Mike Toursal is the epitome of the American dream.

As the owner of Eagle Leather – a Lakewood-based, retail motorcycle apparel and accessories chain that recently opened its second store in Auburn – the Algerian-born Toursal has made the most of his opportunities since moving to the United States in the early ‘90s.

“I first came on vacation and ended up staying,” Toursal said. “I love this country. It’s the country of opportunity.”

Toursal, 49, got his start in the motorcycle apparel business in 1991.

“I met someone from Florida who had some leather,” he said.

Toursal said they partnered up and hit the road, traveling throughout the country to sell leather riding gear to motorcycle shops.

Times were rough at first, Toursal recalls.

“It didn’t work out so well,” he said. “So I suggested we start going to swap meets.”

Soon he and his partner were trekking across the country, selling their wares at local swap meets from their van.

His partner soon tired of the nomadic lifestyle and sold her interest in the business. That left Toursal in complete control.

In 1992, Toursal opened his first brick-and-mortar store, leasing a space at the B&I shopping center in Tacoma. Upgrades to bigger spaces soon followed, the first one at the Tacoma Discount World shopping center, the second a stall at the Tacoma swap meet on South Tacoma Way.

In 1995, he said, business took a turn for the worse.

“We had some trouble and I left the business,” Toursal said.

After trying his hand at a network marketing business for a few months, Toursal said, he realized something.

“I just decided that doing something with motorcycles is what I wanted to do,” he said. “So in 1995 I started again from scratch.”

He took to the road again, this time concentrating on the major motorcycle events held annually across the country, like Daytona Bike Week and the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota.

By 1998, Toursal had found a permanent home for the business.

“I was on my way from Daytona to Portland and was going to go to Sturgis next, and I found this 3,200-feet corner store in Lakewood,” Toursal said. “I contacted the owner, and we made the deal.”

Business soared, and in 2004 Toursal upgraded to a bigger store in Lakewood.

By 2007, he was doing well enough to open at his present Lakewood location, a 22,000-square-foot space on South Tacoma Way.

Not content with one store, Toursal once again started scouting out expansion opportunities.

“I get bored if I’m not expanding or doing something to grow,” he said. “It’s stressful, but I feel alive when I’m in the middle of expanding. It’s a great feeling, creating something from scratch. And the customers always asked when I was going to open a store in their town. People wanted me to expand. I wasn’t really thinking Auburn, because it’s so close to Tacoma. I was actually looking further north, but this location came available, and here I am.”

On May 10, Toursal opened the second Eagle Leather in a 21,300-square-foot store at 4907 Auburn Way S. It’s got everything a rider might need, he said, short of the bike.

“I sell anything from boots to helmets,” he said. “I sell heated clothing, rain gear. I sell big and tall stuff and my own brand Eagle Leather, that you can’t get anywhere else.”

In addition to providing products to riders, Toursal and Eagle Leather strive to be a part of the riding lifestyle.

Eagle maintains a 17,000-plus e-mail list, providing opportunities for those who host rides to get the word out about their events.

“It’s fun for people, they like to find people to ride with,” said Toursal, who can often be found joining the rides astride his massive, 355-horsepower, V8-powered Boss Hoss scooter. “It’s more fun riding in a group. That’s why we help create events.”

“…I like that I’m helping, and I like providing employment for people,” he said. “It fulfills me to be able to do that. I still want to grow, and I’d like to create thousands of jobs in the future.”

Eagle Leather in Auburn is at 4907 Auburn Way S. More information is available at www.eagleleather.com