West Marine Filed for Chapter 11

[dlochner]

West Marine has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. This has been rumored for months.

58-Year-Old Florida-Based Well-Known Marine Retailer Filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

West Marine, a Fort Lauderdale-based company, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid heavy debts.

whatnow.com

 

[kappykaplan]

Shoot! What are we going to do?

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Crap. That's exactly what I need.

West Marine CPP Plus is the bottom paint which is ideal for our location here on the Wet Coast. I get 7-8 year life expectancy carefully monitoring my hull for its tracer coat and any sign of barnacles each year when I get hauled.

Does anyone have any idea of who makes this product for West Marine ?

 

[kloudie1]

Man, I hate to hear that! They usually had stuff and at a higher price , but when my toilet failed the evening before a cruise, they had one and they saved the day.. and I was happy to pay the extra.. I bought a good bit of good marine crimp connectors from them too .. They had good prices on all kinds of line too ..Sad to see 'em close.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Shoot! What are we going to do?

Go online. I’d say most of the time my local WM did not have what I wanted (perpetually low inventory) so I’ve been shopping online for years. Try Defender, Hamilton Marine, San Diego Marine Exchange, Wholesale Marine, Amazon, Captain’s Locker and various others.

 

[dlochner]

Filing for Chapter 11 does not mean the company is going out of business, it is an application for permission to restructure debt. The goal is to stay in business. Chapter 11 gives the company an opportunity to renegotiate leases, reduced interest on debt, better terms from their vendors, and so on.

This is another casualty from private equity funding, where a company is bought with lots of borrowed money, put profits in their pockets and sell it off. Since last fall the writing was on the wall, every day a new sale, dropping established product lines like Blue Sea for smaller companies like Egis, selling OEM parts from the outboard manufacturers and so on.

Expect unprofitable stores to close. More drop ship items that come directly from the manufacturer, and continued attempts to lure customers.

 

[rgranger]

Thanks for the post. I have one just a few miles from my place and I love wandering through the isles. I hope they survive. Maybe a boat lover will take the helm and pull a Steve Jobs on the place.

 

[BigEasy]

Received this cover letter last night as well as court documents. Hopefully they can survive a reorganization.

 

[LydieBP]

I like to be able to see and handle what I'm purchasing to make sure it's what I need. A brick and mortar store like West Marine gives me that opportunity . I've purchased offshore life jackets there, sailboat hardware, an anchor , dock fenders , rope , epoxy and much more over the years. Those online stores take weeks to deliver, charge pricey shipping fees, list items"in stock" that are on backorder , inform you that they don't have the item you ordered 10 days ago only if you ask.. Often , I can get a delivery to store at WM in a day or 2 if it isn't in the stores nearby. I can check it out, return it to the store if it doesn't fit my purpose and be done . Returning online orders is a major pita and refunds take weeks if not a month . So i really hope WM can find a way to continue in business .

 

[Davidasailor26]

Those online stores take weeks to deliver, charge pricey shipping fees, list items"in stock" that are on backorder , inform you that they don't have the item you ordered 10 days ago only if you ask.. Often , I can get a delivery to store at WM in a day or 2 if it isn't in the stores nearby. I can check it out, return it to the store if it doesn't fit my purpose and be done . Returning online orders is a major pita and refunds take weeks if not a month .

That hasn’t been my experience with online shopping, either from Defender (at least before their own private equity takeover), Jamestown Distributors, or Amazon. Defender would get me product in 2 days, often with no shipping fees. Jamestown was about 3 days, no fees. The last time I ordered from Jamestown I accidentally ordered the wrong speed epoxy hardener and didn’t realize it until I saw the invoice email. I emailed them, and in the couple hours it took them to read the email they had already shipped the wrong one. So they dropped the right speed hardener in the mail, no cost, and told me just to keep the first one. They both got to me by the time I started the project that weekend. I don’t think I’ve ever had to return an item to Defender or Jamestown, but when I use Amazon for less boat specific items returning basically just requires carrying the item to a UPS store in town, and the refund shows up by the time I’m out of the store.

West Marine is good for being able to touch and see things in person, but only for items they have in stock. As private equity squeezed them that happened less and less.

 

[dlochner]

I like to be able to see and handle what I'm purchasing to make sure it's what I need. A brick and mortar store like West Marine gives me that opportunity . I've purchased offshore life jackets there, sailboat hardware, an anchor , dock fenders , rope , epoxy and much more over the years. Those online stores take weeks to deliver, charge pricey shipping fees, list items"in stock" that are on backorder , inform you that they don't have the item you ordered 10 days ago only if you ask.. Often , I can get a delivery to store at WM in a day or 2 if it isn't in the stores nearby. I can check it out, return it to the store if it doesn't fit my purpose and be done . Returning online orders is a major pita and refunds take weeks if not a month . So i really hope WM can find a way to continue in business .

Which online retailers are you using? There are no marine stores near me, so I do a lot of online shopping with Defender.com and FisheriesSupply.com and both companies ship quickly and usually well stocked. For low volume items online retailers, including West, will drop ship items from the manufacturer. In West's case, drop shipping is often faster than shipping from one of West's warehouses.