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West Marine - The history
Randy Repass in Sunnyvale, California, founded the company in 1968 with the name West Coast Ropes, selling nylon rope from Repass' garage. In 1975, the first retail West Coast Ropes store started in Palo Alto, California. With the purchase of assets from West Products in 1977, the business changes its name to West Marine Products, Inc. Port Supply was established as a wholesale division of West Marine in 1978. In 1991, the first West Marine stores began on the East Coast of the United States, in Miami and Annapolis, Maryland. The company went public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1993.
West Marine joined with E&B Marine, to target a broader customer base of powerboat enthusiasts in 1996. The company acquired the BoatU.S. Product Division in 2003.
Geoff Eisenberg replaced Peter Harris as the company's president and chief executive officer In December 2007.
By 2009, the company was more than three times as large as its nearest competitor, Boater's World, which closed that year, shutting all its stores nationwide.
In April 2012, the company declared that Eisenberg planned to resign. In June 2012, Matt Hyde, a 26-year veteran of REI, became the new president and CEO.
Private equity firm Monomoy Capital Partners purchased West Marine for $338 million in cash in 2017. The company stated that Hyde had left the company In October 2017.
