If you’re looking for good old parts for your good old boat, good old vendor Marine Exchange might be able to help
Issue 10 : Jan/Feb 2000
To a sailor who likes to tinker about on his boat, and who takes great pleasure in just being in a marine supply store, Marine Exchange seems like a slice of heaven. Located on Route 1 South, in Peabody, Mass., just a few miles north-northwest of Boston, Marine Exchange carries within its 6,000 square feet of interior just about any piece of equipment, new or used, that any sailor could ever hope to find. Shoppers discover a crew of employees who know their business and, most likely, a lot about their boats, what rigging they support, and what gear is probably aboard.
One staff member who learned that I own a 1974 Cape Dory Typhoon enthusiastically discussed ways to manipulate certain mechanisms, unique to Typhoons, that can be employed under the right conditions to squeeze out an extra knot or two. And I thought I knew my boat!
The business was born 30 years ago when two couples who loved sailing combined their meager resources to rent a small space in Danversport and open a consignment business. They went to yacht clubs, marinas, and marine suppliers looking for discarded or unused equipment to sell on consignment.
From the start, they were generous with credit and advice, relying on the innate integrity and camaraderie of the sailing community to sustain them. Word-of-mouth advertising kicked in. Their reputation grew as their market expanded. Soon they were the ones being sought out by the likes of O’Day Yachts, Hood Yacht Yards, and other companies of national repute.
As the business grew, so did the strains associated with growth. The original partnership dissolved. Under the terms of the agreement, the store’s inventory was separated into two piles, one party being responsible for dividing the goods, the other having first choice of which pile to claim. So with considerably less inventory, the Montague family stayed the course of the business. Arlene and her two sons, Kevin and John, were confident that success would be theirs if they redoubled their efforts and kept the needs of their customers as their primary focus. Despite the financial constraints caused by the dissolution, they leased space in a larger store in Danversport and even opened a second outlet in nearby Marblehead.
This arrangement lasted only a few years. The family and staff were being spread too thinly between the two stores. The next move was to consolidate into one store in the heart of one of New England’s great sailing centers — Peabody, Mass.
The Montague family’s sailing background is replete with good old boats. Their first boat — “excluding the Sunfish,” Arlene notes — was a wooden Dragon sloop, 30 feet long with a 6.5-foot beam. Next was a wooden Alden Traveller, 42 feet long including the bowsprit. This boat was bought at an auction in Maine, its only crew being a family of squirrels living in the cabin. The total restoration of this boat provided excellent experience and insight for the family’s future as marine suppliers and consultants. Ultimately, in consideration of time constraints in care and maintenance, the Montagues bought their first fiberglass boat, a Bill Tripp-designed Galaxy 32.
Marine Exchange staff members tend to be avid sailors. Many race on their own or customers’ boats, in local waters or in larger regattas such as the Newport-to-Bermuda race. If a distant customer needs work done on a boat, Kevin, John, or another qualified staff member may go to the customer. On one occasion, John flew to Chicago to refit a Sea Tiger 34 moored in Lake Michigan. Not only did he construct the new rigging and spars to the customer’s specifications, he also saw to their proper installation.
On another occasion, Kevin received a desperate call from a customer in New Jersey, the owner of an older wooden boat. “I’m planning a sail down to the Caribbean,” he said, “but my insurance company won’t insure a boat with wooden masts on this kind or trip.” Kevin was soon aboard to step newer, aluminum masts.
Other staff members are equally accomplished and are on a first-name basis with many of their customers. Steve Barry, master splicer, is an expert in his field. He oversees the splicing of any line sold by Marine Exchange. He takes particular pride in his rope-to-chain splices. New England Ropes, based in New Bedford, is the supplier of choice.
Dawn York, the store’s purchaser, also happens to be the store’s expert on Global Positioning Systems. Marine Exchange may carry older gear, but it is well versed in all the new technologies and instruments. And Brian Muse, the company’s electrical expert, has the ability to break down even complex riddles into components that ordinary sailors can understand.
Marine Exchange continues to enjoy steady growth. Each year it mails more than 15,000 catalogs to people throughout the U.S. and Canada. Customers can call toll free, send an email message, or visit the company on its Internet site. During the noon hour on any day, the store is busy, with many customers and browsers sporting business attire. “Sure beats a corporate lunch,” one such customer told me with a wink.
Its inventories and services have grown considerably. Twenty-five percent of the in-store inventory has been previously used. Factory closeout sales and inventory overstocks on selected gear are common. As of this writing, there is a closeout sale on such Edson products as destroyer wheels, tri-spoke wheels, davits, and bilge pumps, many at a 50 percent or better discount.
Winch exchanges are a special service of Marine Exchange. The store sells new Lewmar self-tailing winches, and by special order, Harken winches. They will accept your old winch as partial payment according to its condition. Marine Exchange’s formula is: “Your old winches + Cash (not as much as you think) = New self-tailing winches for your boat.” The older winches are offered for sale at considerable savings.
Marine Exchange can make up new rigging or completely re-rig a boat for customers. The store also sells used marine engines, both diesel and gas, in addition to anchors, boom vangs, blocks, electronics, furling systems, navigation lights, ropes, spinnaker poles, paints, heads, shackles and deck hardware, rigging hardware, genoa systems, EPIRBs, and a trove of other essential marine products.
In spite of rapid growth, the company’s founding spirit has stayed with Marine Exchange. “I come here two or three times a week,” one customer explained to me, “either going to or from work or during lunch hour. I just like being here. The people are wonderful, and I always learn something. Sure I buy a lot, but the prices are right and the quality excellent. Here you get what you pay for and a whole lot more.”
“If that man doesn’t find what he wants,” Kevin added, a moment later, “we’ll refer him to another outlet, even though he’s one of our most loyal customers. What goes around comes around. Other stores have referred customers to us, and we’ll do the same for them. Maybe the sailing industry is unique in this respect, though I doubt it. It’s really just common sense.”
Arlene puts it this way: “We’re all sailors here. We love our boats, and we love our customers. It’s that partnership that makes our business work.”
Bill Hammond, has been in the publishing industry for 25 years as a salesman, editor, publisher, and investment banker. He is currently a publishing consultant and chairs the business advisory board of Good Old Boat magazine. He and his family sail a 1974 Cape Dory Typhoon on Minnesota’s Lake Minnetonka.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
