Brent Renneke, associate editor, Boating Industry – Although the economic conditions are given the most press, we all know that the most significant influence over our success is the one thing we can’t control – the weather. This Memorial Day weekend, for example, was one to remember, albeit for reasons many would love to forget. Read more >>
Dan Coughlin, The Dan Coughlin Co. — The economic tsunami that began picking up speed in December 2007 and swept around the world with devastating force from October 2008 to April 2009 has died down. What’s left now are many organizations that have been devastated or destroyed and individuals who have huge gaping financial holes where they once had solid financial fortresses. The flow of credit that was the underpinning of consumer and business spending has largely dried up. We are at the starting point of a new way of life unlike anything we have seen in a very, very long time. Read more >>
Tags: boating industry, Economy, Guest Blog
Vince Morvillo, owner, Sea Lake Yacht Sales — A new contract just landed on my desk. Read more >>
Yesterday, I happened on a thoughtful column on retail trends written by West Marine Executive Vice President Bruce Edwards for Sail America’s newsletter, Waypoints. While he shared a range of economic indicators and other statistics that paint a mixed outlook for the retail community and the boating industry, Edwards ultimately predicted that we will “see more of what we have witnessed in 2010 continue into 2011.” Read more >>
Today, I picked a copy of Boating Industry’s June issue off my shelf. On the cover was a question: Is this a recovery? And in the cover story, I wrote of the signals we were receiving from many of the 12 dealers we interviewed that suggested market conditions were improving in many geographic pockets throughout North America. I was hopeful that we would see evidence of a recovery this year. Read more >>
By Mike Davin, online editor, Boating Industry magazine — This week, the National Marine Manufacturers Association released its 2009 Recreational Boating Statistical Abstract. Read more >>
Tags: boat sales, Economy
As boat builders and their suppliers hire more employees in an effort to ramp up production, they are contributing to a trend that is helping to lower the nation’s economic stress, according to an Associated Press article published today. Read more >>
For more than two weeks, the average price of regular gas in the U.S. has been dropping, according to USAToday.com. As of yesterday, the average price of a gallon of regular gas was $2.76, the newspaper reported in an article today, and some analysts are predicting it could drop further, perhaps even as low as this time last year, which was about 30 cents per gallon cheaper. Read more >>
Tags: Boating, Economy, gas prices, Memorial Day
A few weeks ago, a former boating industry executive contacted me, asking about the state of marine business in the U.S. He is a friend who left the United States a few years ago to take a position within a different division of his company based in another country. Since his e-mail, I’ve been thinking about how to answer him. Read more >>
By Mike Davin, online editor, Boating Industry magazine — We highlighted an interesting article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in our e-newsletter the other day. The article reported on the difficult decision facing Florida’s Manatee Technical Institute, which is weighing whether to cut its boat-building curriculum. Read more >>
