Now that Suntex is buying Westrec and they and Safe Harbor have both shown they intend to be aggressive, what might that mean to all of us? Just a few thoughts.
Potential Positives
-Improves the quality of marinas. Standards are set, maintenance done, rules enforced.
-Saves marinas which otherwise might not survive as no family to take over and difficult to find a buyer.
-Puts marinas in a stronger position to weather storms, literally or figuratively. The predecessor of Safe Harbor was destroyed by the recession. Now they're part of a public company though.
-Creates a continued niche for the smaller, privately owned marina. They have their place and flourish.
Potential Negatives
-Higher prices for services and no free rides on anything, from trash to docking to pick up friends to docking to eat nearby.
-Financial problems don't impact one marina, but impact a chain of marinas, causing poorer service and higher prices.
-Smaller, individual marinas, can't compete and can't survive.
My feelings.
I have mixed feelings. I hope Hippocampus posts in this thread as well as he's already expressed what I think most feel, a concern anytime a corporate group takes over mom and pop. I'm guilty of doing that as we've acquired many mom and pop businesses. I think we've grown and enhanced them and I know many wouldn't have survived otherwise, but as a consumer it always concerns me and we're not large enough to change things that much.
We're seeing a lot of consolidation in other industries and we go through periods. Then there are some breakups, but those often don't go well. Some do. One of the largest apparel companies, VF, split their jeans business of Wrangler and Lee off into Kontoor Brands.
I've tried to think of something to compare to the marina war. It's not happened to that extent in apartments, but it is to some degree in rental homes where a few companies are going wild. I came up with another possible comparison. The vast majority of independent hardware stores are now either Ace, True Value or Do It Best. There are a couple of others like CNRG which has 139 stores, but the big three have 15,000. The difference is the brand doesn't own them. The store owners can hold the brand accountable. In fact, in the case of Ace, the store owners are the owners of the brand. Still, it's nearly impossible to operate a hardware store today without aligning with one of the three. I think the three do a good job, but still you can't buy well enough to compete, unless you have 139 stores like CNRG.
The unknown future is always scary. We think, "What if the two decided...." We think the worse, both deciding no boats over 2 years old. Both deciding no wooden boats. Both deciding no gas engines. Do they wield enough power to adversely impact us. We cruised last summer in Croatia and ACI dominates there with 22 marinas. Very nice marinas, but not cheap. We loved them, but that leaves a scary thought, do they price some boaters out of the market? Perhaps they have quality and it's worth it, but it leaves some who just can't afford it and no where else for them to go. I hope not, but that's they type thing we all fear.
RV parks are an example of a realm with only a couple of major players. Likely better parks, but more expensive. It leaves some searching and then parking for nights in Walmart parking lots. When we traveled in a Sprinter, I was surprised at the pricing, as much as a cheap motel.
Now, my opinion on this. Both participants are too small to greatly impact the boating universe. I think they will impact certain areas. I do think there are some places, some boaters will have a hard time finding a slip. However, even if they hit 500 marinas before competition or sell offs, they'd still be small. There are 12,000 marinas and 1.1 million slips in the country. I look at them like we look at malls or office buildings and would say then 4000 Class A, 4000 Class B, and 4000 Class C. Now, they're targeting Class A, maybe a few B, but until they hit 1000-1200 marinas, they don't scare me, and I don't think they ever will.
Oh, and while you show concern, don't blame the company acquiring the marinas. It's the marina owner who decided to take the money and run. All free market transactions.
Potential Positives
-Improves the quality of marinas. Standards are set, maintenance done, rules enforced.
-Saves marinas which otherwise might not survive as no family to take over and difficult to find a buyer.
-Puts marinas in a stronger position to weather storms, literally or figuratively. The predecessor of Safe Harbor was destroyed by the recession. Now they're part of a public company though.
-Creates a continued niche for the smaller, privately owned marina. They have their place and flourish.
Potential Negatives
-Higher prices for services and no free rides on anything, from trash to docking to pick up friends to docking to eat nearby.
-Financial problems don't impact one marina, but impact a chain of marinas, causing poorer service and higher prices.
-Smaller, individual marinas, can't compete and can't survive.
My feelings.
I have mixed feelings. I hope Hippocampus posts in this thread as well as he's already expressed what I think most feel, a concern anytime a corporate group takes over mom and pop. I'm guilty of doing that as we've acquired many mom and pop businesses. I think we've grown and enhanced them and I know many wouldn't have survived otherwise, but as a consumer it always concerns me and we're not large enough to change things that much.
We're seeing a lot of consolidation in other industries and we go through periods. Then there are some breakups, but those often don't go well. Some do. One of the largest apparel companies, VF, split their jeans business of Wrangler and Lee off into Kontoor Brands.
I've tried to think of something to compare to the marina war. It's not happened to that extent in apartments, but it is to some degree in rental homes where a few companies are going wild. I came up with another possible comparison. The vast majority of independent hardware stores are now either Ace, True Value or Do It Best. There are a couple of others like CNRG which has 139 stores, but the big three have 15,000. The difference is the brand doesn't own them. The store owners can hold the brand accountable. In fact, in the case of Ace, the store owners are the owners of the brand. Still, it's nearly impossible to operate a hardware store today without aligning with one of the three. I think the three do a good job, but still you can't buy well enough to compete, unless you have 139 stores like CNRG.
The unknown future is always scary. We think, "What if the two decided...." We think the worse, both deciding no boats over 2 years old. Both deciding no wooden boats. Both deciding no gas engines. Do they wield enough power to adversely impact us. We cruised last summer in Croatia and ACI dominates there with 22 marinas. Very nice marinas, but not cheap. We loved them, but that leaves a scary thought, do they price some boaters out of the market? Perhaps they have quality and it's worth it, but it leaves some who just can't afford it and no where else for them to go. I hope not, but that's they type thing we all fear.
RV parks are an example of a realm with only a couple of major players. Likely better parks, but more expensive. It leaves some searching and then parking for nights in Walmart parking lots. When we traveled in a Sprinter, I was surprised at the pricing, as much as a cheap motel.
Now, my opinion on this. Both participants are too small to greatly impact the boating universe. I think they will impact certain areas. I do think there are some places, some boaters will have a hard time finding a slip. However, even if they hit 500 marinas before competition or sell offs, they'd still be small. There are 12,000 marinas and 1.1 million slips in the country. I look at them like we look at malls or office buildings and would say then 4000 Class A, 4000 Class B, and 4000 Class C. Now, they're targeting Class A, maybe a few B, but until they hit 1000-1200 marinas, they don't scare me, and I don't think they ever will.
Oh, and while you show concern, don't blame the company acquiring the marinas. It's the marina owner who decided to take the money and run. All free market transactions.