Ecko Marine - Alberta Beach

Dawizman

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You are right but they made it pretty well impossible for them to stay in business.
While I'm sure Textron didn't make things easy with their mandatory inventory requirements, the recent financial climate in the area definitely played a role as well. The nail in the coffin was health though, and it's unfortunate to say the least.

Not the same situation as Ecko at all.
 

0neoldfart

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Most of the manufacturers are making it tough for the mom & pop stores. West Country Leisure dropped BRP after 27? Years as they wanted him to move to Drayton and build a new shop. Car dealers are no better, the manufacturers dictate the store front, drive thru service bays, etc. These costs make it tough for the small dealer who may only sell 20-30 units a year...
 

ctd

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Not sure why the blame is placed on the manufacturers. They are only following trends & how the consumers buys....focus on the volume.
 

snopro

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Not sure why the blame is placed on the manufacturers. They are only following trends & how the consumers buys....focus on the volume.
Because they seem to forget who got them their lofty status? And most of the smaller town rural dealers are the ones that move the volume because they have rural employees that understand customer satisfaction.
 

ABMax24

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Not sure why the blame is placed on the manufacturers. They are only following trends & how the consumers buys....focus on the volume.

I strongly disagree. Companies like Tesla are selling vehicles online. If you live more than 360km from the nearest dealer they will deliver right to your driveway. Most dealers will do this with new vehicles now.

Everything is moving to online sales. Somehow vehicle manufacturers figure they can beat this trend by building fewer but bigger and more opulent dealerships. There is a huge amount of money to be saved by custom building and delivering every vehicle and having just small service centers to service them.
 

Cyle

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I strongly disagree. Companies like Tesla are selling vehicles online. If you live more than 360km from the nearest dealer they will deliver right to your driveway. Most dealers will do this with new vehicles now.

Everything is moving to online sales. Somehow vehicle manufacturers figure they can beat this trend by building fewer but bigger and more opulent dealerships. There is a huge amount of money to be saved by custom building and delivering every vehicle and having just small service centers to service them.

And when it breaks down how will it work out when a dealer is hours away? Service? For anyone with an ounce of common sense, brick and mortar is not going anywhere as far as vehicles, equipment, sleds, quads, etc anytime soon.

Telsa is nothing more then a fed, they are not anywhere close to actually proving themselves as a credible manufacturer.
 

maxwell

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And when it breaks down how will it work out when a dealer is hours away? Service? For anyone with an ounce of common sense, brick and mortar is not going anywhere as far as vehicles, equipment, sleds, quads, etc anytime soon.

Telsa is nothing more then a fed, they are not anywhere close to actually proving themselves as a credible manufacturer.


thats the beauty about a BRP product. Once you purchase it you never need service ever again.

kidding....
 

ABMax24

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And when it breaks down how will it work out when a dealer is hours away? Service? For anyone with an ounce of common sense, brick and mortar is not going anywhere as far as vehicles, equipment, sleds, quads, etc anytime soon.

Telsa is nothing more then a fed, they are not anywhere close to actually proving themselves as a credible manufacturer.

I'm not saying servicing dealers should go anywhere. But you don't need to go to a dealer with 500 vehicles on the lot to buy one. There is a huge cost involved in bankrolling that kind of inventory, never mind the upkeep and initial cost of the building and land to house them. Most people snow-check sleds anyway, why not with vehicles too? Skip the middleman (dealer) and save a bunch of cost for the consumer, order straight from the manufacturer and deliver right to your door. Just have manufacturer approved centers to service the vehicles.

Tesla also has mobile service. Tesla may not be "proven" but companies like GM sure haven't set the bar very high for them to beat, at least in my experience anyway.
 

Sledderglen

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I deal with Marvin and Marlene all winter long, they are both dedicated to snowmobiling, leaders in our snowmobile club, and truly wonderful people.

Im sure no other dealer (MMS) will help out with snowmobile club. Echo was involved in many ways.

Wonder how Tim at Gibbons is feeling right now. They just spent a bunch of $$$ upgrading their look. Sounds familiar to what other dealers had to do. Just bought a sled from Gibbons last year hope they stick around.
 

rodney1960

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I'm not saying servicing dealers should go anywhere. But you don't need to go to a dealer with 500 vehicles on the lot to buy one. There is a huge cost involved in bankrolling that kind of inventory, never mind the upkeep and initial cost of the building and land to house them. Most people snow-check sleds anyway, why not with vehicles too? Skip the middleman (dealer) and save a bunch of cost for the consumer, order straight from the manufacturer and deliver right to your door. Just have manufacturer approved centers to service the vehicles.

Tesla also has mobile service. Tesla may not be "proven" but companies like GM sure haven't set the bar very high for them to beat, at least in my experience anyway.


I like looking at a car before I buy it. Long live the dealership! :)
 

Rhodesie

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Coming from a Powersports dealership, i saw some petty demanding crap. Massive pg&a orderers every quarter. Forced whole goods orders every month. Huge snowmobile orders in the spring for the fall inventory.
At least twice a year demanding a credit line limit increase so they can max you out within days of the increase. Dsm's would always talk about growth and could care less about the dealer even though that was part of their job.
Dsm's coming in demanding bigger orders, more parts, more accessories and bigger displays. Flashier store front, bigger showroom thousands of dollars in slat wall to hang thousands of dollars in accessories all over the building.
Then the douchebag would stand there with a smug look on his face and tell you how well the dealers in the states are doing and how much volume they are pumping out. That creep would yap off about how some dealers in the
US sell more units in a month that all of western canada could in a year. DSm's are the lowest form of life, bottom feeder jerkoffs on the planet. just my opinion, lol.
 
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snopro

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Coming from a Powersports dealership, i saw some petty demanding crap. Massive pg&a orderers every quarter. Forced whole goods orders every month. Huge snowmobile orders in the spring for the fall inventory.
At least twice a year demanding a credit line limit increase so they can max you out within days of the increase. Dsm's would always talk about growth and could care less about the dealer even though that was part of their job.
Dsm's coming in demanding bigger orders, more parts, more accessories and bigger displays. Flashier store front, bigger showroom thousands of dollars in slat wall to hang thousands of dollars in accessories all over the building.
Then the douchebag would stand there with a smug look on his face and tell you how well the dealers in the states are doing and how much volume they are pumping out. That creep would yap off about how some dealers in the
US sell more units in a month that all of western canada could in a year. DSm's are the lowest form of life, bottom feeder jerkoffs on the planet. just my opinion, lol.
Always had good relationships with my DSM's. I learned pretty quick that they have a knife to their necks all the time from their boss who has a gun to their heads from their bosses. This is all about number crunchers in a boardroom deciding on numbers based on perfect conditions. Dealers in Alberta right now face enormous pressures from higher ups who don't understand regional concerns and can't understand why the numbers aren't there. Trust me when Doo celebrates their number 1 market share with stakeholders the champagne is flying but somewhere out there a dealer or dealers got stepped on by the big corporate foot for not towing the party line and pulling their impossible weight.
 

Rhodesie

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they are paid robots. toelickers if you will. the place i worked at for 8 years is done as of sept. 30. not sure if its true but also was told a&e dropped polaris and ktm as well.
 

snopro

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they are paid robots. toelickers if you will. the place i worked at for 8 years is done as of sept. 30. not sure if its true but also was told a&e dropped polaris and ktm as well.
Polaris dropped A&E I heard because of one of the new owners ties to a Cannabis store or manufacturing facility. The owner we heard severed his ties to that company and Polaris came back on board we were told from a dealership friend of ours. Not sure on KTM though Trev.
 

Black Rhino

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This is sad for us folks in the Alberta Beach Lake Isle areas! Marvin & Marlene have worked their tails off with the Alberta Beach Snowmobile Club to ensure that we have groomed riding trails! Folks that ride the trails have no idea as to how much work it was with the County of Lac Ste. Anne and Stakeholders to get permission to even have those trails. We are blessed with the Alberta Beach Snowmobile Club Trails that close to Edmonton. I hope what happened to Ft. Sask, doesn't happen out west. THANK YOU MARVIN & MARLENE!
 
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