we can do.”
Although many of their customers are neighborhood cruisers from golf cart communities, the Cart Barn offers carts for all types of uses. “We have a wide range of people that we service. I would say eighty to eighty-five percent of our business comes from families that just want a neighborhood cruiser,” explains Keelie. “We also have people that live in golf course communities, and we can build carts specifically for playing golf if they let you use your own cart. We serve apartment complexes that use carts and for farmers, hunters, or people who want to use carts for work, we sell utility vehicles with the dump bed on back.”
The Cart Barn offers free delivery with purchase and a pickup and delivery service for carts that need servicing. Servicing a cart can take anywhere from one day to a week depending on if the needed parts are in stock or have to be ordered.
Sam and Keelie are grateful for the opportunity to work with one another and with an amazing team. “We talk about golf carts all the time. It never gets boring, especially when working with your spouse,” says Keelie. “We are especially thankful for our dedicated staff of salespeople, drivers and technicians that help keep things running smoothly and our loyal customer base that helps get our name out by word of mouth.”
“We also love seeing kids get so excited when they come in with their mom and dad to get a golf cart,” adds Keelie. “That's probably the best part… seeing happy customers drive away with or getting delivered a new golf cart.”
The Cart Barn is located at 5121 Washington Road in the Riverwood shopping center, just a few doors down from Publix. Stop by the store, call (706)432-8728, or visit www.thecartbarnaugusta.com to check on inventory and services. Also follow @thecartbarn on Facebook and Instagram for updates.