Sad sign of the times as Hunter dealer closes

[Scott B]

Angus Yachts of Toronto, a large Hunter dealer in Ontario, has closed its doors. Angus represented Hunter, Jeanneau, Silverton, Cruisers Yachts and employed 20-30 people ( I'm guessing at that number, could be more )

From Boating Indistry Canada website



Angus Yachts of Toronto Closes

On Thursday November 20, 2008, Al Patterson, President of Angus Yachts of Toronto in Port Credit Harbour, Ontario announced the decision internally, to close the business effective immediately. A corporate announcement of details is expected to be released soon.
It is believed that economic conditions were to blame in spite of the dealer’s excellent record of sales achievement with the power and sail boat brands they represented.
Angus Yachts of Toronto has won awards for the past several years from Hunter Sailboats and more recently from Cruisers Yachts; two of the dealer’s leading brands. The closure of Angus Yachts of Toronto reflects internal situations and not the viability of the boat lines the dealer had represented. New dealer arrangements are already in progress and announcements are expected shortly from all of Angus’ key lines.
Also, the Clift’s yacht brokerage organization which had become a part of the Angus organization following the recent death of David de Eyre, involved several independent Certified Professional Yacht Brokers, who are still actively working in the business and will continue to market their client’s boats.
Angus clients are being contacted as well. Industry sources suggest that an orderly wind up is expected.

 

[Rich (P303)]

Here we go again!!! Only boats out there being made will be the big ones we can't afford.

Wonder what yacht makers will bite the dust? Might as well break out the Luxury Tax again to punish the rich for being successful!

 

[Scott B]

just curious. but why would this be bounced into the Sails Call Lounge and now doesn't show up on recent posts. As far as I can determine this is not necessairly "Off-Topic" and has everything to with sailing and Hunter and Jeanneau. This is Hunterowners and Jeanneauowners as well as sailboatowners isn't it ???

Just asking.

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

If this is a long recession

There may be only a couple of boat builders left standing - hopefully there will be a consolidation of some of the bigger builders if things get really bad and not a complete wipeout of the industry.

 

[Scott B]

This is a dealer that has closed and is not a builder. Although some builders may be sometime in the future.

 

[Ross]

Phil, I still think that we are getting too compartmentalized. Who make the dicision as to what gets posted where and what gets moved?

 

[Rich (P303)]

just curious. but why would this be bounced into the Sails Call Lounge and now doesn't show up on recent posts. As far as I can determine this is not necessairly "Off-Topic" and has everything to with sailing and Hunter and Jeanneau. This is Hunterowners and Jeanneauowners as well as sailboatowners isn't it ???

Just asking.

Probably a good call Scott. Some idiot mentioned "luxury tax" and punishing the rich.:dance:

 

[Ctskip]

Closing a business is nothing more than a sign of the times. Look at what happened to gas stations where they repaired your car and fixed flats. Not to mention many sailors got their fuel there. Thats related to sailing, isn't it? Not finding fuel for the motor? Most all have motors that require fuel. It's related for sure, but no more than Boat Babes is, which has been moved also. We can question but what does that accomplish? Maybe if there were no compartmentalizing we'd be happier. Who's to say why things are the way they are. We are all different and trying to get along on similar plane. I can understand the many problems we face in life today, but having to look to find something on a sailing site is not what I'd call a problem. Finding the photos of Boat Babe is a problem for some. Talking about a business closing in hard times is also related but it has to be compartmentalized somewhere. Phil does what makes him happy, while simultaneously trying to make others happy also. Can't please all the people all the time. Just can't be done.

If we really get into a discussion as to why this business closed, it would have very little to do with sailing and more to do with the current situation we are all in. The only sailing part would be lack of support by the sailors themselves and mostly a lack of business because of economics.
Just my opinion.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Scott B]

Not questioning, just asking the question. Don't want to make this political. The dealer had been in business for over 30 years and contributed a lot to sailing. The closing of a marina that sells gas is sailing related. Why a gas station closes is not related to sailing. JMHO

 

[Ctskip]

I would think that more fuel was bought at the local service stations by sailors than the local marinas. Closing a fuel stop on the water would more affect the power boaters than sailboaters. My opinion.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Brian D]

It was I who moved this from the Ask All Sailors. The reason was simple, well, to me it was. Not compartmentalizing per se, but more keeping the flow of topics together. This post was more related to general discussion, not specifically asking a question. I realize that the general consensus would probably want to keep all topics in one forum for ease of access. But in this case, this really wasn't "sailing" related, but more the manufacture or selling of sailboats.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Ctskip]

More along the lines of marketing and the business atmosphere, I'd say.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Ross]

It was I who moved this from the Ask All Sailors. The reason was simple, well, to me it was. Not compartmentalizing per se, but more keeping the flow of topics together. This post was more related to general discussion, not specifically asking a question. I realize that the general consensus would probably want to keep all topics in one forum for ease of access. But in this case, this really wasn't "sailing" related, but more the manufacture or selling of sailboats.

Hope that makes sense.

Close enough I guess. When a person decides to go out of business the reasons are many. Just as there is a limit to the market for 100,000 dollar automobiles so there is to the boating market. The durability of fiberglass boats limits the replacement market and the population of boaters is not growing at the same rate as the overall population so the demand for entry level new boats is rather small. If the dealer couldn't find a buyer and didn't have a successor than at a certain age he/she would be forced to shut down.

 

[Jim]

Cheap Production Boat builders will fail....

The durability of fiberglass boats limits the replacement market and the population of boaters is not growing at the same rate as the overall population so the demand for entry level new boats is rather small. If the dealer couldn't find a buyer and didn't have a successor than at a certain age he/she would be forced to shut down.

Productions boats are built like poop. They will last for many years but in poor condition. Many people like to upgrade their boat because of the poor construction methods. I think that the rich will continue to buy new boats. They will likely buy higher end boats. The cheap production manufactures will suffer the most.

The middle class will have to stop buying boats during the recession. If the recession continues I expect the American Production boat manufactures to fail first since the foreign builder are supported by their governments. I expect Catalina to fail first followed by Hunter and then Tartan.

 

[Jim]

Brian, this post belongs here......

The gentleman that posted it here was 100% right.

and you still need a hair cut....

 

[Scott B]

It was I who moved this from the Ask All Sailors. The reason was simple, well, to me it was. Not compartmentalizing per se, but more keeping the flow of topics together. This post was more related to general discussion, not specifically asking a question. I realize that the general consensus would probably want to keep all topics in one forum for ease of access. But in this case, this really wasn't "sailing" related, but more the manufacture or selling of sailboats.

Hope that makes sense.

Makes sense..... like I said just asking, not questioning.

Jim, hard to say who survives as far as builders. Probably the one with the deepest pockets to weather the storm. Early 90's recession CS Yachts closed its doors when sales stopped and it was a higher quality boat.

 

[Jim]

Scott, Also the ones that make the largest cuts to preserve cash should survive.