Crowley’s Yacht Yard Launches Discount Online Site

Published: Thursday, May 14, 2020

The problem of what to do with discontinued products has long plagued marine apparel manufacturers. Their options are limited. They can sell it at a discount on their own websites but these items compete with their current offerings and confuse their brand image. They can offer it at discounts to their dealers, however, this ties up their dealer’s capital and prevents them from investing in current products. They could sell it at a loss to large discount retailers who will sell the products at deeply discounted prices that hurt the manufacturer’s brand image. Manufacturers needed an outlet that would offer their premium product at a discount, but still maintain their upscale branding message. Crowley’s Yacht Yard has launched Boating Closeout to fill this void.

Grant Crowley explains: “People know of Crowley’s as a boatyard. We store over 850 boats in the winter and operate a comprehensive service department and retail operation. Our retail store and our online stores are a big part of what we do. With soft goods, we struggle with the same problems as the manufacturers when it comes to discontinued products. It is hard to sell last year’s style when you have the new product in stock. Items are often discontinued after minor design changes. The manufacturers need to keep their product looking fresh and new to compete with each other. We saw this as an opportunity to provide customers with really high quality gear at great prices.”

Boating Closeout offers premium marine apparel and safety gear from Henri Lloyd, Helly Hansen, Gill, Sperry, Adidas, Spinlock, Mustang, and many other manufacturers at deeply discounted prices. Customers can filter by their size in a particular category to see what the current offerings are. When you see a product on Boating Closeout, it is in stock at Crowley’s Chicago warehouse. They don’t have every size or color of a particular style but what they do have is generally offered at a great price.