I don’t know a dealer who hasn’t had to slash his ad budget these days. But that doesn’t necessarily mean disappearing from sight. For a small, sometimes zero investment, dealers can bring back a classic way of grabbing people’s attention – the good old publicity stunt! (Read More…)

Impulse shopping (shopping for fun) at the mall appears to have headed south as consumers become stand-offish in the current recession. But, shopping center operators around the country aren’t taking it lightly. They’re aggressively trying to bring it back with concepts we can adapt from these big guys for our dealerships. (Read More…)

I was surprised when it was reported that credit unions we’re being found to have “strayed” into some of those hyper-risk ventures that have already taken down a bunch of banks, with more likely to crash and burn before it’s all over. (Read More…)

Regardless of who or what you read these days, virtually everyone agrees business is being permanently changed by this brutal recession. (Read More…)

Why do I keep coming back to the subject of ethanol? Because it’s that important to us and our customers! And, I really don’t like what I’m seeing lately. (Read More…)

No doubt about it . . . these days, bankers are as popular as jock itch! But, before you put all bankers in that same group you should know that at least one set of bankers has been diligently working to develop a program aimed at stimulating new sources of lending for boating. (Read More…)

These days, if you want to find someone who is likely worse off than you are, make friends with an RV dealer. The industry that we once looked on with envy as flying high with its “Go RVing” campaign, and after which we patterned much of our industry’s national “Discover Boating” campaign, is taking its lumps now. (Read More…)

I went out to pick the morning paper out of the bushes (why is it no delivery person can ever fling it from their moving vehicle and hit the driveway?) There at my front door was a small cinnamon Teddy Bear refrigerator magnet with a note attached. (Read More…)