New dealer in Great Lakes

[colbysmith]

https://digitaledition.greatlakesscuttlebutt.com/?m=3584&i=824814&p=26&ver=html5

[ssobol]

Hopefully they'll have some interest in this site.

[NorthWater]

Hello C-Brats. I'm the owner of R&R Marine Supply and have long been a fan of C-Dorys. I have actually been a lurker on this site for many years as well. I'm very interested in being involved in the site and helping in any way that I can.

[colbysmith]

Welcome. Good to see you here. Always nice to get dealer's perspective on things that may pop up now and then. Can you tell us a little bit about your self? Ie, name, how long you've been in the business. What made you decide to carry the C-Dory brand? Thanks. Colby

[NorthWater]

Thanks for the welcome.

I'm a bit shy about sharing too much personal stuff online but here are the professional/business details that are pertinent:

I've been on and around boats my entire life. I'm a mechanical engineer by education and spent the first many years of my career in West Michigan working as an engineer at a couple of different companies. For the desire of a change I started looking at several business ideas and contemplated several very seriously. It was at this time that I initially started the idea of being a C-Dory dealer. Through the business changes and company ownership adjustments that were taking place it just never came to anything.

I got very serious in 2010 and started down the path of purchasing an existing business in the UP.

We (more than just myself) took over Riverview Resort and Marina in Barbeau, MI officially in 2012. This business consists of rental cabins for summer guests. We also are a storage/service boat yard with an old 25 Ton Travel Lift a hydraulic trailer and 2 large storage buildings.

In 2017 we (my wife and I) took over R&R Marine Supply in Sault Ste. Marie to compliment the marina and give us substantially more potential on the retail side of things. This also allowed us to tap into a strong reputation and customer base instead of building from scratch on our own.

We have done several things to bring the business into the current times with strong use of the internet, social media and bringing in new and different brands and product lines.

R&R had historically been a Johnson dealer and Starcraft boat dealer with ties back to an older family business back into the 40s and 50s. R&R was officially opened in the early 60s and continued with the Starcraft and Johnson brands. Many other brands and products came and went but we are still a Starcraft dealer and we were an Evinrude dealer until the plug was pulled on the brand.

Through the years Mercury/Mercruiser were brought in and we continue as a full line Mercury outboard dealer.

The business also brought in the Crestliner boats brand many years ago and we do continue to carry that brand also.

We have a strong technical knowledge and strong understanding of boats, motors and all things mechanical.

In general terms the business has always been a fishing centered primarily aluminum boat dealer. Although brands like Larson, Glastron, Thompson and others have been sold at one time or another.

In my tenure we have seen a distinct shift toward more big water fishing boats. I recognized early on that our customers were moving up and looking for some higher end products.

For the past several years we have been very focused on Heavy Gauge Aluminum boats.

We started off with the Smoker Craft North American Angler series of boats but in 2019 we also picked up the Thunder Jet brand. In 2023 we picked up the RH Aluminum Boats brand and in 2024 we picked up the Extreme Boats (New Zeeland) brand.

Along with all of this I had been watching several other brands come into the Great Lakes and still saw strong potential for the C-Dory brand along with Osprey and Sea Sport. It was actually in 2020 that I reached out the the factory again to see if they wanted a dealer in the Great Lakes region. As was the case through the whole industry at that time, there was no available capacity and no new dealers were being signed.

Now as demand has fallen and capacity was available, the factory reached out and we came to an agreement to carry all 3 brands.

With all that said R&R Marine Supply is a small operation in a small far Northern Michigan city. We enjoy working closely with each customer we serve. We are fully capable to rig new boats, do repowers on existing boats and store and maintain all boats.

We carry the following brands in the marine industry:

Mercury (full line dealer & Repower center)
Thunder Jet
RH Aluminum Boats
Starcraft (Pontoon, Deck, Fish)
Smoker Craft
Crestliner
Extreme Boats
C-Dory
Osprey
Sea Sport

[colbysmith]

Thanks for that info. Sounds like a good place to compare the aluminum with fiberglass boats. Personally, I have seen a lot more of the C-Dory's in the midwest recently. In fact, on my last trip to the Apostle Islands a month ago I saw six other C-Dory's out on the water, whereas several years ago I'd be surprised to see one out on the water. I know of two that are kept in the Bayfield marina, but these weren't one of the six. Even one of the gals working at the Madeline Island Yacht Club asked me if there was something going on with C-Dory's this summer, as she has seen so many this year. I've also seen several postings on the Face Book C-Dory groups of folks with new C-Dory's. (OK, those appear to be mostly used boats, but I believe there have been some new ones spoken of as well.) Thanks again for speaking up here on C-Brats. I think we've got a wealth of knowledge and experience in this group, and FB will never be able to gather and produce this amount of knowledge and experience in such an easily searchable space. BTW, My first exposure to the C-Dory was at a outfitters store in either Duluth or Superior. I don't believe they have C-Dory's anymore, and not even sure if they are still in existence. Colby

[thataway]

Welcome aboard. A great introduction--which helps us all.