A trip to Sam's Club usually involves picking up 10 pounds of hamburger, a large bag of bell peppers, a gallon of olive oil and a few pair of jeans. But soon, Sam's customers may have a new buying opportunity as they troll down the big-box aisles–a chance to buy a boat from Genmar, the maker of Carver, Four Winns, Scarab and 10 other brands.
Earlier this month, Genmar's founder and chief executive, Irwin Jacob, told reporters gathered at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that he is working to finalize a deal with Sam's Club that would allow the Wal-Mart division to market all of his company's boat brands. Jacob said the effort would target a relatively untapped market: People who don't currently own boats.
Sam's ClubSam's Club may sell Genmar boats if the deal goes through.
The arrangement would represent a radical departure for recreational boating manufacturers, who are increasingly desperate to counter the economic slowdown of the past two years. According to Jacob, the market segment represented by entry-level boats–all the way up to 30-foot cruisers–is shrinking. As a result, the dealer inventory and delivery pipelines are going through what he called "a purging process," with production having slowed and aggressive sales tactics in place at the retail level.
Jacob talked candidly, criticizing his industry for its incestuous marketing practices, which he said are contributing to falling boat sales among first-time owners. "We don't market to people" who aren't already boaters, Jacob said.
While it is unclear how consumers will react to the proposition of buying an expensive, high-quality boat from a "big box" chain, the result could be cost savings, at least in the deal's initial stages.
Under the proposed plan, Sam's Club would do the marketing in its 580 nationwide stores for Genmar-brand boats, with the final sales agreements finalized by local Genmar dealers, Jacob said. The carrot for Sam's Club customers is a 1 percent rebate of the final purchase price of the boat they buy. Jacob said the program would likely be rolled out in steps, as early as late this year, in several of "test markets" like Florida and Texas.
