Olympic Boat Center auctioned in bankruptcy court

Olympic Boat Center auctioned in bankruptcy court

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Story Published: Sep 23, 2008 at 7:20 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 2:43 AM PDT

By KOMO Staff

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REDMOND, Wash. -- The ship has sailed for one of the largest boat retailers in the world.

Olympic Boat Centers of Redmond went on the auction block in a California bankruptcy court on Tuesday. Employees and customers are now waiting to find out what happens next.

In bankruptcy court, boat maker Brunswick bought some of Olympic's assets. A spokesperson said the company bought back the Bayliner boats on Olympic's lots for $2 million, but not the company itself.

Court documents state Olympic owed lenders more than $47 million.

Shareholders blame an industry-wide sales slowdown. When the housing market crashed, buyers couldn't use their home equity to finance a boat.

"There are many pockets of success in the industry. But I think some of the new boat guys with gas powered boats, got hit a little harder than others," said Paul Jenkins with Elliott Bay Yacht Sales.

Jenkins said used boats are still selling on the Northwest, but new boat sales started sinking in other parts of the country the same time Olympic expanded to Northern California.

"If you were a company that had a number of stores in California that weren't doing as well as the stores in the Northwest, that's what caused some pain," he said.

That pain is hitting Olympic's loyal employees, many of whom went to work on Tuesday to take care of business even though most of the shops were closed. Officially the business' Everett and Fife locations are still open, but they could be closed by the end of next week.

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, Olympic said Brunswick, which is headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, will have the rights to the name Olympic Boat Centers once the sale is complete. And to pay off the debt, all of its inventory will be sent to other dealers around the Northwest as well as in California.

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