West Marine Press Releases

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (July 19th, 2010) –
West Marine, the nation’s largest specialty retailer of boating equipment and accessories, today announced it will host a grand opening celebration at its newest store in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina on Friday, August 13 through Sunday August 15.  Located at 1440 Ben Sawyer Boulevard (Northwest corner of Ben Sawyer and Rifle Range Road) in Mount Pleasant Square, the  new West Marine is 12,000 square feet, almost twice the size of its previous location. 

Using feedback from local boaters, this Store is fully stocked with boating supplies, accessories and equipment to meet the needs of low country boaters and sailors.  Anglers will be amazed by the huge selection of saltwater gear for both offshore and inshore fishing. 

Mount Pleasant Store Associates have more than 340 years of combined boating and fishing experience.  General Manager, Chris Smathers, is a long time West Marine Associate. He is originally from Charleston and has managed West Marine stores throughout South Carolina. Other members of the team include Mike Evatt, a licensed master captain with 45 years of boating experience and Anne Beckwith, who has 15 years of sailing experience.  Anne is currently working on a 20-foot racer with her husband. 
“We are very eager to be an even bigger resource to our low country boaters and water enthusiasts,” says Chris Smathers, manager of the Mount Pleasant West Marine. “Our staff’s goal is to ensure that everyone from the experienced power boater to the occasional fisher will be able to get the gear they need, when they need it.  We’re all boaters and we’re here to help other boaters make sure they have a great day out on the water.”

Grand Opening Festivities
Activities for Mount Pleasant are scheduled from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday.

Free family-friendly, in-store activities include:

• The Fighting Chair Challenge to test your strength
• Fishin’ Friday will feature local charter boat captains sharing tips and tricks on how on how to catch more fish
• South Carolina Boat Builders display featuring Scout, Key West, Sea Fox and Sea Hunt boats
• Test drive the latest high tech electronics with Raymarine and others
• The Ultimate Solo Challenge with Brad Van Liew
• Fishing and Sailing Seminars
• Door-Buster Discounts throughout the weekend
• Free raffle prizes and giveaways

ABOUT WEST MARINE

West Marine, the largest specialty retailer of boating supplies and accessories, has over 330 company-operated stores located in 38 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and two franchised stores located in Turkey.  Our call center and Internet channels offer customers approximately 50,000 products and the convenience of exchanging catalog and Internet purchases at our store locations.  Our Port Supply division is one of the largest wholesale distributors of marine equipment serving boat manufacturers, marine services, commercial vessel operators and government agencies.  For more information on West Marine's products and store locations, or to start shopping, visit www.westmarine.com or call 1-800-BOATING (1-800-262-8464).