West Marine

[Benz]

I find that with my Pro (was Port Supply) discount, many materials cost the same as I can find them elsewhere, and many things are cheaper than Jamestown Distributors. I always find a closeout sale for bottom paint, and I really like the ability to touch and handle and measure things before I buy them.
I guess you gotta shop around, but there are some things where WM is my go-to for knowing they have it.

[Creedence]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

I mentioned earlier, direct from a rep at West Marine, when calling customer service, another dealer has to be within 50 mile of the store to price match, and to match Amazon, it has to be direct from Amazon, not a seller represented by Amazon. That might all be different as they were bought out and will have new marketing strategies.

*duplicate post- apologies

[Creedence]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

I mentioned earlier, direct from a rep at West Marine, when calling customer service, another dealer has to be within 50 mile of the store to price match, and to match Amazon, it has to be direct from Amazon, not a seller represented by Amazon. That might all be different as they were bought out and will have new marketing strategies.

That’s quite a qualifier right there.

Caveat emptor indeed.

[keepondancin]

Searching online, Towboat US, and Boats US are owned by Geico. I guess that is why at WM they didn't ask me to renew my membership.

[Capt.Don]

Here's where I'm concerned. I bought 3 Caframo 757 fans from West Marine at $39.99 each. Defender wanted $44 + shipping, Amazon at $49+ The box shows Caframo Ultimate 757...... I don't see any West Marine difference in model number, .... seems like West Marine's price is much better (w/free shipping) than street price.

Did I get a West Marine version of the fans?

Please note, years ago, I tried the WM price match with Defender for a dinghy foot pump and found that the same product had a slightly different construction. As such, Defender would not price-match. The issue was the Defender model (and manufactures model) had an aluminum shaft, where the WM model had a plastic shaft. Same part number, lower WM price.

I'm concerned that I have a lower quality fan...what do you think? Otherwise, WM was a good price!

[Creedence]

Originally Posted by Capt.Don

Here's where I'm concerned. I bought 3 Caframo 757 fans from West Marine at $39.99 each. Defender wanted $44 + shipping, Amazon at $49+ The box shows Caframo Ultimate 757...... I don't see any West Marine difference in model number, .... seems like West Marine's price is much better (w/free shipping) than street price.

Did I get a West Marine version of the fans?

Please note, years ago, I tried the WM price match with Defender for a dinghy foot pump and found that the same product had a slightly different construction. As such, Defender would not price-match. The issue was the Defender model (and manufactures model) had an aluminum shaft, where the WM model had a plastic shaft. Same part number, lower WM price.

I'm concerned that I have a lower quality fan...what do you think? Otherwise, WM was a good price!

It’s certainly possible you struck a good deal, and it’s also possible West had a manufacturing agreement with the OEM for a production run to their own specifications. Difficult to say.

One place West shines is the West System line of resins and additives- a product lineup I believe they have produced for them based on their specs. (Could be wrong but I think that’s correct)

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Creedence

One place West shines is the West System line of resins and additives- a product lineup I believe they have produced for them based on their specs. (Could be wrong but I think that’s correct)

No, different company.

Gougeon Brothers, Inc. the company that manufactures WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy, is an employee-owned, family-run company located in Bay City, Michigan. Gougeon Brothers, Inc. is ISO 9001:2015 registered.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Creedence

One place West shines is the West System line of resins and additives- a product lineup I believe they have produced for them based on their specs. (Could be wrong but I think that’s correct)

Don’t give West Marine credit for this….it’s only an unfortunate name similarity.

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

Don’t give West Marine credit for this….it’s only an unfortunate name similarity.

Exactly. West Marine started as West Coast Ropes, on the West Coast of course.


It's a long 2-generation story:

In 1979, Herb Repass (George Herbert Repass, 1919-2013) gained a patent (US4170921, applied 1978) for an improved double braid. Repass was the co-founder, with Dave Aigler, of New England Ropes. Repass was an engineer whose US Navy service included as a naval architect overseeing the construction of warships. After leaving the USN, Repass worked for Plymouth Cordage Company.

In 1967, Repass and Aigler (Robert L. David Aigler, b. 1935, an engineer who served in the US infantry in Europe during WW2, and also a former employee of Plymouth Cordage) formed New England Ropes with Repass as company president and rope designer. Repass was a keen sailor and cruised the waters of North America and the Pacific.

Herb Repass retired in 1990 in favour of his son, Jay. In 2007, the Repass family sold New England Ropes Inc to the Austrian family-owned cordage company, Teufelberger Ges.m.b.H.

Another Herb’s sons, Randy Repass (Randolph Kent Repass b. 1943), in 1968 started a mail order business, West Coast Ropes, to sell New England Rope products on the West Coast (of course! How about that).

In 1977, Randy’s company changed its name to West Marine and became a major retailer of marine supplies in the US.

[Creedence]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

No, different company.

Gougeon Brothers, Inc. the company that manufactures WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy, is an employee-owned, family-run company located in Bay City, Michigan. Gougeon Brothers, Inc. is ISO 9001:2015 registered.

Well... I tried.

*With apologetic expression: Takes back the bouquet of flowers and removes tiara from WM and hands them both to the Gougen Brothers*

[Group9]

Every single time I walk out of a West Marine, I am wondering how they manage to stay in business.

[MicHughV]

as long as my wallet remains in my pocket, I have negotiating power...

I want what they have.....goods...

They want what I have....$$$$$

Somewhere in that mix, is a happy compromise....

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Creedence

West really does walk a very fine line between the whole “we’re brick and mortar AND offer advice so it’s worth more” model and the ever-present threat of impending irrelevance in the style of Circuit City.

I have always been a West Marine customer (as virtually all US boaters have been), but when I went in last time I could not justify purchasing a single item on my list from them. And I am by no means a thrifty person.

I am installing a second air conditioner and am adding a second 30amp ac power system, so I needed everything from the power receptical to the cables, terminals, ac panel, hoses for plumbing the thing.... the works. This was easily a 40 item deal. I would find each item on the shelf, then pull it up on line (and I mean the identical item: marine-grade, Perko, etc) in every single instance the difference was more than I could justify- even after accepting the brick and mortar excuse. The differences usually began at 20% and in some cases were literally 100% more than other sources.

On the way out the door, a $50 two-part teak cleaner caught my eye. Disappointed I was unable to get even a single item on my list, I was open to the impulse buy. A quick sanity check online... same product all over the internet for $20.

And the price match deal... why is the burden on me to convince them they’ve priced their item above market value? While it sounds like a good business practice on the surface, it’s actually a bit predatory. The 5% of customers who do the extra work needed to get fair market value from them are good to go, but they’ll happily overcharge the remaining 95%.

So there’s charging more for “customer service” and “bricks” but this shop is skirting a fine line in my opinion. I don’t say any of this because I want to shill for online retailers- I’d love nothing more than to buy from West. I go in probably monthly just to see what’s new. But it’s getting harder and harder to justify. Just like it became harder and harder to justify riding a taxi from the airport on a business trip when Uber came along.

I noticed years ago that WM plants pricing "land mines". A dozen items you look at in a store may be competatively priced, but some others will be WAY above normal market retail. I assume they are relying on someone in a buying frenzy not noticing.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

I noticed years ago that WM plants pricing "land mines". A dozen items you look at in a store may be competatively priced, but some others will be WAY above normal market retail. I assume they are relying on someone in a buying frenzy not noticing.

Whatever their strategy... if it's got folks complaining publicly... might not be the best one. Is that rumour about them being under new ownership true?

I'd expect that an organization the size of WM will notice threads like this. They still have a good brand, many locations, purchasing clout... all the right ingredients to be strong in the marine market. If WM was my company, I'd beef up the e-commerce presence, leverage the physical locations for order pickups, use my purchasing power to be more price-competitive, rebuild a reputation for good instore advice and parts on-hand, launch some promotions and increase community visibility, and kick ass.

[MicHughV]

I thought I might be the only one that thought WM tended to be price heavy...but there is no question, that this is generally accepted view of WM.

Interestingly, many years ago, there was a marine store by name of E&B Marine, but they were bought out by WM. At that point in time, I was building a 38' sailboat, and that store gave me a 10% discount card I could use on any item in the store. Defender was also around at that time, but the E&B prices were very competitive in comparison.

Besides Defender, there were other sources for marine hardware as well. I don't remember them all, but I had quite the library of catalogs. WM bought out most of them, with the exception of Defender.

Building a boat obviously requires numerous parts....and most of these were sourced by E&B. I don't know how many 1,000's of $$ I dropped at that store...but it's safe to say....many. Shortly after I launched my boat, E&B was sold to WM, so made it in the nick of time, as prices skyrocketed after that.