Use West Marine Coupon: WMAFF and get $15 off on all orders!
Copy the Coupon and go to www.WestMarine.com
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When you think of West Marine there are a lot of things that come to mind, great products, great prices and knowledge employees to name a few and its history is something that seems to be standard with how most business come about.
Lets take a look at how Randy Reprass transformed his humble nylon rope selling business that he held in his garage into the West Marine that we have all come to know of today. As of current West Marine has over 300 stores located throughout the United States with locations Canada and Puerto Rico and an inventory that exceeds 50,000 products. Along with its physical locations there is the online aspect of West Marine where they are able to reach over 150 different countries throughout the world.
Like how many so other business started out, Randy Reprass was unsatisfied with the amount of inventory that local sailing shops had on hand and never looked forward to dealing with the few salty employees that they had managing the small, damp, lightly lit stores. West Marine Coupons let you shop online so you never have to worry about a store. So in 1968 Randy started selling nylon rope out of his garage under the name West Coast Ropes. The original business model that he operated under was that of a mail order one where he would occasionally have a local customer that would rather swing by and pick up their order.
As more and more customers came by to pick up their orders they would ask Randy if he carried other products, at the time it was strictly nylon rope but that is when the ball really started to roll. Now there are thousands of product to choose from with West Marine Coupons for them all. He remembered how bad he dis-liked shopping at the local boating supply stores and decided that if he was going to carry more products that he would need more room. In 1975 Randy opened his first real retail location in Palo Alto, California.
With the new location now open things just kept picking up, and with all the customer he was receiving he also began to get more request for products. So in 1977 West Coast Ropes acquired assets from a Boston-based company by the name of West Products. West Product was a widely know mail-order company and with the new products West Coast Ropes renamed to West Marine to reflect the new acquisition with West Products. Under the new name of West Marine in 1978 West Marine opened its own wholesale division which allowed from them to sell directly to boat yards, boat dealers, charter fleets and government accounts.
Nearly a decade past before any major milestones happened but in 1987 the first catalog containing all of West Marines products was produced. It was a black-and-white, 330 page catalog that has since more then tripled in size and contains full-color photos and thousands of additional products. Save on current products with West Marine Coupons.
In 1991 West Marine made its way to the east coast where it opened its first doors to customers in New York, Florida and Virginia to name a few locations. And in 1993 West Marine went public which no doubt had a major impact on it’s growth rate. But the growth really reached it’s largest growth period in 1996 when West Marine merged with B&M Marine, which at the time was one of the largest and most respected competitors of West Marine. This merger made West Marine 300%+ larger then its closest competitor. But with West Marine Coupons you can still be sure that you are getting the best price around!
Moving into the 21st century there was still a milestone to be-had by West Marine and in 2003 West Marine acquired a long term retail and catalog competitor BoatU.S. Both companies shared similar values and felt that the merger was the right fit for both of them.
Randy says that the companies success is because of the principles he started back in 1968 with West Coast Ropes, where he wanted to offer great products at a great price to the community that he loves so much, the boating community.
And do not forget to use the above West Marine Coupon to save some money on your next purchase!
