West Marine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the British boat manufacturer company see: West Marine Ltd. (Peel Engineering)
| West Marine | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (NASDAQ: WMAR) |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Watsonville, California |
| Key people | Randy Repass (Founder) Geoff Eisenberg (CEO) |
| Industry | specialty retail and wholesale |
| Products | boating supply |
| Employees | 5,000 (varies by season) |
| Website | www.westmarine.com |
West Marine (WMAR on NASDAQ) is an American company based in Watsonville, California which operates a chain of boating supply and fishing retail stores. They operate over 380 retail stores in North America. West Marine's mission includes promoting boater safety and providing a reliable and boater-friendly atmosphere for customers with a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction. West Marine also offers their customers a no hassle return policy that has helped long standing loyal customers remain true to the brand.
[edit] History
The company was founded in 1968 by Randy Repass in Sunnyvale, California with the name West Coast Ropes, selling nylon rope from his garage. The first retail West Coast Ropes store opened in 1975 in Palo Alto, California. With the acquisition of assets from West Products in 1977, the company changed its name to West Marine Products, Inc. In 1978 West Marine established a wholesale division called Port Supply. In 1991, the first West Marine stores opened on the East Coast of the United States in Miami and Annapolis and in 1993 the company went public on the NASDAQ exchange.
West Marine merged with E&B Marine in 1996 to target a larger customer base of power boat enthusiasts. In 2003 they acquired the BoatU.S. Product Division and have since grown over three times as large as their nearest competitor, Boater's World. They currently provide over 100,000 products online, in stores, and via mail-order catalog.
