Looks like West Marine is going to declare bankruptcy

[Leprechaun]

https://www.thestreet.com/retail/58-year-old-outdoor-retailer-west-marine-nears-chapter-11-filing

Never cared for their high prices, lack of knowledgeable help and weird inventory mix. While this does take away another option if your need is immediate, I for one will not miss them. I suppose the whole Amazon convenience thing didn't help.

I stick with Freeport Marine as my primary chandlery, followed by Fred Chall, and then local-to-me Blue Marlin Marine here in Seaford. The owner's son at Freeport Marine helped get me out of a very tight jam years ago and I've never forgotten that kindness. Good guy. Great inventory - helpful staff.

 

[MakoMatt]

Well the good news is that I hopefully won’t be getting 100 texts from them every day about their “big sale”

But there might be some real bargains to be had as a result of this.

 

[Double Trouble]

I could never figure out why anyone shopped there they had stupid pollicies about pricing if I had to check out everybody elses pricing to get the best price why would I not just get the item where I found the best price.

 

[longcast]

Was wondering why the local store looked so disheveled

 

[Matts]

They might close a store or two, but WM is not dead yet.
A cynical observer might think that announcing that they are thinking about Chapter 11 reorganization (not Ch. 7 liquidation) is a way for rich financiers, in this case owners Oaktree Capital Management, to undo bad business decisions and suck as much value out of the company as possible; at the expense of employee, supplier and landlord creditors.
They will likely break a few leases, fire employees, reduce benefits, close a few stores, and default on a few shipments to put pressure on other landlords and vendors to renegotiate their leases and debts, while maintaining the high management fees they charge West Marine, all under the supervision of the Bankruptcy court.
This will likely go on for a while, until the last drop of equity is sucked out of WM and they either liquidate or are bought for pennies on the dollar by a new company, e.g., West Marine Express LLC, to keep churning the pot for the supposed benefit of creditors, but for the actual benefit of Oaktree and its lawyers and accountants.
But that's just one cynical view.

 

[longcast]

They might close a store or two, but WM is not dead yet.
A cynical observer might think that announcing that they are thinking about Chapter 11 reorganization (not Ch. 7 liquidation) is a way for rich financiers, in this case owners Oaktree Capital Management, to undo bad business decisions and suck as much value out of the company as possible; at the expense of employee, supplier and landlord creditors.
They will likely break a few leases, fire employees, reduce benefits, close a few stores, and default on a few shipments to put pressure on other landlords and vendors to renegotiate their leases and debts, while maintaining the high management fees they charge West Marine, all under the supervision of the Bankruptcy court.
This will likely go on for a while, until the last drop of equity is sucked out of WM and they either liquidate or are bought for pennies on the dollar by a new company, e.g., West Marine Express LLC, to keep churning the pot for the supposed benefit of creditors, but for the actual benefit of Oaktree and its lawyers and accountants.
But that's just one cynical view.

Sounds about right.

 

[Avenger]

I could never figure out why anyone shopped there they had stupid pollicies about pricing if I had to check out everybody elses pricing to get the best price why would I not just get the item where I found the best price.

100% agree about best price first plan. I detest that "Oh darn, you caught us." price-match BS.

But for why shop WM? I'll tell you why.

While I generally avoid them because price, they were often able to supply things that others couldn't. i.e. I needed 2" fuel hose, and while I was able to order a half length from Tank, I wasn't able to get two feet for another connection. West was the only option for a 2 ft length.

Also, their rewards system was the only way you could buy price fixed products at a discount. GoPro doesn't allow discounts, but I bought mine from WM on a triple points day and got credits I could use against additional purchases.

And then there's the antenna story. I had purchased a high dollar Shakespeare VHF antenna, and didn't install it for more than five years. After more research I decided this wasn't right for my application. Offhand, at the NY Boat Show I asked the WM rep, how far along would you accept a return? Well, how long? Are you a rewards member, etc.? He suggested I bring it to my local store and discuss. So, I show up with this, still-in-the-tube antenna, that I've been turning over every three months so it doesn't develop a sag, and I have the original receipt.

The counter person looked at the receipt, crumpled it up and said "We're going to pretend we didn't see that." Then he proceeded to process the return, apologized that he can only issue store credit, and hands me a credit for the current value of the antenna. It's almost $100 more than I paid for it. I almost ran someone over in the parking lot because I was trying to get out before they realized their mistake.

And while I support my local shops far more than WM, and always try them first, I'd rather put a pencil in my eye than deal with Freeport.