Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/264625
30 | Boating Industry | March 2014 [ Creating new profit centers ] www.BoatingIndustry.com second-generation owner David deAn- drade. "There were no lakes in the western half of the state. All those are manmade lakes that didn't exist then." Over the years, White Lake Marine has expanded its footprint outside of the area, selling at boat shows and even opening another location closer to Raleigh, leading to only 10 per- cent of the company's boats going to White Lake. In 2008, hit by the double whammy of the market crash and a fire that shut down its west- ern location for an entire season, deAndrade and his father, Carl, had to figure out how to regroup. "It's not like we have this huge profit center of a massive service department, no dry dock, no storage that other dealers may have," deAndrade said. "What we did have is that we know a lot about Nautique boats." White Lake Marine had a small parts depart- ment, but the management team saw an oppor- tunity to take that department global. On Jan. 1, 2010, they launched NautiqueParts.com. In addition to parts available from Nautique Boat Company, the company has sourced and had manufactured replacement parts for Correct Craft/Nautique boats of all ages. The investment has been a huge success for White Lake and a unique story of survival. By focusing on the niche of Nautique parts, the company doesn't compete with larger parts companies. The staff's decades of experience with the boats allows them to identify most parts even when a customer doesn't know ex- actly what they are looking for. "It's been shocking in how far-reaching it is," deAndrade said. "It did grow faster than we expected. Once we saw that growth, we had to adapt and change quickly. Now we're looking for ways to make sure we maintain and keep a positive forward motion." The downside of that success has been the pressure on the rest of the business. During the summer, it's not uncommon for the company to get 300 phone calls a day for its parts site. "It almost wanted to take us out as a dealer and turn us into a parts website," deAndrade said. "The parts thing is nice, but we can't be as successful as we can be unless we're a successful dealer as well." It was with that concern in mind that deAn- drade attended the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo in 2013 to get the company "back on track." The conference helped the company get refocused and reenergized, which has paid off in sales. "We've presold more boats now than we have since '08," he said. "Just getting our eye back on the ball has made a huge difference in our sales already." By launching NautiqueParts.com White Lake Marine took its parts business worldwide. P26x31-BI14MAR-ProfitCenters.indd 30 2/7/14 10:26 AM