West Marine reports ongoing losses, store closures, layoffs

anybody could see that this would happen, their prices are 30-50 percent higher than boaters world!(example..7/8 stainless tubing in a 6' length was 33.00 at other retailers, but at west marine it was 94.00? do the math people!!! if they go out of business its there fault...

Sorry to see layoffs, but this business is poorly operated.Many times went to store only to find out they were out of stock.

The end of toy time.

If the highest price company deserves to go under,why are the oil companies still in business?Maybe Walmart should take over the marine industry,then we can send more money overseas.Be American,buy American.

I agree we just returned from Florada from a fishing trip. My trailer lights needed to be replaced and I purchased a new set from West Marine 48.50 Sports Acdemy had them for 22.50

chris wrote:

anybody could see that this would happen, their prices are 30-50 percent higher than boaters world!(example..7/8 stainless tubing in a 6' length was 33.00 at other retailers, but at west marine it was 94.00? do the math people!!! if they go out of business its there fault...

Try buying online at Go2marine. They ship worldwide and have specails online all the time!

The corker for me is that they are now selling brass plumbing parts, and even parts labeled SiBr in the catalog are now brass. Ever see what happens to a piece of brass after a few months in salt water? It becomes a disintegrating copper sponge as the zinc electrolyzes. I ended up droving 50 miles to get decent raw water plumbing at their competitor.

BoatWoman wrote:

Try buying online at Go2marine. They ship worldwide and have specails online all the time!

Yes, Go2marine.com and Reddenmarine.com are both great sources lots of items and great prices!

The decline in West Marine can also be attributed to the fact that they got away from hiring top people, boat people. I worked for WM from 2002-2004 and the staff were top notch. I returned to work later 2006-07 and the staff consisted of young high school kids (to save payroll)who knew nothing about boats or retail sales for that matter...thus the beginning of the fall.

jim wrote:

If the highest price company deserves to go under,why are the oil companies still in business?Maybe Walmart should take over the marine industry,then we can send more money overseas.Be American,buy American.

Just check out who manufactures all WM label products. You will see that they do support the boating industry- By way of overseas shipping. It's all made in other countries, by the lowest bidder. Welcome to a good down home publicly traded "American" company.

David wrote:

The decline in West Marine can also be attributed to the fact that they got away from hiring top people, boat people. I worked for WM from 2002-2004 and the staff were top notch. I returned to work later 2006-07 and the staff consisted of young high school kids (to save payroll)who knew nothing about boats or retail sales for that matter...thus the beginning of the fall.

This is the road that many companies have taken and they all end up in the trash pile. It is sad that they owners keep repeating this cycle. I could make a list of other companies that have gone down that same road.

I recently was rehired back with the company after 2000. I agree with the management and hiring people with very little boating or retail expierence. The company has gone through many good changes. I offers quite a lot of services and product protection. The training is horrible and disorganized. I am deeply disturb that I and this other person were hired and have to battle it out to see who wins the assistant management position. This other canidate only has 1 year retial management experience. I am far more qualified then him to manage the store yet he is already the bosses favorite. This kind of practice is a great way to make enemies and loose good employees.

This company treats it's customers and employees like dirt. They once had an excellent reputation, knowledgeable employees who were boaters themselves ran and worked in their stores, providing sound technical advice to their customers. Over time West Marine lost sight of the customer, drove away most managers and employees in their stores due to oppressive working conditions. Some store managers work 60 + hours a week, often alone because their payrolls are micro managed down to the cent. There have been cases where managers have been unable to even visit the restroom during workdays where customer traffic keeps them at cash registers for hours on end until their help arrives.
It is not unusual for a west marine store to operate on 80 - 100 payroll hours per week. With the store managers being salaried, this leaves 40 - 60 hours per week to operate the stores.
Not only does this place a huge load on these store managers but it is an insult to the customer too.
The store people take the blame, they do the best they can but all their tools have been taken away from them. They simply cannot provide the service with the resources they have.
Who knows, maybe West Marine will wake up, it is likely that, given the economic downturn, they will be able to attract some quality people again. Folks who ruled them out may turn to them out of desperation.
It is the upper management that needs to be reallocated, Bruce Edwards and his buddies have lost sight of the mission and therefore the customer.
I quit buying stuff from Walmart because of the way they treat their people, as an ex employee of west marine, I will never spend a cent in one of their stores again.
Sad that a company that was once almost in the list of top 100 places to work in America, it was a stated objective to achieve inclusion in that list, should now be in this position.
I would strongly advise anyone considering a "career" with this company to carefully consider all angles before signing on.
It's an awful company to work for - period!

I worked at WM in 2006. I have been in the boating industry for over 40 years, and I listened to their bull about how a career with them was gonna be so good! I lasted 8 months and saw how disorganized and customer-phobic they were. Their prices are high for no reason other than it's time to raise them! Stick with any other marine company; my favorite is Fisherman's Supply in Seattle, and I live in San Francisco! "Worst Marine" is a well-earned nickname.

been with company 5 years,I under stand now why WM is being sued. You can,t keep great customer service aslong as you ( WM) continues to be dishonest with prices higher than any other company,cutting staff,only one maybe two employees,and they(WM) still want you to do the work of five to six employees,which the store had few years back.In stead of keeping the employees who made it all possible to keep WM alive,you stopped pay raises,triples the work load,and worry about a plus plan not selling.WM where,s your head at.

juust ridin da strm out.

Part of West's & Port Supply's troubles is surely the economy. However, the ongoing failing customer service due to West's policy of lousy wages,(therefore not being able to recruit good people) and the fact that except for certain items, most of their inventory is at full retail and in fact certain prices are bloated you can expect them to lose their market share.
And, on the wholesale side (Port Supply) they want boat repair yards and direct retail competitors to buy from them at the same time that Port screws them over on price.
Example: Port will sell boatyards (end users) and other retailers name brand bottom paint let's say at $100.00 a gallon for paint that retails for $190.00 per gallon, but then they will sell the same exact paint for $110.00 a gallon at their West stores and on their website, which leaves their wholesale customers only $10.00 if all they want to do is to match West's price.
This is an utterly stupid tactic by WestMarine/Port supply.
My guess is that they will continue to lose market share to others regardless of the economy, as it will also g the way of industry respect which they lost a long time ago.

I am working at Worst Marine and there are so many management problems, it is just a matter of time before they are losing more and more money every quarter. It's run like a sweat shop. There is no professionalism. They are penny wise and pound foolish and lack real leadership in many parts of the company. Too bad, so sad.

i hope they go belly up!