CEO of West Marine is Leaving

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/dealers/ceo-to-leave-west-marine

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A lot to read between the lines too. Focusing on their core boat business. They have been moving more toward other things. "That core will come first." Then the "suggested that customers would see changes ahead." Clearly purchased by Monomoy with the intent of immediately making changes. I wonder how long they'll keep it. Based on history, I guess 3 years.

Daniel Collin and Lee Mlotek are the fund managers on West Marine.

We need another clothing store.

In my opinion West has been beating their business to death for a few years now, mostly by replacing the name brand products we want to buy with West brand products that are inferior.

You can still find what you need in there, but often not what you were looking for...

This isn't limited to marine stores, I see a lot of grocery stores experiencing the same issues while trying to maximize profits. If you want a name brand product you just about have to go online to get it. I like to touch what I want before I buy it so I can judge it's quality.

I always considered them "marine light", back in the day we had some really great marine suppliers in Miami. I do miss the Miami River of old.

Thanks for turning the local one into a maze of grease rags.

In their zeal to sell clothes they now make everyone walk thru the maze to get to anything. There are some seriously crusty repairmen wiping the sweat off as they pass those $60 board shorts.

Its starting to smell.

what_barnacles said:

Thanks for turning the local one into a maze of grease rags.

In their zeal to sell clothes they now make everyone walk thru the maze to get to anything. There are some seriously crusty repairmen wiping the sweat off as they pass those $60 board shorts.

Its starting to smell.

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Wifey B: That smell is all the stuff they brought from their Houston store that spent many days under water.

what_barnacles said:

Thanks for turning the local one into a maze of grease rags..

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Wasn't there another string about this earlier in the year?

Anyway, I think changing the name from Port Supply to West Marine Pro is a bad move too, but what do I know. The most recent CEO came from REI...my guess is he's a retail guru...not a boater. Or backpacker.
He'd be perfect for Bass Pro Shops. Tee shirts galore! A giant fish tank! It's a "shopping experience the whole family can enjoy"!

By the way, I went to a Sears Appliance store on Saturday. Sales guy swears up and down that I will still be able to get my Kenmore repaired after Sears goes bankrupt

Yeah...sure..

AKDoug said:

In my opinion West has been beating their business to death for a few years now, mostly by replacing the name brand products we want to buy with West brand products that are inferior.

You can still find what you need in there, but often not what you were looking for...

This isn't limited to marine stores, I see a lot of grocery stores experiencing the same issues while trying to maximize profits. If you want a name brand product you just about have to go online to get it. I like to touch what I want before I buy it so I can judge it's quality.

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Exactly!!! That’s one of my pet peeves, whether it’s West Marine, a grocery chain, Costco, etc. they tell me their own brands are the same or better than the name brands, but in my experience that’s usually BS. The more West Marine and other stores drop the brands I trust, the more I take my business elsewhere.

AKDoug said:

In my opinion West has been beating their business to death for a few years now, mostly by replacing the name brand products we want to buy with West brand products that are inferior.

You can still find what you need in there, but often not what you were looking for...

This isn't limited to marine stores, I see a lot of grocery stores experiencing the same issues while trying to maximize profits. If you want a name brand product you just about have to go online to get it. I like to touch what I want before I buy it so I can judge it's quality.

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Not always. Last year I purchased a deck box that was on sale. I had it delivered to a local West store. It arrived in a TaylorMade box direct from TaylorMade. However, the logo on the front of the deck box is West Marine. Much cheaper than the TM product at Defender plus free shipping. West Marine sometimes has the best price.

CDreamer said:

Wasn't there another string about this earlier in the year?

Anyway, I think changing the name from Port Supply to West Marine Pro is a bad move too, but what do I know. The most recent CEO came from REI...my guess is he's a retail guru...not a boater. Or backpacker.
He'd be perfect for Bass Pro Shops. Tee shirts galore! A giant fish tank! It's a "shopping experience the whole family can enjoy"!

By the way, I went to a Sears Appliance store on Saturday. Sales guy swears up and down that I will still be able to get my Kenmore repaired after Sears goes bankrupt

Yeah...sure..

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I think they've done a horrible job of maintaining Port Supply. I bet that part of their business is down significantly. I know it is in South Florida.

Recent CEO did exactly consistent with his past with REI. Assuming he was hired with the changes in mind. Obviously the new owners don't want to go further that way.

Sears sales are mostly other than Kenmore today. Now, as a note, discontinuing Whirlpool and all their subsidiaries, immediately. They could not agree on pricing to carry forward. They'd sold Whirlpool for 60 years.

He may be right on Kenmore. They put it in a separate company to get it financed separately. Now, the name of that company is KCD IP. That stands for Kenmore Craftsman Diehard Intellectual Properties. Ah, let's see. What happened to Craftsman? Kenmore will be serviceable regardless of Sears if you can find out who made your specific unit. It's also sold on Amazon.

Last month I went into the WM store at Elliot Bay. Nice store, nice people and I was able to find 3 or 4 things that had been on my search list for over a year. My wife browsed the clothing section and found a few Columbia shirts with new colors. Life is good!

Why the incessant trashing of marine related builders and suppliers? TF seems more and more to be headed into a whine, bitch and moan site. Westerbeke , Fleming, Great Harbor, West Marine and several other long term marine companies have been recently excoriated. To what purpose?

Move this stuff to OTDE if nothing else so the business of meaningful marine related topics can be forthrightly discussed. Noted marine naval architect Mike Peters had a column in a recent boating mag citing the negativity on marine Internet sites. He went so far as to say he would fire any of his employees who get caught up in this silly stuff. Good for him.

sunchaser said:

Last month I went into the WM store at Elliot Bay. Nice store, nice people and I was able to find 3 or 4 things that had been on my search list for over a year. My wife browsed the clothing section and found a few Columbia shirts with new colors. Life is good!

Why the incessant trashing of marine related builders and suppliers? TF seems more and more to be headed into a whine, bitch and moan site. Westerbeke , Fleming, Great Harbor, West Marine and several other long term marine companies have been recently excoriated. To what purpose?

Move this stuff to OTDE if nothing else so the business of meaningful marine related topics can be forthrightly discussed. Noted marine naval architect Mike Peters had a column in a recent boating mag citing the negativity on marine Internet sites. He went so far as to say he would fire any of his employees who get caught up in this silly stuff. Good for him.

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Well said,
We go to different stores for different things.. West still has a place. Not really different than a Napa Auto parts vs. a Schucks etc.
HOLLYWOOD

There was a time West Marine had the best interests of the customer in mind. I worked at a mid size store 20 years ago in high school and a little after. We got ripped off a lot by people stealing/ buying at lower cost from Boat/US and returning their product at our store, but it was a cost of making sure the customer was happy.

Then they went public, and first the return policy changed, then they bought out competitors where former customers went for better prices. On the CT shoreline, that meant there was a WM store every 5 miles. I still didn't like the policies, especially as sailing hardware was replaced by clothing and crap, but it was that they were close. Then the stores were merged into large retail spaces.

I still see them as evil, but now frequent my local store and have a west advantage account, something I swore never to do when it was rolled out. Defender is close by, but for my specialty race sailboat needs, I can't get everything I need there. It sounds like they are trying to go back to what they did well, having what the customer needs.

There was a time when WM was more expensive. Then they did internet price matching. Company managers were very surprised by the response and how many WM products were way more expensive. Thus the prices at WM were dropped and internet price matching ended. The Jacksonville store is awesome.

WM has it's uses, I purchased an Engel AC/DC 40 quart freezer from them (name brand product). Shipping to Alaska was hundreds of dollars, WM had free in store delivery and I couldn't find the Engel discounted anywhere enough to offset shipping costs.

I did have to wait several weeks for delivery but it was hands down the best deal I was going to find on what I wanted. The store brand vs name brand products are my biggest complaint. Online they have the name brand product, but in the store only the store brand product usually. In store delivery is great if you don't have an immediate need for the merchandise.

"Why the incessant trashing of marine related builders and suppliers? TF seems more and more to be headed into a whine, bitch and moan site. Westerbeke , Fleming, Great Harbor, West Marine and several other long term marine companies have been recently excoriated. To what purpose?"

Incessant trashing?
I see - and write - more positive or neutral comments than negative ones. Most of what I read on TF strings is positive or neutral...but it's a marine-related forum, so opinions about marine suppliers seem germaine and part of the territory. Maybe WM's Board of Directors should read the comments.

OTDE is for stuff that might personally offend. Like if I was going to tell the one about the two sheep vacationing in Key Wes...oh, never mind.

It would be a pretty boring forum if you said, "West Marine is awesome!" And we all said, "Yeah. West Marine IS awesome...they're like Mary Poppins...practically perfect in every way!"

Until that happens, I don't think negative opinions about West Marine or Westerbeke or West End, Bahamas should be put in Off The Deep End just because you don't like reading them. You certainly shouldn't take personal offense that people aren't crazy about the current state of Port Supply. Unless you're Mr. Port. If so, I will apologize.

For what it's worth: "I think TF is fantastic!"

(Feel better?)

Nothing I have posted here hasn't been said to the staff at my grocery store or WM. The hope is that "someone" will read these posts about customer satisfaction and what the customer wants, and improve their business as a result.

For every negative I have also posted a positive!

I got the distinct impression from reading that announcement in Trade Only that Hyde isn't leaving voluntarily. It was only last month that he was talking about all the changes he planned in the next year:
“We have gone through and made some pretty dramatic changes with the number of our stores that we call Waterlife stores,” Hyde said. “We have 63 today and plan to do work on about 12 more this year...“We will continue to push ahead with a whole bunch of improvements in the organization that customers will see, for sure.”

And suddenly he's gone...with no indication that he's leaving to join another company, and the CFO to be the interim CEO (possibly a revealing choice) while they look for a replacement.

So I'm guessing the new owners have a different direction in mind with plans that didn't include him.

Very clearly not his choice.

As to this statement,

Why the incessant trashing of marine related builders and suppliers? TF seems more and more to be headed into a whine, bitch and moan site. Westerbeke , Fleming, Great Harbor, West Marine and several other long term marine companies have been recently excoriated. To what purpose?"​

I think honestly West Marine has been treated very kindly in this thread with a general opinion that seems to be looking forward to their new direction and hoping it's more boating. People have long expressed displeasure with the changes the previous CEO made. Maybe the change has been made because the customer has spoken, both on places like here and in their purchasing. I imagine they are having the web scanned for all comments about them.

As to other vendors and builders, I think if it's opinion but not personal or if it's factual it's more than appropriate. This isn't their forum to advertise or to send their shills to do so. Most every other source for information on boats is all positive and written in a way to keep an advertiser or potential one and to continue getting boats to review.

There are good builders and bad and I see the opinions expressed here as very helpful, even those many of us don't agree with. We need differing views expressed. I got criticized for speaking ill of a builder with deep financial problems, with a history of dishonesty, with major problems with more than one unfinished boat. Well, the next boat flipped and the company folded again. Third time. I had some information long before it was common knowledge and I did withhold some statements so as not to disclose my source.

I think the forum has had good and bad to say about a builder with a new model. There was excitement on the model. However, we shouldn't just overlook the missed dates and dive in full steam when there's not yet been one delivered.

When people go to boat shows, I'd love to hear honestly what they like and dislike. i know many here would dislike every boat we own all for different reasons and all different people opposed. It's like jet ribs where we're in a very very small group, a great minority. We love them but people should express the reasons they don't like them.

I want to sound the theme the Chamber of Commerce would regarding moving here when one asks, but I try to point out as much factually as I can and the negatives. I'd feel horrible if someone moved based on me saying it was wonderful and not sharing it all. I'd feel bad if someone bought a boat from a builder with serious problems and I knew about them and kept quiet while everyone said "wonderful, marvelous."

I love Fleming and missed anything resembling trashing. I did see posts not long ago, saying honestly some things one didn't like and talking about range and sea worthiness compared to others. I liked reading opposing views on them. Everyone is always praising them, myself included, but they can't be perfect for all buyers. It's just as important to share why not to buy a boat as it is why to buy that brand.

I'll say this. The praise of boats and builders and suppliers means absolutely nothing without criticism of some as well. We have members who have recently had great experiences on new builds. However, if that's all we read on every builder, would it really mean anything. No. It would be like reviews, "we love every boat although we might change a little" type reviews.

I haven't been in a Westerbeke discussion. Wouldn't be my first choice though. On the other hand I'm a Northern Lights fan. I've read criticism though that was probably just. We need arguments on the pros and cons of different brands of generators, watermakers, electronics. There was a recent discussion of Hyundai generators. I thought it was fair to point out they build good engines and have experience. I think equally fair to note that in part of the country they have a lot of service centers and none in other parts.

If any vendor gets all 5's, it's either very amazing or it's fixed and dissent eliminated. That's not just true here. I have seen headlines I thought were inappropriate and detracted from the thread.

I like when, fully disclosed, someone posts to educate us further on his product we're discussing. I think it's helpful. However, that doesn't mean everyone has to like the product or those who don't shouldn't speak. It's a new product and a lot of people won't like it. In this case he only needs a very small percentage of boaters to like it to be incredibly successful. And he got some suggestions on videos and marketing and sizes. It's also a very unique product and I wouldn't expect it instantly to have everyone love it.

In some cases this forum is the only or one of the few places one can get a variety of honest opinions on things. I read negatives about vendors I've not had a problem with, but then I ask around and find out a lot of people are having issues.

The term is used "long term marine companies" as if they deserve to only be praised. I can give you long term marine companies I wouldn't trust on anything. Oh, and pointing out some specifics here or on another forum just saved someone from a $1.5 million mistake as he found out all my suspicions on the boat were justified.

To what purpose? Honesty. Varied opinions. Useful discussions beyond window dressing and frill. If we say something not true, we should be told it isn't. However, if our opinion differs from others, doesn't make it less valid and may make it more valuable.

Those stores are really redefining what a marine chandlery is, if you will. They’re designed to be more of a retailer that speaks to that customer’s life on the water, and getting a sense of experience and excitement when you walk into a store matters to the customer a lot, specifically those target customers.”

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I'm obviously not a "target customer."

I don't want a sense of experience and excitement when I walk into a store. I want the stuff I need, of good quality, and at a reasonable price.

They're not redefining what a chandlery is. They're redefining West Marine as a fashion outlet, instead of a chandlery. I wish them luck. They are probably correct in thinking the future belongs to form over function.

On another note, I, for one, am perfectly happy to pay considerably less for the same product, made in the same factory of the same materials, just because they put the "West Marine" label on it instead of the brand name. I have yet to find any useful purpose for a label.

If your goal is to make a fashion statement, rather than actually USE the product, please don't take offense. You're probably in the majority and can safely disregard people like me.

CaptTom said:

I'm obviously not a "target customer."

.

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Wifey B: We're sure not. We've never bought anything at a West Marine.

Mule said:

We need another clothing store.

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Clothing? I usually choose Duluth. Never clothing from West Marine.

I like their clothing. their shirts have a generous cut so to speak and nice designs. I wear their sandels and docksiders almost exclusively. Much cheaper than the over rated REI brand.

I was in the Port Townsend store recently and the staff was great to me. They didn’t have what I was looking for, but directed me to where I might find it. They do have some overpriced stuff like Yeti coolers, but that’s not their fault. Honestly I hope they can stay in business. I rue the day all we have are Amazon drone & robots.

When the hedge funds come, the company goes.

Sugardog said:

When the hedge funds come, the company goes.

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Most of the time. However, there are times in which the fund has ideas to raise the value that are beneficial. Platinum Equity bought the majority of the Genmar boat lines which were in pretty bad shape. They did a very good job of managing them and then sold Four Winns, Glastron, Wellcraft and Scarab to Beneteau. They made money on the deal and they sold a better company than they purchased. They also took Ranger bass boats and a couple of other lines and built what became Fishing Holdings LLS and was subsequently purchased by Bass Pro.

Typically the approaches are build value and sell at profit or sell in pieces, parts worth more than the whole, or strip out a lot of it, saving money while operating.

Look at Versa with Hatteras/Cabo. Mixed. The killed the Cabo line, but they're really invigorated Hatteras compared to the level Brunswick had let it drop to.

West Marine will tip their hands. They've already shown they want to return it to it's roots. Just haven't shown the rest of the plan. Is that to downsize or to boost the original business?