Harry,

Since you were able to sell approximately $15 million dollars (in current
dollars) in 30 days, what do you think your father was doing incorrectly
when he was running the business?

With this kind of success I would think about doing an "out of business
sale"
every spring. You could do more business than most West Marine or Boat US
Stores do in a year, and only be open 30 days a year.

Thanks for you concern about my lack of a boat, but I am a very happy boat
owner.

I haven't heard about your 36' Lobster boat in years. Do you have a picture
you can posts on your web site?






"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
The real ME wrote:
Harry,

That is a major accomplishment to unload all of your dad's inventory in
record time for "near full retail". You should be commended for doing
everything you can to minimize the negative impact on the other marina's
in the area. I am curious, since you only discounted the items slightly,
how did you get everyone to drive past all the other marinas and boat
stores, if you were just slightly discounting the product.


D'oh. Perhaps you ought to enroll in a "reading for comprehension"
program.

There were only a few "large" dealerships in New Haven County back then.
Most of the dealerships were NOT located at marinas, but were
free-standing stores, usually some distance from the water. My father's
main store was some miles from Long Island Sound, for example. It was on
the Boston Post Road, US Route 1, the main commercial route in those days
between New York and Boston. There was no need to get people to drive by
the store, since thousands upon thousands did that every day of the week.
If you were trailering your boat from New Haven to Milford, for example,
you'd just about *have* to drive by the store unless you wanted to take a
bunch of back roads. The Connecticut Turnpike did not pull much local
traffic off the Boston Post Road, because the CT was a TOLL road back
then.

He did not sell new boats and motors at the marina, just some accessories
and parts. As managing partner, he did allow owners to sell their own
boats at the marina, with or without a broker.

As I stated, he was "the" franchise dealer for the lines he sold. If you
wanted the products he sold, you either bought them from him or you drove
a considerable distance to find another dealer who handled them. And there
was no guarantee the distant dealer's price would be much lower, if it was
lower. There were a couple of boat lines my dad sold that you'd have to
drive several hundred miles to find a competitive dealer.

For outboard boats, these were the days before "factory pre-rig," and
outdrives were just beginning to gain in popularity. While there were
factory suggested price sheets for outboards, I don't recall seeing any
for boats. Their prices were set by the dealers.

There. See. Now you know a little about how the boat business used to be.
Someday, you'll not be able to use that information to buy your first
boat.



--
Bush and the NeoConvicts who control him
are destroying the once-great United States.