MarineMax CEO and president Brett McGill believes the US recreational boating industry has “many years of great things ahead” and that the Covid-19 pandemic-induced boating boom has permanently expanded the market, setting the stage for “many, many years of growth” ahead of it. But it has also hastened a change in how people buy boats.

McGill’s comments came during a live video interview hosted on the Clearwater, Florida-based mega retailer’s social media channels as part of a regular series.

2020 was a good year for the industry and MarineMax, which saw two major acquisitions – Northrop & Johnson, the yacht brokerage and management firm with 12 locations worldwide; and Skipper Bud’s, another retail chain with over 20 locations in seven states – part of what McGill describes as a strategy to service the MarineMax customer, wherever they might be.

McGill said the Northrop & Johnson purchase compliments the addition of Fraser Yachts to the MarineMax fold in 2019.

“We would grow a customer [to the level of a 120ft yacht) over a 10 or 20-year relationship,” McGill explained, “and we didn’t have the ability to truly take care of them with yacht management, crew placement or how to charter the boat properly, so we went and found companies to bring them into the family to help us with that.”

The addition of Skipper Bud’s in October – the largest single acquisition in MarineMax history – “rounds out a nice footprint in the United States,” McGill said, referring to the former’s four west coast and 15 Midwest locations. McGill cited the similar history between MarineMax and the 60-year-old Skipper Bud’s, both family-run companies with the leadership mantel passed from father to son.

“[Skipper Bud’s] is a company we’ve known for many years that operates on the same values and culture of team that we do,” McGill said.

The key to the future is making both buying and owning a boat easier, McGill said, pointing to a new online platform – also acquired this year – that will improve communication with customers.

MarineMax entered the “virtual” boat show arena ahead of the pandemic, and has hosted several events. McGill said that fundamentally, boat shows as we know them today, are likely a thing of the past.

“I envision boat shows with the hottest new models displayed batter,” McGill explained. “Maybe it’s not 35 boats at a show, but 10 with all the new features and technology that people have heard about or watched a video and now they can touch and feel it.

“It used to be, you HAD to go to a boat show to see three or four of the newest models. Nowadays, people come to the boat show and say ‘I want to see the 400 SLX Sea Ray,” he added.

McGill shared the lament of many in the industry that boat shows are too big, too time-consuming, and too expensive, emphasising that the pandemic has made people more comfortable with online research and even making major purchases virtually.

“We’d rather keep our pricing intact and invest in our customer get-a-ways and back-off of the big, big boat shows, “because, I’m not sure that’s what the customers really want anymore.”

 

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