West Marine files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

West Marine, which is based in South Florida and operates more than 230 stores in 34 states and Puerto Rico, has announced it is filing for bankruptcy.

West Marine in Anacortes match prices for Fisheries (Seattle) and Amazon.

Another victim of online shopping? They pulled out of Canada years ago. Strangely, the local small chandleries are doing OK. I still like to do some touch and feel before I buy.

Not surprised. Their prices are ridiculous. Almost understandable for truly marine hardware but they charge crazy prices for cleaning products etc that can be purchased many other places. I haven't bought anything from them in several years.

I have a West Marine Pro account, but I find prices and service are better on Amazon.

Simple example below. How do they compete? THE only reason to buy from them is if you have a local store and must have the item today. Assuming it's in stock.

I know the boating market is not doing great right now, but this is another example of private equity firms coming in, purchasing a company, doing a quick double of their money by putting the company into massive debt. The company has nearly 800 million in debt and absolutely nothing to show for it. But don't worry, everything these private equity firms do is totally legal.

West Marine has announced the list of stores they are closing including 5 Washington based-stores found in the court documents. Those include Port Townsend, Bellingham, Spokane, Everett, and Bremerton.

Here is a list of all the stores closing:

* WM Rochester — Irondequoit, NY
* WM N. Olmsted — North Olmstead, OH
* WM Toms River — Tom's River, NJ
* WM Baltimore Harbor — Baltimore, MD
* WMX Vineyard Haven — Vineyard Haven, MA
* WM Lafayette — Lafayette, LA
* WM Anderson — Anderson, SC
* WM Portland — Portland, ME
* WM Pt. Charlotte — Port Charlotte, FL
* WM Grand Haven — Grand Haven, MI
* WM Muskegon — Muskegon, MI
* WM Bonita Springs — Bonita Springs, FL
* WM Palm Coast — Palm Coast, FL
* WM Reno — Reno, NV
* WM Raleigh — Raleigh, NC
* WM Antioch — Pittsburg, CA
* WM Winter Haven — Winter Haven, FL
* WM Eatontown — Eatontown, NJ
* WM Osage Beach — Osage Beach, MO
* WM Bensalem — Bensalem, PA
* WMX Monterey — Monterey, CA
* WM Port Townsend — Port Townsend, WA
* WMX Dog River — Mobile, AL
* WM Marblehead — Marblehead, MA
* WM Bellingham — Bellingham, WA
* WM Winthrop Harbor — Winthrop Harbor, IL
* WM Fox Lake — Fox Lake, IL
* WM Fernandina — Fernandina Beach, FL
* WM Southwest Harbor — Southwest Harbor, ME
* WM Spokane — Spokane, WA
* WM Watertown — Watertown, NY
* WM Murrells Inlet — Murrells Inlet, SC
* WM Ocean City — Ocean City, MD
* WM Redding — Redding, CA
* WM Bay City — Bay City, MI
* WMX Oriental — Oriental, NC
* WM Milwaukee — Greenfield, WI
* WM South Orlando — Orlando, FL
* WM Savannah — Savannah, GA
* WM Edgewater — Edgewater, MD
* WM Glen Allen — Glen Allen, VA
* WM Tigard — Tigard, OR
* WM Port Washington — Port Washington, NY
* WM Sandusky — Sandusky, OH
* WM Everett — Everett, WA
* WM Chula Vista — Chula Vista, CA
* WM Venice — Venice, FL
* WM Petoskey — Petoskey, MI
* WMX Port Royal — Port Royal, SC
* WM Rock Hall — Rock Hall, MD
* WM North Myrtle Beach — North Myrtle Beach, SC
* WM Oceanside — Oceanside, CA
* WM Cleveland — Cleveland, OH
* WM Jacksonville Beach — Jacksonville, FL
* WM St. Clair Shores — St. Clair Shores, MI
* WM Troy — Troy, MI
* WM Cape May — Cape May, NJ
* WM
Bremerton — Bremerton, WA
* WM Knoxville — Knoxville, TN

Agree with the Private Equity comment above. In addition, I noted over the last year - they stupidly forgot to stock up on the basic items - every time I went to pick something up I needed that day - to finish a project - they were out of the popular sizes & selections but had plenty of the “black colored caulking” and size 14 boat shoes…

They were the last place you could actually go and buy something that is needed right away close to Palo Alto. Ironically, the first physical retail store for West Marine opened in 1975 in Palo Alto, California. Pricing has not been an issue for years since they will match Amazon.

About three weeks ago we were at Isle of Hope Marina, and needed a 50amp to 30 amp splitter because a lot of marinas could not get us two 30amp power outlets. We used the marina's loaner car to drive to the Savannah, GA store. Not only could we not find someone that was knowledgeable, all the shelves were pretty much empty. I read several of the reviews about this store and they said that a year or two earlier all of the knowledgeable people who had been there for years and had real world commercial boating experience had been fired. I thought it was just a poorly managed store. I did not realize they had been bought out by a private equity firm. I wonder if Safe Harbor Marinas are not going to head the same way now that they have been bought by a private equity firm.

Sounds like the same thing that happened in all the WM stores around us. But don't worry the CEO got a 1.2 million dollar bonus at the end of last year, so everybody important was taken care of.

We have a big WM Store in the neighborhood, and when you walk in the front half on left side is Fishing Poles, and the Front half on the right is is clothing, and a 1/3 of that space is shoes. Boat stuff is on the back wall and not much there fits my boat, and cleaning and lube products (Marine Grade) are high priced. 409 at the grocery store does as good a job. Local Family run chandlery has a much better selection of stuff that I need that fits my boat, and much better pricing.

My main use of West Marine has been stainless screws, nuts, and assorted hardware. I'll miss that part, but their prices for most everything is not reasonable. I went into my store in North Myrtle Beach, SC yesterday and they're putting up signs of 10-40% off as that store is closing in August. So, I looked for items I might want to buy and ended up wasting time (not money). All the items on sale were overpriced to begin with and things that I might be interested in weren't on sale.

Some sketchy executive "retention" bonuses paid out not one week ago.

I went into the wrong business.

The Everett branch is already on clearance... 20% to 40% sales. Staff guesses they'll be gone by Labor Day.

Lots of tools, electronics, kayaks, consumables, etc all on sale. Some decent deals when I did my walkthrough today.