West Marine 368
West Marine opened its latest flagship store in early June and just in time
for the busy racing and sailing season in Newport, Rhode Island. The
23,000-square-foot store is the company’s largest in New England, and has
more sailing related gear than any of West’s other facilities nationwide.
It’s the fifth of the so-called flagship stores.
The new store, roughly triple the size of the one it replaces, includes a
full-service rigging shop, a large electronics display area, vendor displays
from companies like Lewmar, Harken, and Spinlock, fishing and motor boat
equipment, as well as the largest collection yet of technical and foul
weather gear. The store also carries a complete line of West’s Pure Oceans
products. Laurie Fried, West’s director of public relations, noted the Pure
Oceans line has kept 238,000 pounds of chemicals from entering the
environment in the past year.
Also housed in the flagship store will be a regional Port Supply hub,
selling wholesale equipment to boat yards and other marine services, and a
Professional Captain’s Services outlet that will cater to megayachts. The
store will employ 60 people.
