Economy update

The Ottawa Boat Show was considered to be very successful by George's Marine & Sports.  By the response at the show it appears that consumers want to take advantage of the manufacturer deals (only available for a short period of time).   This allowed many to purchase the boats and pwc's of their dreams.  At our booth we were lucky to have the Regal Boat rep Peter Hanna and the Bayliner rep Bryan Downs.  When making a boat purchase it is nice to be able to ask the manufacturer's representative questions about their boat line.  Unfortunately, the Sea-Doo reps were in San Diego at their yearly Ski-Doo sales meeting.  I think though all working the Sea-Doo booth were able to hold their own when answering questions about the product.
Staff had to work into the evening to tear down the display and we got an early start this morning moving boats in this crazy weather.  It is much easier when we know that all of the efforts put into the show were worth it.

Getting Ready For The Boat Show

The Ottawa Boat Show is, for us at Georges, a strong indicator of how the boat season is going to unfold.  With manufacturers no longer playing the supply and demand game but instead the demand & supply one, consumers come to the show because they want to be guaranteed their boat's arrival for the long weekend of May or early June.  Because of the importance of this show much consideration is given to the size of booth and the display that will showcase the boats brought to the show.
This year we decided to leave the main building so we could have an area that would let us showcase Regal Boats properly.  So we are in the Coliseum building which caused sleepless nights worrying if this was the right move or not.  The following is a pictorial on how the move to the show works.

This gives you an idea of how many boats are involved and the number of trips we make from our Ottawa location to the show location.  Before this shot is even taken there are trips done prior weeks to get all the boats at one location.  Every trip from Eganville to Ottawa meant 

travelling with a boat behind you.

Shrinkwrapping the boats mean that cleaning a boat at the show involves less time. Walking onto the showroom floor is sometimes intimidating for the first time staff member.  Without our seasoned pros the move into the show and the building of the display could not go as well as it does.

The following pictures shows that measuring off by steps is still an accurate way of working.  Really?

Unlike children the boats stay in one spot until the are positioned into the display area.

We bring in extra people to work the booth from Thursday to Sunday.  Some sale some control the flow of people on the cruisers.  All show up from Monday to Thursday to help build, clean and organize George's Marine & Sports display.  (Yes a shout out to Western University and St. FX students.)

Thursday was the regular type of day for a boat show.  I am awaiting Fridays update.  Not hearing is usually a good sign.  Today it is cold and sunny outside and a nice day to for people to get out and go to the show.  I will post tomorrow on how the boat show is going.

Eganville Race Weekend

Nothing is more enjoyable than watching the snowmobile drivers with their trucks and trailers (and sleds) come into Eganville, Ontario for race weekend. 

We might not have the snow but we have one super track and cold weather so it should prove to be one of the best race weekends on the circuit this year.