I'm one of those part time West Marine employees. I work almost entirely
for the discount (certainly not the wages!), although my wife says I
have to quit before we go broke. I am outfitting a trawler for the Great
Loop and need the price break. Some of the discounts are around 50%.
Most are about 33%, but electronics are poor, as there is little profit
in them.

I think most of the associates are people like me, although most work
more than I do. Their advantage is that many of us really do know what
we are selling. If you walk into a store and ask if anyone has ever
taken a boat to _____ and how did they outfit it, someone will tell you
to talk to ____, who will almost always not be working that day. The
disadvantage is that we are not all really as devoted to the company as
we are to our boats and working part-time sometimes keeps us out of
practice with their awful computer system.

It's a fairly decent company to work for with a 401k that they
contribute to, health and dental insurance for those who work more than
20 hours a week. flexible hours and, most importantly, THE DISCOOUNT.
It's boring up here in the cold weather and very hectic in the warm.

Our catalogue is a wealth of information and worth the cost of a
membership just for the information. Renew now before the price goes up.

Prices are sometimes higher than the competition, but we match theirs.
We also take back anything you are unhappy with.

There are certainly things I would do differently if I ran the company,
(such as their advertising, for example) but I don't, and don't want to,
either.

Capt. Jeff