STRATOS and CHAMPION CLOSING???

[fishing3]

Hey guys.... I was at the Chicagoland Boat/Fishing show today and the rumors were flying about Stratos and Champion shutting their doors by THURSDAY.

This is NOT THE TRUTH! These are the types of rumors which when spread can truly hurt manufacturers even further in tough times! Guys these are two stud brands being manufactured by a stud company- GENMAR.

Genmar had a lay off at the TN plant this past Friday. Does this suprise anyone???? Look at any newspaper and the thousands of companies whom are laying off right now! Is it a suprise that a Boat Manufacturer is downsizing??? Word is that Genmar may go from 300 workers to as low as 100. But at the moment, they are holding firm that they believe in their brands and are not closing any doors.

So to those at the boat show today talking down on Stratos and Champion----although none of us know what the future holds for any of our boat manufacturers...at least for now-----get your facts straight!

[winnebasschamp]

Better not be! Ranger and Triton need someone to make them look good! :p
Hahahaha...just kiddn Tom, Lee, anyone else who thinks their boat is the shiznit! They're all good imo, except maybe Nitro... As long as it floats, it's a weiner!

[TourneyAddict1]

I like my Nitro...

[winnebasschamp]

Whoops! Sorry T, meant to be directed at Nitro man! ;)

[fishing3]

Loved my Nitro also :) It treated me very well of many years.

The interesting thing here is...TRITON laid off 300 people, and it never made the news. Tracker announced layoffs last week--but not the quantitiy and Genmar (who also manufacturers Ranger, Stratos and Champion) laid off 30 thus far, and people jumped to conclusions.

[CatchinBigBass]

I believe all of the boat manufacturers are having large lay offs. WGN radio reported 100 at Stratos. Lund had over 1000 world wide. You can google any boat company ie: "Lund boat layoffs" and get accurate info on whichever company may interest you. Tough times.

[CatchinBigBass]

Here is a link from the Nashville station about Stratos possibly shutting down: http://www.wsmv.com/news/18513666/detail.html

[Nitroman77]

Whoops! Sorry T, meant to be directed at Nitro man! ;)

haha yea those new Z8s and Z9s arnt worth a darn..:rolleyes: I love my 20' Nitro and so does KVD, Clunn, Horton Z9 and Procraft, Edwin, LOL..Nitro has come a LONG way since the 90s and their new line is pretty sweet! Its bad though that all these great long standing companies are laying off people.

[Big Bass Lee]

Nooooooooooooooooo! I can't believe it. This totally sucks. I wanted another Stratos. Best boat I've ever owned. This is so painful. I can't believe this is happening. WTF are the banks doing with the 350 billion that the government gave them! I'm so pissed off. This is the worst day of my life.

[fishing3]

Dude...that was the media story that started it all! This is the media----hovering over bad news as always. They were interviewing disgruntled laid-off employees.

F-A-C-T-S is the key. At at this moment, Stratos, Champion and Ranger are not shutting doors. tc

[CatchinBigBass]

I've got news for you Nitro. Tracker appears to be having big layoffs just like everyone else in the industry. It appears even Mercury shut down their Fond du Lac plant. Hopefully this is all just temporary and it wont effect the quality of the products we still purchase.
It seems to me a lot of these companies have previously closed their doors at one time or the other in the past and many were bought up by another corp and started up again.

[walkthedog]

I have to agree with winneboy on this one, not sayin that my basscat is the best or anything, I have never personally fished out of a nitro/tracker boat, but if you go to basspro I will put money on it that any boat you walk up to you will be able to find the carpet coming up somewhere on that boat. If something as simple as glueing carpet is not taken seriously, then how is the rest of the boat built? Payin attention to detail is important to me, I think you can tell alot about how a person takes care of there boat/tackle by how the carpet looks

[Nitroman77]

I didnt say Nitro/tracker wasnt laying people off..;) Seems like every company is laying of people. I hate seeing our industry going down the tubes, and boat manufacturers laying off people that have been there for a long time. This is a really tough time for people and it seems like its not getting any better soon..
Now For all the Nitro bashers, since thats what most people are on these sites. have you ridden in a New Z9, Z8, Z7 or any of the new X series boats? You dont even have to ride in one and you can see how much they have changed. Now a days you cant go wrong with ANY of the major players in the boat industry. I was one who said they would NEVER buy a Nitro, but after buying the one I have now, im more then happy with it. They have stepped the quality/fit and finish way up from the Nitros of the 80s and 90s..I was in a 05 basscat Coug..this weekend fishing and yes it was a nice boat,gauges and such but man it was narrow and it didnt have ANY storage for the guy in back to keep any tackle or jackets in. So I had to dump my falcon boxes up front in my buddies rod locker, with his rods on top so it wasn't easy getting to every time I wanted to change baits.

[fishing3]

Nitro---- I agree with you 100%.


Discussion forums always get the best of people:-)

There are guys out there whom sleep on their boats at night....and all they do is bash other boats brands.

Bottom line here is..... The reason there are so many brands is that everyone has different tastes.....lets not knock guys for liking certain boat brands.

I had a Nitro for 10 years----and it was the FASTEST boat I ever had! In addition...I learned to fish in that boat. In addition, the new boats are SWEET!

To Walk The Dog's comment above------I would have to agree that the attention to detail was tough on my 98' Nitro. Once I got all the little things fixed (ie. Carpeting, battery boxes, steering, etc.) the boat was awesome.

tc

[CatchinBigBass]

Yes dear...

[Jimbo]

Yes dear, I'll tell Zack.

[CatchinBigBass]

Wait a minute, I am on the wrong web site. I thought this was a fishing site. I didn't realize this was the remodelers web site.

[Jimbo]

Maybe we should get back to talking about Stratos and Champion going out of business.

[CatchinBigBass]

Has anyone heard the latest today on Champion? Any new news clips? Are they still in business?

[maxfish86]

i'm sure they're still in business tommy's got one..

[TourneyAddict1]

I know its a little off topic but my Nitro is my first bass boat. It's a used 17 1/2 foot '02 NX750 single console with a 115 Merc. I bought it at the end of Aug 2008 from an anal retentive guy who only used the boat 10 times since he originally bought it. For me the price was right and I really like the boat. Is it the best out there? Maybe not. Loose carpet? None that I've ever seen. Since I got it I have upgraded the depth finders (humminbird 797 at console, 787 at the bow). And I'm about to get a new trolling motor (maxxum pro 80).
This season I hope to get a ton of use out of it and I'll know by the end of the season if it's a good boat (for me) or not.

Back on topic... I hope neither Stratos or Champion go out of business. My philosophy has always been that with a higher number of competing companies, the other companies need to make a better product, with new and exciting features, at a competitive price. And I'd hate to hear that Jason did something to himself due to depression over Stratos :(. But.... If he does, I hope he puts me in his will for his Stratos.:p

[CatchinBigBass]

I don't believe anyone here hopes any of the manufacturers go under. Over the years many of these companies have shut there doors and later were bought out by another company. It's a tough business. I think some of the tournament guys here (such as myself) just like to poke some fun because we know how important our boats are to us. We all love our bass boats it doesn't matter what the brand is. They bring us some of our best days. We sure do defensive about our boats!

[CatchinBigBass]

I heard he just placed an order for enough spare parts to last through the first tournament. The truck carrying the parts should arrive before spring.

Hey Tommie, why are you messing with our posts?

[CatchinBigBass]

Hey Tommie,
Don't you think you should have bought a bigger boat.

[winnebasschamp]

Now that's funny!
I think you and Jimbo have just a little bit too much time one your hands as of late! :rolleyes: Time to pull out the boat and head to Powerton!

[walkthedog]

:pWhere's the rod locker?