Checkmate at Boat Shows in Upstate NY/Southern Ontario

[Enforcer1]

Chris, I live in Rochester, NY across the "Big Pond"
from you. Do you know of any boat shows that feature
Checkmates in this area? I've heard of Chicago and
Wisconsin. Anything up here?

 

[Enforcer1]

Chris, I live in Rochester, NY across the "Big Pond"
from you. Do you know of any boat shows that feature
Checkmates in this area? I've heard of Chicago and
Wisconsin. Anything up here?

 

[BayviewRick]

I'm personally going to have Checkmates in the Milwaukee,Wisconsin show February 12th through the 16th. chicago, at this time will not have any Checkmates in the show. I'll call Kip on Monday and see if he knows of any dealers on the East coast that will be displaying their Checkmates. Rick

www.Bayviewmarinecenter.com

 

[Chris]

The only boat dealer in Ontario currently selling mates that I'm aware of, is Pride of Muskoka Marine in Bracebridge, Ontario.

Let me email them and see if they will be at the Toronto Boat Show which is in January.

I'll get back to you on this one. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

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Checkmate-Boats.com-The Fanatics Home!

 

[Chris]

Here is the link to the website for the Toronto Boat Show if anyone is interested. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

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[vinny p.]

Although this is not really relevant to what you guys are talking about, I wanted to post it anyway. I just got back from the New York City National Boat Show. All I have to say is that Checkmate had a really miserable display. There was 1 cheap banner over the boats tied up to a couple of pipes with twine. A grand total of 3 boats were on display. There was a ZT 330 with twin 496 Magnums, a ZT240 with the engine hatch closed and no billboard telling anything about the boat, and a Pulsar 2100 ( I think ). Pretty sad showing...All in all I thought the whole show was pretty shabby. There were more vendors attempting to sell you glue!!, tape and even a vegetable slicer than marine products. I wanted to pick up a pair of automatic inflatable P.F.D.'s but none were there. I just got them online from www.landfallnavigation.com/sospenders.html when I got home.

A friend is buying a new boat, we went to the Mecruiser display to check out the engine he wants--6.2 MPI Horizon. Beleive it or not, I got into an arguement with the Mercruiser rep., he told me that the Horizon motors are only available on inboards!!!!!! What an a$$hole. I just walked away, he needed to be slapped a few times until he woke up. /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

So all in all, it was a waist of time and money. I will probably NEVER go again. /infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

 

[Chris]

Typically, the Toronto show is pretty good. Most of the companies Canadian headquarters are located in Toronto, so it usually gets a lot of attention.

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[JW]

But it looks like they are leaving the Checkmates home. /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif
My local dealer, Premier of Gun Lake Michigan, is also not ordering any Checkmates this year /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif, unless someone comes in and wants one. None for stock.

Rick, You're going to have to figure out how to sell and ship to other states!!

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

 

[Chris]

JW, Pride of Muskoka Always has Checkmates in stock. This year when I went they had:

1-Blue 180 Pulse B/R
1-Red 2100 Pulsare B/R
1-Red 2100 Pulsare Closed Deck
1-ZT
1-Convincor

They may have had more but that's what I saw. I think the ZT was the new 220. But I'm not exactly sure. The guy said it was a new model and he wasn't sure of the name yet. I asked if it was a Persuader and he said that he knew it wasn't a 21' Persuader. I think it must have been a 220 ZT.

Anyway, I'll see if they email me back.

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[BayviewRick]

Part of what makes Checkmate great is also what hurts them, that is being a small company. Most dealers sell more than one brand of boat. Companies like Baja (Brunswick owned) Fountain (publicly owned) have huge amounts of money to spend on advertising/marketing. Open any boating mag and you'll see ads from Brunswick, Genmar, and Fountain. Because of marketing, people are led to believe they are getting a better deal, or buying the best boat built. Is this true.. no, the big deal cards and rebates are just taken off the already marked up 35%, but because of the huge marketing, people think that the big deal cards, rebates, etc. are really saving them money. Boat dealers (not all, not us, but some) don't have brand/customer loyalty anymore, it's about getting boats out the door. If a dealer sells a Fountain or Baja, right next to the Checkmates, the dealer is more likely to bring the Baja to the show. Because of the huge marketing campaigns, combined with the huge expense of the show, the dealers go with the "cookie cutter" boat instead and try to make money on volume, besides, some of these companies require you to sell so many boats or they pull the dealership from you. Not to bring up my company/business again, but at the Milwaukee show, mostly thanks to Bill, JW, Chris and the rest of the crew at Checkmate-boats.com plus Checkmate themselves, we should have a great display! Stay Tuned! Rick

www.Bayviewmarinecenter.com

 

[Chris]

Rick,

you hit the nail right on the head. I own a paint store and we run into the same problem. I sell ICI paints, which is Glidden, Dulux and Devoe. ICI is the single largest paint company in the world. In Europe they own the market, people use their brand Dulux as a generic name, like having a "Coke".

The problem we have is with Benjamin Moore. Benny Moore is owned by Warren Buffett. Our paint is just as good if not better and it costs less. But Benny Moore buys up almost every home improvement show and puts their product on the show. So people think it must be good. Well, it's mostly over priced, how do else would they pay to buy up all these home improvement shows?

Anyway, yeah, you're right, Checkmate could use a little more brain washing money! /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

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[This message was edited by Chris on December 30, 2002 at 09:45 PM.]

 

[vinny p.]

Rick;
I agree with you 100%. BUT, it is still disappointing when you go to a show and see a poor display for such great boats. Even watching A.P.B.A. on Speed Vision, you NEVER hear a word about Checkmates. It is always Baja or Fountain that takes all the headlines. The last time I heard Checkmates mentioned on TV is when Mark Rothermel did a story on a 259 last year on "The PowerBoat Show".

 

[Chris]

Vinny, these guys are motivated by advertising dollars and sometimes "other things". For example, this year a person approached me and asked about getting some paint for her home at let's just say "a special price". /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

So, I supplied her some paint for her home and just by chance, our store got a large write up in her magazine the next month which she is the editor for.

This is how this stuff works. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

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[Chris]

Update:

Jeff Barnes from Pride of Muskoka Marine contacted me and they are attending the Toronto Boat Show and will have a full display of Checkmates at the show. I have emailed him back to find out how many boats they anticapate "physically" having at the show. Hopefully, he will get back to fairly soon, and I will pass along the details.

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[jrumon]

I didn't make the Toronto show...curious what ever ended up happening....How many 'Mates and what models...also when is it so I can pencil it in for next year???... Thanks, Jim.

FYI...I see more talk about Checkmate marketing in this thread??? Example...take a look at...SUNSATION BOATS...a small Michigan company does minimal advertising (usually a half page ad in Power Boat Magizine, and Hot Boat Magizine), and gets their products to the boat shows and to the magizines for testing & evaluations... They also have good web site info and excellent brochures!!!! They've spent minimal bucks for added sales...the company is growing leaps & bounds...yes, it takes money to make money, but isn't it worth it!!!

 

[Kip Combs]

Sunsation is a good comparison...but they only have 5 models !!!!!! We have 25 .....big difference between developing catalog's, web site, even advertising for 5 models and 25 models!

 

[jrumon]

True...but they are doing great business and are growing their product line...(7 models and growing...plus you can get two different deck styles on these models...a windscreen deck mold and a windsheild deck mold)...
25 offshore
28 offshore or mid-cabin
32 offshore or mid-cabin
32 poker-run
38 offshore
Trust me...I love the fact you guys affer so many models and have even saved the molds for prior years that you can still build if someone wants one (not many people know that)... I just think some minor marketing improvements could be made to really benefit Checkmate in the performance boat market. I guess the one thing I never asked you was how your production numbers are and if there growing, consistant, or decreasing....and whether or not Checkmate has any interest in boosting sales at all??? If everything is steady and the business is comfortable with that than I can shut up and enjoy the boats for what they are...I just think a lot more people would OWN them if they ever got to SEE them (marketing, boat shows, etc.)...

Just keep up the great boats and some day I would love to come see the factory (and a new pulsair 2100BR with a 300X)... I would love the chance to ride in one with this set-up before I ordered new one...

Any thoughts of a
"Checkmate Owners & Forum Members" gathering this summer for a factory tour and BBQ???