Our Dealers   

      We've found that a key element in growing our business has been paying attention to what's going on. (Not a radical concept, we know.) In the past we had as many as 18 dealers....and were delighted when each came aboard. Then, over time, we found that this approach didn't work. Specifically, we found that we were selling boats for 7% less than it cost us to make them...and the dealers thought they were working with skinny margins!

     Almost without exception we have remained friends with these folks, they wish us well and we wish the same to them. It has been a painful transition....but a necessary one.

      There is a change on the horizon. Orvis has expressed an interest in our boats and it looks as if they will be coming on board. On many levels we find Orvis to be an extraordinary company. Their focus, their size, their marketing power, the quality of their products and the quality of their people.....we think this may be an wonderful partnership. With our blessings they have renamed one of our boats, calling it the Orvis Vermont Fishing Dory. The New York Post has called it Orvis's signature boat, commemorating their 150th Anniversary.

      But, you ask, what about the negative margins we've encountered when selling to dealers? Well, Orvis is a big company and it takes time for things to happen. They have photo shoots scheduled, catalogs to design and print and a new section of their website to build. We hope that this delay will give us an opportunity to work on our manufacturing processes and are hopeful that it will all come out right.

The Orvis Vermont Fishing Dory in their flagship store in Manchester VT