Author: Matt Gruhn

Dealers on a ‘giant ticking clock’ amid shutdown

Boat dealers remain on shaky ground at the beginning of April as the nationwide shutdown of non-essential businesses forces them to consider cash position and expense structure, according to the monthly Pulse Report, published by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, Soundings Trade Only and Robert W. Baird. The

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The Dilemma on the Frontlines for Boat Dealerships

    Along with the health battles, the economic battles and the ensuing emotional battles our society is faced with today, a new frontline battle has emerged for our dealerships: A philosophical battle.   For the past two weeks, there has been a frenzy of activity here at the MRAA

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Dramatic increase in temporarily closed dealerships

Over the course of the last three weeks, your MRAA team has been in contact with thousands of dealerships, including hundreds of one-to-one phone conversations and hundreds more email conversations. Additionally, we’ve been keeping a pulse on dealership operations as the government imposes more and more “shelter-at-home” orders and businesses

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Take Control of Your Future

Remember The Great Recession? How out of control things felt at that time? Can we agree that nothing has ever felt as out of control for our businesses as things do today? Forced shutdowns. Unfathomable spike in unemployment filings. The tenuous outlook of cash flow projections. It’s crazy. And that’s

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A Summit you should know about

I spent the better part of last week in San Diego at the International Boating & Water Safety Summit. I’m disappointed to tell you that, prior to joining the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, that I knew nothing about this event. But YOU should know about it. There are

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2012 is full of opportunity!

The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas is off to a great start in 2012! I’m thrilled to let you all know that not only is 2012 the association’s 40th anniversary, but we’re expecting this year to be one of our best years yet. Why? Well, we have numerous initiatives

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Econ 2012

Historically, I’ve been fairly poor at understanding economics. I barely skated by in Econ 101 in college, and my collegiate-level understanding of supply and demand was warped by the ever-increasing demand for the libations of my classmates and the never-ending supply flowing from the local taps. The real world has

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A successful generational blend

The keynote at this year’s Marine Dealer Conference & Expo was by far the most talked about presentation the event has ever had. Not only was it entertaining through its incorporation of humor, but it also hit home because of the clear connection the topic had for the MDCE audience.

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A new point of view

Back in 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying , “Every man owes part of his time and money to the business or industry in which is engaged. No man has a moral right to withhold his support from an organization that is striving to improve conditions within his

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