West Marine

[Doug_Meyer]

Always most expensive

West usually has good products, but some of their "house brand" products can be marginal.Unfortunately, their prices are too high on bigger ticket items.My local store has very limited sailing related stock, and never the stuff I need. They seem to prefer to cater to the powerboaters, and local employees (Grand Rapids,MI, while always helpful, have little, if any sailing expertise.West Marine has turned out to be a last resort for me in most cases.

 

[Bob]

Good but Expensive

Well I too agree that the service is very good. I am always greeted at the door and offered help in finding the items I need or advice on how to do whatever it is I am doing. I find that the prices are higher then other supply stores. I recently bought an item on line from WM and then found it at Defender for $30.00 less. I emailed the WM customer service with the link to Defender and WM matched the price, but how can an item be $30.00 more! WM is probably the largest marine supplier in the country and you would think they would pass on the savings through their volumn. It seems I am in the Stamford, Ct store weekly and will continue to shop there. Last Saturday I made my donation of $800.00 for paint and paint supplies.

 

[Rick D]

Very Pleased Overall

I do appreciate that without WM, prices would be much higher everywhere as they were before. I buy at several different chandleries, but WM gets by far most of my money. I really appreciate its backing up its products. Several others do not, instead referring you to the manufacturer. That, plus convenience plus inventory plus staff who try to be helpful equals a winning combination. As the big dog in the pack, others will try to undercut or work the edges of the market, so you have to keep sharp and limber to maintain your position. Some of the stores have less inventory control than others which can be a pain, the special order policy can be a pain if you are not near a store (no phone orders) and the misuse of wholesale accounts leaves a bad taste with those who try to be honest. (That really should be cleaned up.) Rick D.

 

[Mike]

I love that you asked

I think its great that you asked. My experience with West Marine has been a little different than the other posters. There is a BoatUS (I guess not for much longer) and a West Marine store in the town where I keep my boat. I have found that aside from the manager at the West Marine, the sales help was unacceptable: they ranged from friendly but clueless to barely polite and clueless. Conversely, the help at the BoatUS store has been uniformly excellent: almost always humblingly knowledgable and unfailingly helpful. Prices? I must agree with the general feelings expressed in this thread: way overpriced. I recently bought a new tiller. H&L (a Calif. co.) supplies tillers to Defender, West Marine, BoatUS, etc. West/BoatUS wanted over $100 for the tiller I needed; Defender sold the exact same unit for less than $60. I expect to pay more for certain things at a chandlery than I would at Walmart (like motor oil), but knowing that West can and does charge so much more than other chandleries makes me unlikely to trust that I am getting a fair deal there. Notice that I said "fair deal," not "good deal." Even if they price match, I would rather shop at a place that I know is trying to win my business by actively competing rather than one that would happily fleece me if I am less than vigilent.

 

[DJW]

Friendly but Painfull

We live in HI so WM is the only game in town. If we know a big project is comming up or you don't need it right now we order on line from Jamestown, Defenders etc. If it is something you just can't wait for you go to WM walk in with a sheepish smile on your face reach down and grab your ankles and hope they are gentle. Everyone you talk with to a person knows they are getting hosed when they go into WM

 

[Liam]

Prices are very high

I have been shopping at west marine since 1986 when there were only a couple of stores (Palo Alto & Santa Cruz).It used to be that West was the most knowlegable marine store with the absolutely best prices. It was always the first place to go. Things change. Now it is the last place that I go. Although the people who work there are very nice, most of them don't have a great deal of experience boating. I often also find that they don't really know what they are talking about and try to fake it.West gets about 15% of the $10-15k that I spend annually on boat gear. I will usually buy there when the competition doesn't have what I need and I am in the middle of a project and can't wait for UPS.The few times that I have gone to your store with a competitors catalog or flyer because you "encourage" price matching I have encountered resistance or an attitude like I am somehow trying to rip you off. I don't bother to do that anymore.I agree that there is a balance between Discount pricing and flashy, clean stores with very knowlegable associates and great service. I do not feel that the added value that you try to offer is worth the 15-25% higher prices.Thanks for asking and good luck.Liam.

 

[Landsend]

Friendly place, prices too high.

I only buy there when something is on sale. Your West Marine card is a waste...give me an honest discount instead. Big ticket items I shop in ebay or the internet.

 

[Tom Spohn]

I Seattle/Tacoma area

1. West Marine is clean, well lit, well laid out. I shop here when Fisheries does not have it.2. People are friendly, helpful, cheerful, chatty. On deep technical issues they may get lost. (eg. comparing GPS plotters/radars)3. Prices are always the very highest. Makes me grit my teeth! I personally do not like to price match if the guy with the lower price has it in stock. Why should you punish the guy with the lower price and reward the guy with the higher price??4. Best prices in this area are at Fisheries Supply, Boaters World, Seattle Marine.5. Boaters World has least amount in stock--very little for sailboats. Best source locally for inflatables/motors. Seattle Marine has stuff for older boats and the pro fishing fleet. Fisheries has stuff for everybody.6. Fisheries has the best Technical expertise.7. If a product is local and only a little more expensive than mail order or internet, I will buy locally to encourage the local stocking business. Yes I then pay the local sales tax which goes to improve my community. If not available I don't hesitate to go to the net.

 

[tom h]

oh boy

First - we have a West MArine here in Downtown that I have been applying to for a job for three or four years. Having owned power boats and now sailboats for 30 years, you would think I was a natural. Instead, a friend of mine got a job there, and he was clueless about any boat. So what's up with Allison anyway?Next: knowledge..I read about hand held radios being on sale (2 for $88) and so I raced to the WM store and asked for them. The people there were clueless, even though it was on the West Marine flyer I recieved in the mail. I searched and finally located them, on another shelf out of the way of the rest of the radios. Hmmmm. Having worked in retail, where my pay was related to the grout we sold for the tile (on which we made next to nothing), we oversold the grout by 400% of what would do the job. And at the muffler shop we doubled the clamps because we made more commision on them. So did the same thing happen at West Marine? Who knows, but it was in my mind that they get commisions on what they sell, so push only what pays the best commisions for them. Might be fantasy, but it crossed my mind.Mostly I shop there as a place of last resort because of pricing. I buy everything else on the net if possible.

 

[Benny]

Convinience vs. Price

I have spent so much money in WM that I feel I should be a stock holder. Guys, to stock inventory on the retail shelf cost money (time it sits plus shipping and handling), the real estate the store sits at has a cost (rental and utilities) Staff whether knoleadgable as you or not, has a big cost. The fact that they are bringing stores next to you also has a cost as the ratio of stores per population in a 100 miles radius increases so does cost. Of course the Internet retailers can offer a much better price as sometimes they don't even stock the products. There may be a sales tax savings if you are purchasing out of state but the shipping costs may offset that. It is a hassle if you need to return an item. I think of west Marine as a one stop shoping where I can find good quality products when I need them and if they have to be returned or exchanged there are no questions asked. in addition I get about a 5% discount on all purchases through their reward program. If I'm not in a hurry I do wait for big ticket items to go on sale. I believe I do save on bulky heavy items as the shipping cost is reduced. I have three stores in a 20 miles radius with the closest being 1/4 mile from the boat. So convenience has its price but some of us are willing to pay it; it seems more like all of us at one time or another.

 

[Napa Ed]

Alameda

I can go to one in Alameda, or one on the mainland in Oakland.I'm glad they exist. I figure if I was watching my budget, I'd sell the boat first so price is secondary to access.I don't expect the staff to know the answers, although there were some really good people in Oakland (haven't been there is a while so don't know the current situation).If I want to ask questions about project related issues, I go to a boatyard and know who to bug.I don't think WM is immune to workplace realities. The jobs can't pay that much, so the rocket scientists work elsewhere. The creative minds get bored and move on, the moss clings to the north side of the rock and keeps a low profile.I'm satisfied to have access to many items in one place. I also shop Ebay and specialty shops. Not worth grousing about it.

 

[Rick Webb]

What Get's Me is They Seem to Think We are Stupid

The pricing sometimes is just nuts and there are those product like Tef-Gel and the Sporta Seats where they try miserably to copy another great product and fail catastrophically. We all alway go there though don't we? They are kinda like the fat ugly girl at the end of the bar. She aint going to get much action before midnight but at closing time she always has someone to take her home.

 

[Peter]

Inventory

I agree with most of the comments, but one that hasn't been voiced is the lack of inventory in smaller stores. Our Stockton WM is a convenient store, very helpful, great people. But as often as not, I'll come in looking for a specific item, and find a spot marked for it on the shelf, so I know it's normally stocked at the Stockton store. But either they only have one on the shelf (when you always need a pair), or that spot on the shelf is empty, and a shipment is "due on the next truck". I almost never have this frustration when I visit the larger stores in the area (Oakland, Alameda, Sausalito).Stockton are is about 90% powerboats, so I expect theier selection of sailing stuff to be more limited. But when the item is normally stocked, yet the shelf is empty says the inventory management software needs some help.

 

[sailme2]

Shop around

My nearest West Marine is 60mi away, and usually doesn't have what I need when I need it...they can get things in a couple of days, if you can wait. Nuts, bolts, screws, etc...any good hardware supply can beat them by at lest 50%, item for item. My closest store will do price matching, though, so I shop the internet, then go to the store and see what they can do.

 

[Rick]

Rob - response

Rob, you asked for honest responses regarding West Marine. Having read the respon ses thus far, can you offer any answers?

 

[Liam]

Rick

I am sure that they have heard it all before.It used to be that when guys like Randy Repass, Crawford Cole, Rich Everett, and Geoff Eisenberg ran the company it mattered. Those guys were boaters. I think that it may be that West Marine is now pretty much run by accountants, bankers, and mba's.It's all about the P&L statement.Kill the competition and raise the prices...

 

[Rob]

Rick- I have been reading the responces thru the day. I will throw some input later. I will say that Im surprised by them.

 

[Al]

FWIW

As others have noted, West Marine is almost always the most expensive, sometimes bizarrely so. Accordingly, whenever I can, I plan my projects so that I can order materials on-line for lots less money. Why would one shop at an expemsive store? Two reasons: convenience and help. Convenience: there's a WM store near my boat in Edgewater, MD, and for years I made a stop there to or from the boat, often for small items. This season, an Ace Hardware opened nearby and I find I visit the WM far less often. Ace has a larger selection of stainless screws, bolts, etc., at lower prices. Help: I'm willing to pay for valuable advice. But in my area, if you want to pay for advice, you go to Fawcett's, not WM. I always thought Fawcett's was expensive, until I noticed that they were no more expensive than WM and offered better sale prices (as well as expertise). Finally, my local WM has an endlessly changing cast of employees. Just when I get to know and trust someone, they seem to be moved to another store. Most of the employees seem to be either inexperienced or retired boaters who work there for the discount.

 

[Bill]

I've changed my mind...

Hi Rick...I wasn't a big WM fan until last year when I had ordered $1100.00 worth of new instruments from Defender and they never sent them. On a whim, I called up WM 800 number and they price matched on a defender sale price, and shipped it out same day. Only difference was I had to pay state tax. Since then I've started buying from the store, I've found prices on a lot of items to be a lot cheaper than my marina chandlery (and not too bad compared to other stores), the service friendly and willing to give what knowledge they have on stuff. In a marine industry that often has TERRIBLE service- I think WM is doing a pretty good job. Keep it up and you'll keep getting my business.

 

[Drew]

Al

I window shop at Fawcett's whenever I'm in Annapolis. I could not afford to buy a floating key chain in that place. It is NOT cheaper than WM, in any product line, as far as I can tell. I'm glad it's there though. They do stock hard to find sailboat hardware.I'm not cheerleading for WM or anyone else, but folks at WM are always very helpful. Sure, you can save a few bucks on the internet, but there's also value in holding and tinkering with stuff to make sure it is what you need/want before you buy it. I like old-fashioned retailers better than the .com crowd for that reason.