Just curious why you dislike Amazon. Is it because you don't like to compete with them? I don't get why anyone would dislike any particular business if it supplies you with what you need, unless they are using their profits for evil purposes or don't treat their employees well or something like that.
I dislike them because they are predatory in their selling and pricing methods and give a misimpression to the market as to what is a reasonable price. This is because the margin on sales by them is not one that is profitable. Hence you see them raising the Prime charge once again and their major profits are from their operation of their cloud and other computer services. Meanwhile, they continue after more business segments with approaches that hurt a lot of businesses. Similarly, practices like free shipping are much like free lunch in that there is no such thing. Ultimately, the problem is that no one, Amazon included, can sell profitably at their prices and provide free shipping. It's also very difficult for their third party sellers.
I have no problem competing with them, but more and more for certain products which I don't sell, they are becoming the only source and I don't see that as good for anyone. It's like Prime, they got people all in, now substantial increases in price, but many feel they have no choice.
I once was anti-Walmart, but over the last few years they've become far better retail citizens even though still quite aggressive.
I think there is a point at which a company gets so large and pervasive, it's no longer in the public interest. That's why we have laws on monopolies and I do think the time will come in which Amazon will be forced to split. Whether that will be good or bad, I don't know. I think the verdict is still out on most forced splits. I don't think Amazon's ever increasing level and pervasiveness in so many areas is ultimately healthy for other businesses or for the consumer.
Understand too that long ago Jeff Bezos predicted a limited life for this run of Amazon. Even he saw the level of rise and success as not being sustainable at some point. We'll just wait and see, but they're never my first choice of purchasing options.
Now back to West Marine vs. Defender. I think Defender has always have a clear vision of who they were and what they were doing. Will that change with the sale, I don't know. I believe West Marine has long been lost and confused and with each change of management and ownership has only become more so, not less. I don't see any clear strategy or plan. I see nothing to build customer loyalty and constantly shifting strategies, none of which are truly executed. I don't think they know who they are or who they want to be. In no way do I attribute their problems to Amazon or anyone else, just to them. The segments I'd compare them to in looking for solutions are automotive where Advanced, Autozone, O'Reilly, and NAPA are successful and Hardware where Ace, True Value, Do It Best, Lowes and Home Depot are successful. With decent management and adequate capital, West Marine could have been successful, perhaps still could be, but I think time is rapidly running out. Then, as much as we complain, we will be down one major resource.