Manufacturers going under?

[Bruce]

I heard from someone yesterday that went to the Lauderdale show that Mainship, Albin and a few other large boat makers are shuttering their doors.

Anyone else hear about it?

[charlie falkenstein]

bruce heard lots of manufacturers are in trouble both in the marine and auto sector,. not only manufacturing but also the dealers.
i know my two dealerships are suffering bigtime and i am not pessimistic but i dont see any light at the end of the tunnel anytime soon, and all the government is doing is printing money!
there has to be a payback!

[randall]

no....been to busy following ford and GM. if true thats a shame...but not surprising...never been a better time to steal, er buy, a boat. its hard to see how they can sell new ones for what it cost to make them.

[charlie falkenstein]

also heard attendance was down big time at the lauderdale show,any factual reports as far as attendance/sales

[lobsta1]

I believe Albin went under back in the spring.
Al

[Ric]

I went to the show and attendance was down big time,.,.,I mean big time .,.,.,and thIER WASNT ANY SWIM SUIT MODELS .,.,.NO GIRLS
NO LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AT THE FOOD COURT,.,.,AND OUR LUNCH PLACE AT BAHIA CABANNA WAS SPARSE FOR THE LUNCH CROWD,, uSUALLY U COULDNT GET A SEAT .,.,.,WELL THERE WAS PLENTY OF SEATS

[Raybo Marine NY]

I predict a depressing NY boat show, and possibly no show next year :(

[Bruce]

Thanks for the report Ric.

Most of my manufacturers and distributors canceled their fall dealer meetings. No party invitations came in for the boat show as I usualy get 8 or 9.

A local competitor who has 3 locations around the state reduced his local service fleet from 7 trucks down to two and he drives one of them.

I looking forward to some time off actualy. Been very hectic for the last 5 years.

Holidays will be filled with my kids and 4 grandkids.

January is filled with golf and fishing with my brother. (unless the new administration summons him)

February I'll get out and see Pat again.

To quote Randall: Life's not that bad. (I have a short memory)

[joeh]

Not sure if this has been commented on but the Annapolis boats shows sales were both down over 50%. I bet the sale prices were very low. Things will correct and it will be slow and painful. I hope Searay does not become the only boat builder.

[Thums Up]

It is not just manufactures anymore......two of the four sportfishing lodges in our area have closed their doors and two others are having a difficult time. Pretty sad! The whole industry is being affected.

[RussP]

It seems everyone is hurting but the Mega Yacht industry. Here at Rybovich we filled the 7th spot on the hard with a 160 footer and there are 6 yachts in wetslips being worked on. I hear they plan on getting rid of the 300 ton travel lift at the Rivera Beach Yacht Center and getting another 600 ton or biger to keep up with the growing work load.

I spoke to one of the guys from Quantom and he said most yards down here are really slow.

I personally liked working for myself but having a real job with benifits right now feels really good.

RussP

[Bruce]

Russ,
In 30 years of business, the mega yacht industry was never affected by economy downturns. Since most are foreign flagged and owned, U.S. policies and taxes are a non issue.

You got to be putting many miles on the truck making that trek everyday.

[RussP]

Bruce, I have a New Beetle and chalked up 20K since Feburary. I still have the old 96, Linda traded the 01 for a Porsche Boxter S. She's woking up in Atlanta right now.

Regards,
RussP

[Kurt]

Here in St. Augustine, Luhrs closed the factory and said they were combining most (maybe all) powerboat production in the New Jersey plant. Most locals think the waterfront spot they have will be sold when the economy turns around and made into $million+ condos or a luxury marina type place. Only time and a better economy will tell.

[TailhookTom]

Randall: You commented about following Ford and GM. I was sitting over lunch with a couple of friends, one of which noted that he never would have thought in his lifetime that he could buy 1 share of Ford plus 1 share of GM with a $5 bill and get change back!

With all the leftover 08s on the lots and near impossible financing options, it sure makes me wonder what the car dealers are going to do.

Tom

[Harv]

While not boating related, it is still viable considering the thread topic.
I got this email today, regarding the use of gift certificates for retail chains, and many of them are shutting or downsizing. Therefore I felt this would be a valid post for this thread.

I don't know the original date of this email, as I believe I got a similar email about this time last year and it appears many companies listed here, have closed or downsized some time ago. In addition to Levitz on this list, Seaman's Furniture recently shut down, Hollywood and Blockbuster video have downsized drastically, DHL, has recently said they would cease domestic service in the US, and even today, Citi Group announced they were cutting 53,000 more jobs in addition to the 20,000 already cut. Some major trucking companies have also shut their doors and my company is even looking to intigrate 2 of it's subsidiaries into one, as well.

Be wary of gift certificates this Christmas. Just in case you already have them, use the Gift Certificates immediately or you may lose them! Levitz, and Bombay have already shut down.


STORE CLOSINGS AND LAYOFFS


Ann Taylor closing 117 stores nationwide. A company spokeswoman said the
company hasn't revealed which stores will be shuttered. It will let the
stores that will close this fiscal year know over the next month

Eddie Bauer to close more stores. Eddie Bauer has already closed 27
shops in the first quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet
stores by the end of the year.

Cache closing stores. Women's retailer Cache announced that it is
closing 20 to 23 stores this year.

Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines closing 150 stores nationwide.
The owner of retailers Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug , Catherine's Plus
Sizes will close about 150 under performing stores this year. The
company hasn't provided a list of specific store closures and can't say
when it will offer that info, spokeswoman Brooke Perry said today.

Talbots, J. Jill closing stores. About a month ago, Talbot's
announced that it will be shuttering all 78 of its kids and men's
stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 under performing
stores.. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbot's women's and J. Jill ,
another chain it owns. The closures will occur this fiscal year,
according to a company press release.

Gap Inc. closing 85 stores. In addition to its namesake chain, Gap
also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic . The company said the closures -
all planned for fiscal 2008 - will be weighted toward the Gap brand.

Foot Locker to close 140 stores. In the company press release and
during its conference call with analysts today, it did not specify where
the future store closures - all planned in fiscal 2008 - will be. The
company could not be immediately reached for comment

Wickes is going out of business. Wickes Furniture is going out of
business and closing all of its stores, Wickes, a 37-year-old retailer
that targets middle-income customers, filed for bankruptcy protection
last month.

Zales, Piercing Pagoda closing stores. The owner of Zales and
Piercing Pagoda previously said it plans to close 82 stores by July 31.
Today, it announced that it is closing another 23 under performing
stores. The company said it's not providing a list of specific store
closures. Of the 105 locations planned for closure, 50 are kiosks and 55
are stores.

Disney Store, exact number of stores acquired will depend on negotiations with landlords.
Those subsidiaries of Children's Place filed for bankruptcy
protection in late March.

Home Depot, Nearly 7+ months after its chief executive said
there were no plans to cut the number of its core retail stores, The
Home Depot Inc. announced Thursday that it is shuttering 15 of them amid
a slumping U.S. economy and housing market. The move will affect 1,300
employees. It is the first time the world's largest home improvement
store chain has ever closed a flagship store for performance reasons.
Its shares rose almost 5 percent. The Atlanta-based company said the
under performing U.S. stores being closed represents less than 1 percent
of its existing stores. They will be shuttered within the next two
months.

CompUSA (CLOSED) clarifies details on store closings. Any extended
warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a
third-party provider, Assurant Solutions. Gift cards, rain checks, and
rebates purchased prior to December 12 can be redeemed at any time
during the final sale. For those who have a gadget currently in for
service with CompUSA, the repair will be completed and the gadget will
be returned to owners. http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9834177-7html
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9834177-7.html



Circuit City - Up to 150 stores to be closed nationwide.

Macy's - 9 stores, so far

Movie Gallery - 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit
bankruptcy. The video rental company plans to close 400 of 3,500
Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520
locations the video rental chain closed last fall.

Pep Boys - 33 stores

Sprint Nextel - 125 retail locations. New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse
appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the
thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees
and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in
the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work
force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned
brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it
will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas . Sprint Nextel shares are
down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.

J. C. Penney, Lowe's and Office Depot have all annouced that they scaling back."

Ethan Allen Interiors: The company announced plans to close
12 of 300+ stores in an effort to cut costs.

Wilsons the Leather Experts - 158 stores

Pacific Sunwear will close its 154 Demo stores after a review of
strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. Seventy-four under
performing Demo stores closed last May.

Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and
announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing. The retailer will still
operate 94 stores to pay off debts, but 90 of these stores have
performed poorly and also may close..

KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United
States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. To see the list of
store closings, go to the KB Toys Information web site, and click on
Press Information

Dillard's to Close More Stores. Dillard's Inc. said it will continue
to focus on closing under performing stores, reducing expenses and
improving its merchandise in 2008. At the company's annual shareholder
meeting, CEO William Dillard II said the company will close another six
under performing stores this year.

NOTE: It appears that American Express is underwriting many of the malls' own gift certificates -- you purchase at any mall's main office and then use them just as you would a credit card, at any of the stores in that mall. Additionally, they will replace, if misplaced, as long as you have recorded the certificate number safely somewhere else..

[Dug]

So, AMEX gift cards are the solution!

They can be used anywhere, and unless American Express disappears, you are good. And they won't as they are now backed by the government of the good old USA as a newly converted bank holding company.

Good advice however Harv!

Dug

[Harv]

Dug,

As a former Commerce Bank, (now TD Bank) account holder, I purchase gift cards at any branch. As an account holder, there is no fee for purchasing the card. I don't know if that holds true for American Express or not. However, these still remain viable options instead of an outright physical gift. Nowadays, it is getting difficult to find the right gifts for people.

[Raybo Marine NY]

I wonder if we were not in the situation we are in how many of those would still be closing?

[Bruce]

It had to come to a head sometime. Inflated values of just about everything and money being borrowed on those inflated values.

People spending money like there was no tomarrow. The last two years I got many gas to diesel inquiries and when it came time to pricing, I was almost always asked if I provided financing.

Many people like one customer I remember took a third mortgage to pay for his repower. The end of August he called desperatly trying to sell the boat as his job got cut way back and he owed everybody.

We are just going back to reality value.

Anybody remember recession talk in the beginning of Bush's first term?

If the dot com bust at the end of Clinton's term had parlayed into a recession like it should have, I don't think this would have happened.

But alas war is good for the economy. Not saying it was done on purpose, but the inevitable was just put off for 7 years and now it comes much worse.