Boat Dealers See 2008 Sales Dive

Upscale boat dealers were hit hard by the economy last year: two shuttered their doors and sales were down as much as a third at one.

An annual list of the largest upscale boat dealers can be found by clicking here.

Skiers Wharf Extreme and Premier Powersports, both formerly of Rogers, have closed their doors. Skiers Wharf was a satellite store of an Osage Beach, Mo., company that shut down in the summer and Premier was based out of Oklahoma City, which sold it’s operation to Rogers Outdoor Sports in November.

Of the six boat dealers on the list, only two reported local annual sales. Of those two, sales were $9.5 million in 2007 and dropped to $7.2 million in 2008.

Arrowhead Boat Sales reported a decrease of only 8 percent, but its revenue is across six locations, five of which are in Oklahoma.

Kim Williams, co-owner of Ski & Sports of Rogers, said she had already sold a few boats in early January and interest was keen until the ice storm hit. She was hopeful that some of those people would return to look once the weather warms up, she said.