Boating Industry Canada

Is There a Counterpoint?

Many of the marine distributors hold some kind of an annual dealer show but not every dealer attends. Why not?

Boating Industry Canada picked up the phone and randomly called a number of marinas and chandleries across Canada. To our surprise, virtually everyone we spoke to said yes; they attend at least one dealer show and several said that they went to as many as three different shows every year.

So, is there a counterpoint?

When we spoke to the distributors, they almost universally expressed that they wished more dealers would come out and attend the show. One of the few marinas we spoke to, who said they didn't attend the show's was Westport Marine. Marlene Tan, one of the owners had a simple and completely understandable reason for not attending.

Located in southwestern Ontario near Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River, it's all hands on deck in October when many of the distributors hold their dealer shows, as the staff at Westport are lifting boats out of the water. Summer comes a bit earlier in that area and for distributors holding an early spring show, everybody at Westport is going flat out putting boats back into the water.

The timing of the various shows seems to work well enough for most chandleries but for the smaller marinas, especially those that are family owned and operated on-the-water facilities, it may be more a matter of timing than anything. You couldn't hold the fall shows any earlier. Most marinas are still doing good business up to Thanksgiving and storing boats after. If you move the show later into the fall, some dealers are taking vacations, some are preparing for winter activities and many of the marine businesses are both short staffed and working hard to prepare for the boat show season.

As to the spring show, if you held them earlier, in February, many people would be away or busy with snowmobile season while holding it later would be a conflict with spring launch.

It seems like a long year but it's not easy to get a great date!

The big opportunity in the business is obviously to reach more of the on-the-water marinas, to encourage them to dress up their stores and merchandise marine parts and accessories in a more attractive and consumer friendly way. Those businesses have direct access to the very upscale clientele of cottage owners, many of whom have significant disposable income and a lot of enthusiasm for their own lake and the recreational boating they do there.

Former marina owner and longtime boating industry professional, Doug Dawson, speculates that more on the water marinas would probably attend the shows if there was a concerted effort to contact them and encourage their participation. Doug had a feeling that apathy was a factor. He described it as "working your acre" and felt that in many cases, that type of marina dealer didn't absolutely need to be in the parts and accessories business so, they were staying out of it and leaving that business to the local Canadian Tire store or bigger marine chandleries.

Here's a note to the distributors; a few weeks before your next show, why not hire a student, hand them your list of marinas who do not attend your show, telephone them up in person and invite them to attend. It's a lot harder to say no to that kind of personal invitation than it is to ignore a letter or an e-mail.