wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:26:29 -0800 (PST), Capt John
wrote:

On Feb 25, 7:45 am, "Sir Thomas of Cannondale"
wrote:
Yesterday, I stopped at the West Marine store near Portsmouth, NH.

I must report, it was pitiful. There were two employees, one was the
check
out
girl/lady.

Hardly had any paint, or paint products such as primer.

Since I've been to the store a number of times, I asked the second
employee,
a man,
what was new. I mentioned that I heard on the business page report that
West had a
new CEO who was determined to turn the stores around. The employee told
me
the whole chain was getting a big time shake up, he didn't say exactly
what
was going to
happen, but he seemed to think that things were going to get better.

Is it about time.

I drive all the way to Portland, Maine just to shop at Hamiltons because
West is so bad.

And I'm talking simple stuff like Paint.

Here is one example..

I need some Interlux solvent wash .. West has it for about $22 dollars.
Hamilton ?? $16.50

You would at think ?? Why get undercut by a marine store with only four
or
five outlets in one state .. ??

I hope the new CEO reads this newsgroup..

ps... if you are looking for a job?? West in Portsmouth has a sign on
its
front door,, looking for help.

Your right, they just have no stock, and they are expensive, why would
you bother to go there?

I've been to probably 10 different West Marine stores in various
locales. They were all distinct, and had different proportions of
types of goods. Some were more powerboat, some were more sailboat,
some were more hardware, some were more clothes and kayaks, some had
more electronics, and so on.

I'm guessing that each local manager adjusts his own store to whatever
product mix he thinks the local market wants.

In cold climates, you also have to consider that the winters are
relatively dead and so they probably lower stock levels.


I've been to at least that many. I even worked at one for a while so I could
get the employee discount, which is a significant benefit. You don't have to
guess, that's exactly what the managers do wrt product mix. Others are
better at doing this, and the stores around here have a mix of reputations
for service/parts/knowledge or lack there of. The hours of operation also
vary from the useful to the practically useless.


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com