West Marine, a long-established boat-supply chain across the country, is going into bankruptcy.
The company’s financial problems will shutter dozens of stores nationwide including Portland and Southwest Harbor in Maine.
In Massachusetts, store shutdowns include Marblehead and Vineyard Haven.
The company noted several factors forcing it into bankruptcy, including supply chain disruptions, extreme weather events, and shifts in consumer behavior.
West Marine aims for Chapter 11 to help it strengthen its balance sheet, reduce debt, and improve financial flexibility, according to TheStreet.com.
“Such moves are common for large-scale retailers seeking to reduce overhead and eliminate underperforming assets during financial distress,” Bloomberg.com said.
The boating market saw a surge in sales during the COVID pandemic but since then they have plummeted, analysts said.
“West Marine has been a trusted partner to the boating community for decades, and we remain deeply committed to that mission,” Paulee Day, chief executive officer, said.
“The actions we are taking today will allow us to optimize our operations and rationalize our footprint, so that we can focus on continuing to serve our customers and community well into the future,” Day added.
Two-hundred West Marine stores across the country are slated to remain open amid the company’s financial reorganization.
Based in Fort Lauderdale, the company has been in business since 1968, having originally opened in California under a different name.
By 2009, it was more than three times as big as its nearest competitor, Boater’s World, which closed that year, shutting all its stores nationwide.
” shifts in consumer behavior. ” That would be because we yachties would not pay West Marine’s high prices when we could purchase the same, or better, gear from Maine’s own Hamilton Marine. I am old enough to recall when Wayne Hamilton opened his first store, in an old gas station, in Searsport. He allowed me to open an account to buy hardware and rope for our small construction company, around 1974.
Unlike Maine’s Hamilton Marine, West Marine’s prices were way too high
Before Hamilton’s we had Chase Leavitt and Harris company in Portland. We stocked everything our lobstermen needed except the wooden laths. Gloves, paint, nails, twine,boots, buoys. Sold gas, ice, and bait as well
Tip the hat to Trump’s trade policies.
The days of stamping “marine“ on an everyday product and charging five times more for it are over — as are the days of fancy stores in expensive real estate markets.
When I can buy the same thing online for a third of the price, and not have to go get it…
I think the problem West Marine has is stores in really really expensive real estate markets. Portland, Southwest Harbor, Marblehead, Vineyard Haven — these are not cheap places to have a store.
(Tax free) Portsmouth &Seabrook NH and places like Woburn, MA — West Marine stores that are remaining open — make a lot more sense, particularly now in the era of Internet shopping.
Lowering your prices to reasonable might be a place to start
“Based in Fort Lauderdale, the company has been in business since 1968, having originally opened in California under a different name.”
Yup, Fort Lauderdale ain’t what is used to be folks. East Coast endless summer break town.
Note: Great reporting! And truly a barometer for things to come.
(Had to get my no longer minted two cents in.)