MINNEAPOLIS - January 18, 2005 - Specialty outdoor retailer Gander Mountain Co. has reached an agreement with Genmar Holdings, Inc., to sell and rent several Genmar boat lines at its stores, Gander Mountain reported in a release this morning.
Selected Gander Mountain stores will sell three lines of Genmar boats - Stratos and Champion 17-foot to 21-foot fishing boats featuring Yamaha engines - and Seaswirl 17-foot to 23-foot family sport boats (runabouts, deckboats, bowriders and fish-n-skis) featuring Volvo-Penta engines.
Gander Mountain said it would accept customer trade-ins and offer retail financing and service, leveraging the company's existing ATV service centers.
Some Gander Mountain stores will also offer rental of Triumph boats, including both fishing and family runabout models in various sizes to meet customers' needs. Customers will be able to arrange rentals from the participating stores through most other Gander Mountain stores. Rental customers will be able to tow the boats up to 500 miles from the Gander Mountain rental location.
"Gander Mountain, as a leading outdoor lifestyle retailer, is a strategic partner for us in expanding the distribution of our fishing and recreational boats," said Irwin Jacobs, chairman of Genmar Holdings. "Gander Mountain's customers are our customers, and it is ultimately the customer who will reap the rewards of this new venture."
"We look forward to expanding this relationship to more markets over time," said Mark Baker, president and CEO of Gander Mountain. "In addition, our customers, as active participants in a broad range of outdoor activities, have asked us to expand our boating and marine businesses so they can purchase everything they need to enjoy their outdoor lifestyle in one convenient location."
Gander Mountain also said that it is expanding the assortment of marine accessories at its large-format stores.