Eisboch wrote:
Anybody go shopping lately at West Marine?

I hadn't been there for a couple of years. I stopped in today because I was
thinking of picking up three new LED type cockpit light fixtures to replace
the halogen bulb types.
I did this a few years ago in the upper station .... replaced the stock
halogens with red LED types. IIRC, the fixtures were about 15 bucks each
then.

Found them today at West Marine and grabbed three. Then I noticed the price.
$34.95 each. Hung them back on the display rack.

Talk about big oil ripping off the customers.

35 bucks for a 75 cent plastic fixture and a 2 dollar LED?

Gimmie a break.

Eisboch



But you get "Pride of Ownership" :-)

Capt Jack R..

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 May 2007 20:18:25 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Sat, 19 May 2007 16:02:57 -0400, Gene Kearns
wrote:

On Sat, 19 May 2007 01:22:53 -0500, sherwindu penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Send some of those Mom and Pop stores to the Chicago area. West Marine
has
got things sewed up here, except for a Boating World store in the far
west
suburbs.


West Marine is 60 miles to Myrtle Beach, SC and 40 miles to
Wilmington, NC..... and they almost never have what you need.... they
parrot that it can be ordered on line. I wouldn't be standing in the
brick and mortar if I wanted to screw with the time delay and hassle
of shipping.

I'm celebrating the new Boaters World opening about 6 miles away.

Isn't Boater's World owned by West?

I traced them back to here......
http://www.ritzinteractive.com/websites.html

maybe somebody knows more about them than I do......

Boaters World is much cheaper than West Marine, unless West Marine has a
super special running (40-50% off). Of course, then their prices are the
same as West Marine's.


You'll like Boaters World a lot.

On Mon, 21 May 2007 16:55:55 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

You'll like Boaters World a lot.

Actually not.

I have both BW and WM within a mile or two of my house. BW tries hard
and they do have better prices, but WM has much better selection and
service, not to mention an excellent return policy.

For big ticket items where price really makes a difference, I usually
buy online.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 May 2007 16:55:55 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

You'll like Boaters World a lot.

Actually not.

I have both BW and WM within a mile or two of my house. BW tries hard
and they do have better prices, but WM has much better selection and
service, not to mention an excellent return policy.


That's an accurate assessment of each. But if price is the main
consideration, Boaters World wins hands down.

I do 90% of my shopping at West Marine, because they're closer to my home,
and have an excellent return policy (as you stated). But I always wait for
something that I need to go on sale there before I go shopping. When they
have their one of their "friends and family sales", you can buy a lot of top
of the line merchandise for up to 40% off.

"NOYB" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 May 2007 16:55:55 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

You'll like Boaters World a lot.

Actually not.

I have both BW and WM within a mile or two of my house. BW tries hard
and they do have better prices, but WM has much better selection and
service, not to mention an excellent return policy.


That's an accurate assessment of each. But if price is the main
consideration, Boaters World wins hands down.

I do 90% of my shopping at West Marine, because they're closer to my home,
and have an excellent return policy (as you stated). But I always wait
for something that I need to go on sale there before I go shopping. When
they have their one of their "friends and family sales", you can buy a lot
of top of the line merchandise for up to 40% off.




Items over $100 ship for free from BoatersWorld.com. They also do charge
sales tax on internet orders.

"NOYB" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 May 2007 20:18:25 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Sat, 19 May 2007 16:02:57 -0400, Gene Kearns
wrote:

On Sat, 19 May 2007 01:22:53 -0500, sherwindu penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

Send some of those Mom and Pop stores to the Chicago area. West Marine
has
got things sewed up here, except for a Boating World store in the far
west
suburbs.


West Marine is 60 miles to Myrtle Beach, SC and 40 miles to
Wilmington, NC..... and they almost never have what you need.... they
parrot that it can be ordered on line. I wouldn't be standing in the
brick and mortar if I wanted to screw with the time delay and hassle
of shipping.

I'm celebrating the new Boaters World opening about 6 miles away.

Isn't Boater's World owned by West?

I traced them back to here......
http://www.ritzinteractive.com/websites.html

maybe somebody knows more about them than I do......

Boaters World is much cheaper than West Marine, unless West Marine has a
super special running (40-50% off). Of course, then their prices are the
same as West Marine's.


You'll like Boaters World a lot.




Most items WM will match internet price. Just print the ad and bring in.

Boaters World is much cheaper than West Marine, unless West Marine has a
super special running (40-50% off). Of course, then their prices are the
same as West Marine's.


You'll like Boaters World a lot.

I can't stand the boaters world in tacoma -- the guys there act like you're
bothering them, and they've yet to have anything I need in stock, nor something
that will "make due" for an isue - I drive the extra 10 miles to westmarine if
I need something "now" rather than stop at BW & find they don't have it.

I've not found BW to be cheaper at all.

On May 19, 11:21 am, Chuck Gould wrote:
On May 18, 11:22 pm, sherwindu wrote:





Send some of those Mom and Pop stores to the Chicago area. West Marine has
got things sewed up here, except for a Boating World store in the far west
suburbs.

I keep my boat in Racine Wisconsin with a nearby West Marine. I can expect a
50% chance of not finding items for my boat. Just last week I needed a fuel line
connector for my Yamaha 9.9 outboard. Of course, they were out of them. There
is nothing like a bit of healthy competition to wake these guys up.

Sherwin D.

Larry Weiss wrote:
Eisboch wrote:
Anybody go shopping lately at West Marine?

I hadn't been there for a couple of years. I stopped in today because I was
thinking of picking up three new LED type cockpit light fixtures to replace
the halogen bulb types.
I did this a few years ago in the upper station .... replaced the stock
halogens with red LED types. IIRC, the fixtures were about 15 bucks each
then.

Found them today at West Marine and grabbed three. Then I noticed the price.
$34.95 each. Hung them back on the display rack.

Talk about big oil ripping off the customers.

35 bucks for a 75 cent plastic fixture and a 2 dollar LED?

Gimmie a break.

Eisboch

Many boaters on Long Island have had it with West to the point where
they have closed several stores. The stores that are left are poorly
stocked and overpriced.

Meanwhile the local mom and pops are thriving. Good for them.

Larry Weiss
"...Ever After!"- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Any marine retailer has a pretty tough row to hoe, and a general
chandlery one of the toughest.

With marine supplies, you're selling into a very small market. So
small, and so seasonal in many parts of the country, that the Mom and
Pop's are disappearing or have already disappeared. To compound
matters, this very small market is then factionalized to an incredible
degree. To have every part on hand that somebody might need for any
boat would mean tying up far too much money for far too long. There
are parts that somebody might call for once a year, maybe.

IMO, most serious shopping is now done by catalog. The retail stores,
particularly in smaller communities, primarily exist to sell only the
highest-turnover and convenience items. The WM catalog has 2-3 times
as much stuff listed than you will find stocked in even the largest
stores.

Something that WM contributes to in boating and for which they get
very little credit is new product development. If a designer or
inventor can get WM to buy a new item, that provides enough volume to
get a fledgling enterprise pretty well established.

I shop WM fairly regularly. I don't expect to find any real bargains
most of the time, but
they are convenient. I also patronize some of the local and regional
"specialists" to support their independent businesses, but for general
stuff WM gets a portion of my boating dollar.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I shop primarily online, but there are things I buy from West Marine
as well. What I've found to be successful is to know what you can get
stuff for (and who has it) BEFORE you go to West Marine. If you've
done your homework they (the one I go to anyway) will match the
price.
For example: The summer before last I wanted to add some shock
absorbtion to the seats on my new 22' Regal. I had used the Garlick
Active Seat Suspension system on my previous boat with great success
so I proceeded to shop for the best price. I found that Boaters World
had them for (at the time) $69 while West Marine wanted over $100
each. Before I got around to ordering them from Boater's World, I
happened to be in West Marine where they had one in stock. I asked if
they could match the price, and after verifying it was accurate, they
did. I took the one from stock and they brought in another.
You would be suprised how much money you can save by being aware of
the real market prices and asking for price matches.

Actually Jim, BW does not charge sales tax on internet orders. The physical
stores and the web stores are separate corporate entitys so they are not
required to charge tax on on-line sales.

Butch
"JimH" wrote in message
...

"NOYB" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 May 2007 16:55:55 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

You'll like Boaters World a lot.

Actually not.

I have both BW and WM within a mile or two of my house. BW tries hard
and they do have better prices, but WM has much better selection and
service, not to mention an excellent return policy.


That's an accurate assessment of each. But if price is the main
consideration, Boaters World wins hands down.

I do 90% of my shopping at West Marine, because they're closer to my
home, and have an excellent return policy (as you stated). But I always
wait for something that I need to go on sale there before I go shopping.
When they have their one of their "friends and family sales", you can buy
a lot of top of the line merchandise for up to 40% off.




Items over $100 ship for free from BoatersWorld.com. They also do charge
sales tax on internet orders.

"Butch Davis" wrote in message
news
Actually Jim, BW does not charge sales tax on internet orders. The
physical stores and the web stores are separate corporate entitys so they
are not required to charge tax on on-line sales.

Butch
"JimH" wrote in message
...

"NOYB" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 May 2007 16:55:55 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

You'll like Boaters World a lot.

Actually not.

I have both BW and WM within a mile or two of my house. BW tries hard
and they do have better prices, but WM has much better selection and
service, not to mention an excellent return policy.


That's an accurate assessment of each. But if price is the main
consideration, Boaters World wins hands down.

I do 90% of my shopping at West Marine, because they're closer to my
home, and have an excellent return policy (as you stated). But I always
wait for something that I need to go on sale there before I go shopping.
When they have their one of their "friends and family sales", you can
buy a lot of top of the line merchandise for up to 40% off.




Items over $100 ship for free from BoatersWorld.com. They also do charge
sales tax on internet orders.



Yep. I forgot the word *not* before the word charge.