Boston Whaler only building 1 boat a month now- More Layoffs

[Seacat FL]

http://www.wftv.com/news/18214044/detail.html
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Boatmaker Lays Off Dozens In Volusia County
Friday, December 5, 2008 – updated: 6:02 pm EST December 5, 2008

EDGEWATER, Fla. -- Slumping boat sales have led to at least 70 more job cuts in Volusia County.

Edgewater boatmaker Boston Whaler laid off dozens of workers Friday. Employees said the cuts came without warning.

"We were just turned around at the guard shack, taken upstairs and told we didn't have a job," said Greg Eagle.

Eagle already put his truck up for sale. His wife is also out of work. They have no insurance.

Boston Whaler once employed more than 500 people in the city of 20,000. But former employees painted a new picture of the once buzzing factory.

"It's like a ghost town," said Eagle. "Three years ago we couldn't build 'em fast enough and now we're just getting by."

Employees said at one point, they used to build six boats a week. Lately, they were down to one a month.

No one was safe from the cuts. People from supervisors to line workers have been given pink slips.

"They explained it to us," said Eagle. "It's obviously the economy. Production's down, things are slow, and they're not selling boats like they used to."

The company president didn't return phone calls about the layoffs. Employees said some of the people who lost their jobs had just relocated to Edgwater a few months ago after losing their jobs at a plant in Palm Coast.
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This is on top of the 250 BW layed off last summer:
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http://www.wftv.com/news/16602670/detail.html
Slow Economy Taking Bite Out Of Local Boat Builder Boston Whaler
Friday, June 13, 2008

EDGEWATER, Fla. -- The slow economy has another Central Florida boat builder is cutting jobs.

Edgewater-based Boston Whaler, Inc. is expected to lay off 250 workers between the end of June and the end of August. That would represent nearly half of the plant's workforce
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[FASTFJR]

Maybe its time for a half price sale

[hanson]

Whaler stopped building a great boat when they moved out of Rockland ,Mass in pursuit of cheaper labor and taxes.

[adavefish2]

hanson - 12/6/2008 2:02 PM

Whaler stopped building a great boat when they moved out of Rockland ,Mass in pursuit of cheaper labor and taxes.

Looks like the boats are still holding their own. try buying even a used one. Resale is one thing, but the boats are just plain solid, no matter where they are built. And no, I do not own one...
It's the economy, pure & simple.

[thomas70]

They really aren't that great. Choppergun shot skin and foam filled, with no stringers. We have repair a bunch of them that had gotton water in the foam and froze popping the decks up.

[ant1]

thomas70 - 12/6/2008 3:43 PM

They really aren't that great. Choppergun shot skin and foam filled, with no stringers. We have repair a bunch of them that had gotton water in the foam and froze popping the decks up.

I'd have to agree,so so looks,tough ride. I had one,that was enough for me.

[CMP]

I'm with Hanson. I grew up in those boats. My dad was the controller for Whaler in Rockland back in the late 60's when Dick Fisher and Bob Dougherty were building boats. WHen they sold to that VC group and moved to FL, all went to shit and they pretty much just lived off the former glory...

CMP

[adavefish2]

OK, so Whalers suck.
They were still pumping them out not too long ago.
Maybe the economy really dose not matter, and everyone just decided that suddenly Whalers suck.
Anyway, good luck with the economy, even if Whaler do suck.

[meatdog]

I'm very happy with my 15' Whaler which I bought new from a dealer a few years ago. I take it into the ocean (inshore) on a regular basis. I don't see too many other small boats out there. The layoffs at the factory have to do with the recession, not diminished quality. No one is selling boats. When the economy improves, production will return to more normal levels. Boston Whaler still has a great reputation, whether you agree with that or not.

[JustFishOne]

Everglades just up the road cut 46 of its 224 workforce and has downgraded its forecast for 2009. No company is immune.

[HOOK SNOOK]

I have said this for years and no one took me seriously. It is my belief there are far to many boat dealers, and boat makers and the industry must do a painful cull. The same is true of car dealers and manufacturers. Far to many dealers,too many models, and I have always said sooner or later the economy will not be able to handle it. Maybe I am full of it but each day it appears maybe I may have been right, but who knows I am just one tiny voice amoung millions of voices all with varying opinions.

[rkatz]

What I have never understood, is why, instead of laying people off at the holidays, and succumbing to the pressure of generally crappy economy, these companies don't find a way to re-invent themselves, not just drop production and can people. I own a whaler, and I love it. It's a 2000 hull, and I would LOVE to have a complete factory refurb, to make it like new again. Seriously, how much could that cost? Perhaps they could do jobs like that, at cost, plus a bit for profit, and then, they wouldn't be canning as many employees, if any.

The way I see it, most (certainly not all) of the people that own a boat have at least some sort of disposable income, maybe less now than before, but it's there. So, if I already own a boat, and I don't have as much disposable income as before, I am less likely to buy a new boat, but I am way more likely to want to keep the boat I have in top shape, and I may be willing to spend some money to make it that way.

An added benefit of providing a service like this is extreme customer loyalty, which a brand like Whaler, which I agree has so-so looks, can't afford to lose. People who own Whalers, typically don't own them based only on looks, but rather on general reliability, quality, reputation, and toughness. Aside from customer loyalty, it keeps the resale value of used hulls up, which keeps the value of newer hulls even higher. Simple, no?

If anyone has a line in to these factories, I would love to know why they don't consider doing things like this.

[Joe]

The factory refurb thing has come up here before. I just don't think it's a viable market for anyone to get in--too many variables and expectations that can't be met for the budget most folks would want to pay. What's worse than working on a new boat? Working on an old neglected one with an owner that thinks for 5 grand he's going to get a new boat.

That said, I hate to hear of Whaler cutting jobs. I have a small one (a 170) that I really like.

[SCMako17]

I can appreciate Whaler's quality but their prices are off the charts. I think a new 13 is what about $15,000? I'd be curious what their margin is and how many more they could sell if their prices were more competitive.

[Butch Davis]

Back in the day Mercedes Benz had a factory refurb program for it's cars. Every car got the same treatment needed or not. Some had to go through the repair shop for specific problems before going through refurb. In those days virtually every taxi in Germany was a diesel Mercedes Benz. For obvious reasons that was the main client base.

IMO a factory refurb could be viable but not on a production line basis. As said, just too many variables and too low demand within a reasonable distance from the production facilities. There are plenty of local shops that can do just about any required repairs plus any refubishment one would care to have done.

[hanson]

adavefish2 - 12/6/2008 4:35 PM

OK, so Whalers suck.
They were still pumping them out not too long ago.
Maybe the economy really dose not matter, and everyone just decided that suddenly Whalers suck.
Anyway, good luck with the economy, even if Whaler do suck.

I wouldnt say they suck ,they are a good production boat,its just when they were building them with real craftsmen they were the best in the industry.

[Schmaltz~Herring]

thomas70 - 12/6/2008 1:43 PM

They really aren't that great. Choppergun shot skin and foam filled, with no stringers. We have repair a bunch of them that had gotton water in the foam and froze popping the decks up.

Personally, I think Intrepids and Contenders suck, flimsy sides to the Contenders and the chinzy and unthoughtful design of the Intrepids kept me in my Whaler.



In any event, it's always sad to hear of corporate cowardice when employees are just told on a Friday before Xmas to go packing. That's really the point not whether they make good boats or lousy boats.

p.s. Not one of you negative commentators has a boat manufactured by a Vendor thats been around 50 years and still has 50 year old product in use.

[thomas70]

Schmaltz, I have owned Whalers before, in the past before they became a Brunswick owned company, and they where decently built. Now Brunswick owns them and they depend on a reputation some one else built, while producing an average boat. Just like Brunswick does with every boat company they purchase. To Brunswick it's all about the bottom dollar at the end of the quarter.

[fourdfish]

I think if you check the employee meant down to one a month of a particular model. Not one a month in the plant!

[hanson]

Schmaltz~Herring - 12/7/2008 11:46 AM

Personally, I think Intrepids and Contenders suck, flimsy sides to the Contenders and the chinzy and unthoughtful design of the Intrepids kept me in my Whaler.



In any event, it's always sad to hear of corporate cowardice when employees are just told on a Friday before Xmas to go packing. That's really the point not whether they make good boats or lousy boats.

p.s. Not one of you negative commentators has a boat manufactured by a Vendor thats been around 50 years and still has 50 year old product in use.

The boats built in Rockland will still be in use long after some of the Florida boats will be in a landfill.BTW my boat was built by a lobsterman not a vendor.You miss the point.Its one of the reasons we're in this mess is because we put profit before quality.As long as our society puts out more lawyers than engineers we will stay on this road.