With the boat show behind us, I thought I would pass along some observations. It’s long, and the detail may be of interest only to folks in the business, so I’ll put the summary and the question up-front:
Summary: The show was not a bust, nor was it robust or confidence inspiring for the industry. Unique products sold pretty well (good for me) and “home improvement” items such as docks, lifts, etc. earned strong response. Boat sales were off for everyone, even with some pretty extreme incentives by a couple of manufacturers. I also spoke with some vendor reps that do multiple shows, who told me the New York show tracked in a similar fashion.
Question: What’s going on in your part of the world? How do the local marine businesses feel there?
Ok, now let me get my "bragging" out of the way. Marine Innovation enjoyed a great show. We had two product lines in the booth, with goals to build product awareness, make B2B contacts, and recruit local dealers. When people saw the product "installed" in the booth, they "got it". Inquiries ranged from marinas, to dock builders, to individuals. For us it was an overwhelming success, with the booth clogging the isle several times on Saturday, the heaviest traffic day.
Now, on to the show in general; these comments are based on my own perspective at the show, (from the little, marine accessories section booths), and networking with other vendors, including dock builders, lift installers, several major boat dealers I have relationships with, and even some non-marine product booths.
The traffic pattern of the show was different this year than in years past. Wednesday and Thursday are typically B2B days, with a little traffic in the evenings lead by folks that are trying to avoid the weekend rush.
This year, Wednesday felt heavier with consumer traffic, and boat sales indicated this. This is the one day of the show on which sales outpaced last year. It looks like the buyers that knew they were buying came out early to get it done.
Thursday provided more afternoon traffic than normal, but no buyers. It was a strange crowd of folks wandering the isles, drinking, and just gawking. They didn't seem to be looking for anything but a diversion from whatever else they should have been doing. Thursday evening was strangely quite. There was some traffic, but not on par with last year. Boat sales were slim across the floor.
Friday night is normally when the "fun" starts. Traffic was what I would call "normal" in my area, but slower than the boat dealers would have liked. While booths had folks in them, and there were people that appeared to be shopping, but the excitement level was lower, and contracts weren't being signed at the same rate as last year.
Saturday offered us a bit of a rush in the AM and early afternoon hours, that dropped off severely around dinner time. A couple of external factors may have affected this. First, the Cirqus is in town (Cirque du Soleil). Second, there was a Monster Truck Rally in the building next door. The Monster Trucks may have competed for some of our audience, but of more impact was the reporting by local news stations that 80k people were expected downtown between the two events, causing heavy traffic, and parking issues. I heard from several folks on the floor that friends that were planning to come down had called to say they weren’t coming based on this reporting. The end result was a disappointing Saturday for most. The “highlight” of this day for me was intervening in a parking lot situation on the way out between four young guys and one young girl. I’m not a patient or nice person when I see guys laying hands on ladies, especially in numbers. Angela got to see a taste of my dark side.
Sunday was slower than normal from the outset. We had a couple of rushes during the day, but again, traffic and sales were off overall, though I only spoke to a few folks as we were breaking down, and don’t have a feel for how much “off” everyone was on Sunday.
So if you took the time to read all of this, you probably have a personal or professional interest in the state of the marine industry. How are things going where you boat?
