Did Pier 57 Drop Donzi?

[Carl C]

There is a cool interview with Pier 57 owner David Woods in the March/April Powerboat magazine. Pier 57 was recently the highest volume dealer of Fountain Powerboats but has cut their ties with Fountain. That alone was surprising but more disturbing is that, according to the article, they have also apparently dropped Donzi, ChrisCraft, Aloha Pontoons, Regal and Trident. Those makes are still listed on Pier 57's web site and they have 2 '09 Donzis in stock but here are some quotes from the article: "Pier 57 sells about 30 boats a year, split evenly between MTI and Cigarette models." And "...the discussion takes another turn, this time to the benefits of carrying only two high-end go-fast boat lines." Donzi is never mentioned in the article. Are they only a Donzi dealer until the current inventory is sold? I'm an admirer of Woods and Pier 57 but it was a shocker to see that they have stopped selling Fountains which used to be their bread and butter. And now apparently Donzi has lost another outlet. If not, this was a slap in the face to not mention them in the article. Can anyone give some insight about this?

[Lenny]

Why don't you just phone them ?

[Carl C]

OK Lenny, I called them and the person I spoke with evaded the question. When I asked if they dropped Donzi I got responses such as "well, we'll see", "maybe", "we still have a couple Donzis in stock" and "we're having some problems with them right now". So it's not quite as easy as just calling them.

[RickSE]

That's good news for my dad if they did drop Donzi. He wanted to set up a dealership in Knoxville TN but Donzi wouldn't let him due to Pier 57's business.

[Carl C]

Something tells me it's not the best time to start a Donzi dealership. Pier 57's latest ad:

[roadtrip se]

Woods hasn't been a Fountain dealer for a couple of years now. No surprise there.

Is it any coincidence that some of the same folks that were at Fountain when Woods dropped them are now at Donzi? Maybe or maybe not....







Lots of read between the lines here, I do know what happened between Reggie and David that caused him to sever his relationship with Fountain including surrendering his seat on the board of directors for the company, I respect Woods for what he did, and I doubt he would take similar tactics from Donzi. Not the first time that a great dealer has dropped Donzi. Look at Typhoon. I bet the scenarios were very similar in ways.

Good for him. I guarentee that Skip and Randy are treating this dealer with great respect.

[mattyboy]

sounds like a good business plan if you are selling 30 mti and cigs it sounds like you don't need fountain or donzi with floor plans that make you take on cc fishing as well as performance boats.
not sure how making a business decision is a slap in the face??

[Carl C]

not sure how making a business decision is a slap in the face??

Only a slap in the face if they still are a Donzi dealer but don't want it mentioned. Donzi is still on their website and they have two '09s listed in stock. I enjoy drooling over their inventory once in a while. I bought my boat there.

[Lenny]

I bought my boat there.

Maybe the stress cracks were getting to them... ;) or the 22 Classic "cuddy" that sleeps two in the bow..

:D

[mattyboy]

Carl
with 2 boats in stock and the result of your phone call i think you have your answer. again i don't see a slap here I just see them leading with their trump cards

I can also see a business plan there both high end top notch cat and vee boats and every business must know the niche in the market. do i want to fool around and be nickeled and dimed on an entry level hi po boat or first time tooner with a smaller margin and have to sell more to make money or do i say the cig is half a million we'll paint it any color you want and thrown in a few 1050's and the 750 k will do?????

plus fountain and donzi are redundant market offerings not complimentray offerings were the MTI and cig are

[Carl C]

Yeah I think I can see it now and what Todd said explains a lot too.

[Carl C]

So Woods is going in a new direction, good for him, that should give him more time to enjoy his 108' Broward. (serious, not sarcastic, he sounds like a heck of a nice guy) He had nothing but good things to say about Fountain Powerboats and Reggie but not a single mention of Donzi in the interview/article.