West Marines Hours in West Michigan

[Line Dancin]

I have been emailing with West Marine about their store hours. The grand rapids and holland stores for the last few years have changed their hours and only open till five during the week including summer months. This means when i need to work on something on the boat i have to wait till the weekend to get things when i would rather be fishing. I would rather be able to get what i need one evening earlier in the week and have the weekday nights to fix or mount what ever i need to do instead of trying to do it during the weekend when i want to fish. I finally have gotten in touch after emailing and complaining about this for months to them with someone that seems to actually care about customer service. They are looking for imput on having a night during the week open later to accomadate people that work till 5. At this time they are planning on only keeping stores open during the summer again till 5 pm. What the lady told me was to let people know and have them go to the site click on customer service and send a complaint about the stores hours and which location you frequent during the week and she will be recieveing them. If they get enough comments on it they are considering having a night open late to try and increase traffic in their stores.

[danthebuilder]

Time to quit going local and start ordering off the internet.

[Line Dancin]

Time to quit going local and start ordering off the internet.

I've been doing that from time to time but i hate paying the shipping and then having to wait.

[ekbelt]

I have found shipping is typically cheaper than gas to drive to the store... although you still have to wait to get it.

[Leafybug]

I get a lot of parts from the "east coast" dealers like jamestown distributors. Ussually, the shipping is only like 5 bucks. customer service is perfect, and west marine is over priced and not any more local than a internet company. (other than having a local retail outlet) If you do a little shopping around, you can even find free shipping over 100 dollars almost everywhere, and with my expierience with boats that is pretty easy to spend. Best of luck

[Far Beyond Driven]

People with the money to buy stuff at West Marine don't tend to have to work the hours we do......

[Line Dancin]

People with the money to buy stuff at West Marine don't tend to have to work the hours we do......

True very true. I try not to go there but there are those times in a pinch that you have to get something.

[Just Hook'n]

Thanks for the post. I'll be sure to go online and provide some feedback.

It would be nice to have a night during the week they are open, as I too run into either waiting until the weekend or trying to send the wife to get something and failing miserably at explaining to her what I want.

[steeliebob]

Time to quit going local and start ordering off the internet.

I happen to own a small business and I can tell you that the places on the internet do not support your kids school sports programs and many many other community programs. Buying local supports the local economy. Work with the business owner and you can get what you want when you want it.

[danthebuilder]

I happen to own a small business and I can tell you that the places on the internet do not support your kids school sports programs and many many other community programs. Buying local supports the local economy. Work with the business owner and you can get what you want when you want it.

Thanks for the lies & misinformation.

SINCERELY, That internet guy who lives in a local Michigan community that has donated thousands of dollars and has spent several thousand hours volunteering in a local youth program.

Now, saying all that. If you really want to help out your local community. Stop making decisions that are putting yourself out of business. Complaining about those internet guys doesn't change anyone's minds. You've got to adapt. You can call your local vo-tech that kids in your high school go to. Talk to the teacher that handles the computer kids. Tell him you're looking to adapt and put your business online. You'd like to hire some kid part time. Have the kid setup an ecommerce website with already existing free software that's out there for guys like you. You can pay this kid minimum wage. He'll be estatic having a job not inside a mcdonalds. After he's done building the website. Have him research & implement a plan on how to get you to rank on google for the products you sell. I will also tell you a secret about the internet. You can charge more than everyone else & make a killing. You don't have to beat everyone on price on every item. Your higher price makes them trust that you're legit. Its a great thing. I have tested this time and time again. Once you get going. Figure out what the average person spends on your website. If they spend on average $50. Offer free shipping on all orders above $85-100. Raise your prices a little bit to pay for this. You will see your average orders & profits raise.

[silver one]

Time to quit going local and start ordering off the internet.

Ditto. West Marine is a chain store and you can order everything on line from them. However I find overton's to be a better priced store with alot more to choose from and if you want something specific then buy directly from the manufacturer. As far as buying local. I am all for it, but not every town in america has a sore around the corner with a place to buy what you need to equip a boat for the big lake.

[MY2SONS]

I've been doing that from time to time but i hate paying the shipping and then having to wait.

Not exactly sure what things you're looking to buy, but I'd suggest going to Boat Services at Yacht Basin Marina. They have, or can get very quickly, most things you can get at West Marine except cheaper! West Marine price gouges a lot of there stuff.