Bps Buys Ranger, Triton And Stratos Boat Companies

[WIGuide]

From the sounds of it, all the companies will continue to operate as they are now. I would think they would all be available to order at Bass Pro now though.

[geo g]

I hope this is a good move for all parties.  I remember the AMF move with Harley, that almost wiped out the Harley brand.

[WIGuide]

Honestly, I don't see anything being any different than it already is other than you may be able to order these boats at BPS. It's been stated that all companies will continue to operate on their own as they currently are in their present facilities. I don't see Rangers being pulled from Cabela's or anything like that because for every one they sell BPS makes money anyway so the more they sell the better. Obviously this is only speculation since I'm not in Johnny Morris's head, but I don't think there will be a lot of changes unless one of the companies starts losing money. 

[J Francho]

True... Evinrude does the motors that come stock on the Rangers and they are both sponsors of the Walmart FLW Tour. It'll be interesting to see how things pls out.

 

Ranger offers a choice between Yammy, Rude, and Merc.  There's no "stock" power.

[Amarley]

This one makes me nervous. It's dangerous in any industry when one company can corner a market. I worked in corporate acquisitions for a number of years, and here's what my strategy would be if I were Johnny Morris:

 

1. Announce that all brands will stay independent, only have common ownership (i.e. Bass Pro/JM). Pronounce that BPS will be a premier boat dealer with more selection than just Nitro from now on. Declare a win for consumers because a company that loves the outdoors will own all premier boat brands instead of a greedy Private Equity firm.

2. Behind the scenes, start consolidating internal functions (sales, accounting, management, HR) everything but manufacturing, and centralize the R&D function. Increase synergy and profitability.

3. Plan a market strategy to "stack the brands". Always make Nitro the most price competitive, Stratos falls behind Nitro, Triton falls behind Ranger.

4. Keep all four brands until the sales shake out. Drop the low performing brands, take the R&D budgets of the low performing brands to reinvest in the high performers. Increase profitability across the board.

5. At the end of the day, consumers will be left with 1 or 2 brands. My bet is that we will see Triton and Stratos fall to the wayside within 5-8 years as JM writes down the acquisition and hits his payback. We will be left with Nitro and Ranger. JM will have very large supplier power and will also be able to control the dealership markets which could hurt brands like Bass Cat, Phoenix, Skeeter, etc. To spell it out, JM could say that boat dealerships cannot sell the other brands if they want his brands on their lots, or could give better pricing structures to exclusive dealers. He will also have supplier power over Mercury, Evinrude, Honda, Yamaha, etc as he will have more purchasing power over the motors to power his boats. 

 

My gut tells me this is a big loss for consumers and a huge win for JM. I would be surprised if Mercury, Yamaha and Evinrude, Bass Cat, Phoenix, Champion, etc don't throw a fit and try to challenge the acquisition. You may ask why this hasn't happened already because the three brands were already owned by a common owner. The difference is that JM owns the whole supply chain, manufacturing and now distribution. JM also owns the biggest source of competition, Nitro. Also, remember what happened to Procraft and Astro when JM bought those brands. 

[J Francho]

 

Increase synergy

 

I just threw up in my mouth, lol. 

 

But seriously, what your saying is pretty much a given.  Good post.

[Amarley]

More "Synergy" = less choice. Bad deal, and I've always dreamed of buying a new Triton!

[rangerjockey]

Maybe JM will bring back Champion,, I believe he had some interest in them some years back..

[bknap]

A Bullet is actually LESS than a top flight Ranger.....

 

come one man, you cannot compare a Bullet to a Ranger. There is a reason that the Bullet is actually less than the Ranger. The two boats are not comparable. 

[slonezp]

http://youtu.be/Y7FnSbqdyco

[tomustang]

Haha

[A-Jay]

http://youtu.be/Y7FnSbqdyco

 

That was pretty funny ~

 

"Johnny Morris will have more power than Germany"

 

 

A-Jay

[Blues19]

The Bass Pro Headquarters in Springfield has been adding on right next to the fishing/boating area.  I was wondering why they were adding on... I'm guessing they had been in talks and needed more room to put boats on the floor.

[Hi Salenity]

The Bass Pro Headquarters in Springfield has been adding on right next to the fishing/boating area. I was wondering why they were adding on... I'm guessing they had been in talks and needed more room to put boats on the floor.

That place has been adding on my entire life.

[Hi Salenity]

I hope this is a good move for all parties. I remember the AMF move with Harley, that almost wiped out the Harley brand.

True, no one wanted a bike made by a bowling ball manufacturer.

[WIGuide]

The Bass Pro Headquarters in Springfield has been adding on right next to the fishing/boating area.  I was wondering why they were adding on... I'm guessing they had been in talks and needed more room to put boats on the floor.

That place is constantly expanding. They're adding on to connect BPS to the Wildlife Center and the convention center. They're also working on something upstairs at the moment too. Not sure if there will be more boat room or not but the entire place is a never ending project.

[cyclops2]

 Are we talking about greedy business people ?

 

Gain control & customer lists.  Cut back. Use the same parts on all boats Then raise the prices steadily.

 

Works everytime.

[Blues19]

That place is constantly expanding. They're adding on to connect BPS to the Wildlife Center and the convention center. They're also working on something upstairs at the moment too. Not sure if there will be more boat room or not but the entire place is a never ending project.

I knew they were expanding to the wildlife center, but the shape of what its looking like is pretty interesting.  It looked to me like the front was an interesting shape that would fit nicely with a boat show room.  Anyway, They are always doing something is right. I LOVE the ceiling they have above the check out, its so cool.

[GTHenson]

On 12/11/2014 at 3:50 PM, Sam said:

J, of course everyone would want a beautiful hand laid hull but the vast majority of us purchase the manufactured boats as they come off the assembly line or in the used boat marketplace.

 

What concerns me is that we have lost three compeitiors unless BPS allows the status quo to remain for a few years.

 

I hope BPS does not reduce the quality of these three boats down to the level of Tracker and Nitro.

 

And what about service?  BPS Tracker service sucks on a good day.  And to find a BPS shop with a qualified Mercury mechanic is like finding the biggest bass on the planet.

 

Time will tell.

 

Hope some of our Forum friends can add to this topic with their insight and any information they are award.

To the quality of Nitro? What Nitros have you been running? The 4 I've owned have held up extremely well. As far as the service goes I've never had to wait on parts or for tracker to accept a claim when something does happen. And you don't have to take your motor to BPS to get it worked on. But if you do the service will be great. But keep in mind that they work on a lot of boats. 

[Sam]

16 hours ago, GTHenson said:

To the quality of Nitro? What Nitros have you been running? The 4 I've owned have held up extremely well. As far as the service goes I've never had to wait on parts or for tracker to accept a claim when something does happen. And you don't have to take your motor to BPS to get it worked on. But if you do the service will be great. But keep in mind that they work on a lot of boats. 

GT, my experience with the BPS service department has not been good. I have had to take the boat back on a number of occasions to have the original repairs redone. Also, found out that a young man who is not a Mercury qualified tech was working on my motor but they charged me as if the work was done by a Mercury tech.

Seems that the Richmond BPS can't seem to retain Mercury master techs. The last one I knew took the same position in Florida, leaving the Richmond BPS without a Mercury tech.

I no longer take my outfit to BPS for service. I go to a place that has a Mercury tech on staff.

I also was told that BPS service department could not obtain a part for me. So I called the manufacturer and ordered it direct. When I told the BPS people what I did they changed their story about getting the part and said they were on the "wrong parts program" on their computer. Made no sense to me.

Glad you love your Nitros. I see many on the water these days.

Be safe and have a great Thanksgiving.