Wayne.B wrote in
:

On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 02:51:23 GMT, Mys Terry
wrote:

They can well afford to! It's not so much a warrantee, as they let you
pre-pay for the second one when you buy the first.

There's a convenience factor also which is hard to quantify, but it is
certainly worth something to me having a well stocked store 10 minutes
from my house and open 7 days a week.



I was content to lurk on this thread, until I saw the comment about "well
stocked." In my experience, West Marine is anything but. They are always
out of whatever I need. Yes, when they have a sale, they have those
items, but if you want something that's not in the weekly flyer, you have
a 50/50 chance at best. The comment always when I mention the low
inventory on what I actually want to buy, "We're getting a shipment
tomorrow." Yeah right, I used to fall for that, only to come back the
next day and the next to see the same empty spot on the shelf. West
Marine makes an obvious practice of strict inventory control. Only
problem is that it's so strict they often lose the sale because they
don't have the item to sell. I don't know if it's gotten better recently
with the BoatsUS merger, because I gave up on them and now go to my local
independent dealer. He has a small shop, stuffed to the rafters, but
somehow always manages to have what I need, and usually for less.