West Marine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| West Marine | |
 |
|
| Type | Public (NASDAQ: WMAR) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Watsonville, California |
| Key people | Randy Repass (Founder) Peter Harris (CEO) |
| Industry | retail |
| Products | boating supply |
| Website | www.westmarine.com |
West Marine (WMAR on NASDAQ) is an American company based in Watsonville, California which operates a chain of boating supply and fishing retail stores. They operate over 400 retail stores in North America, including former BoatU.S. locations although most have been converted to the West Marine name and logo. West Marine's mission includes promoting boater safety and providing a reliable and boater friendly atmosphere for customers with a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction.
[edit] History
The company was founded in 1968 by Randy Repass in Sunnyvale, California with the name West Coast Ropes, selling nylon rope from his garage. The first retail West Coast Ropes store opened in 1975 in Palo Alto, California. With the acquisition of assets from West Products in 1977, the company changed its name to West Marine. In 1978 West Marine established a wholesale division called Port Supply. In 1991, the first West Marine store opened on the East Coast of the United States and in 1993 the company went public on the NASDAQ exchange.
West Marine merged with E&B Marine in 1996 to target a larger customer base of power boat enthusiasts. In 2003 they acquired BoatU.S. and have since grown over three times as large as their nearest competitor, Boater's World. They currently provide over 100,000 products online, in stores, and via mail-order catalog.
In 2005 West Marine converted the majority of the BoatU.S. stores to the West Marine brand. In 2006 as part of an effort to improve profitability the company closed 35 under performing stores. The company at YE 2006 operated 377 stores in 38 states, Puerto Rico and Canada.
