Boat Builder Central Competitors

Since first opening our doors in 1968, West Marine crew members continue to serve boaters and provide helpful advice on the gear and gadgets customers need to be safe and have fun. With 240 stores located in 38 states and Puerto Rico and a thriving eCommerce website (www.westmarine.com) serving retail and professional customers, West Marine is recognized as the premier multi-channel retailer of boating and fishing supplies. When you work at West Marine, you’re part of a family; one that values spending quality time on the water, doing the things you love, and sharing that passion with our customers and community.

Defender provides quality marine supplies, inflatable boats and outboard motors. We offer competitive prices on the brands you trust, we have them in stock and we are an authorized dealer for everything we carry. Defender is a marine outfitter staffed by passionate boaters who understand your language and your projects. We have a knowledgeable, in-house sales staff ready to answer your questions and to help you make the right purchase. That’s how we continue to earn the trust of mariners worldwide — as we have since 1938. Based in Waterford, Conn., Defender is a family-owned company, started by Sheldon Lance. Mr. Lance wanted to make boating accessible to more people and “disrupted” the marine supply industry, which at the time catered to “yachtsmen.” Mr. Lance started buying surplus products from the government and manufacturers so he could sell boating supplies at affordable prices, and he ended up earning the respect of quality marine manufacturers worldwide. Today, Defender is an authorized dealer for 85,000 products from every major marine manufacturer. Now under the leadership of Mr. Lance’s son, Stephan, Defender has grown to become the largest independent marine supply firm in the U.S.

It started simply enough. We wanted better stuff for our own boats. Even our favorite products-the ones we'd come to rely on-had room for improvement. So we took everything we knew from 35 years of customer feedback, combined with our own knowledge, and after a few years of rigorous R&D, TotalBoat was born. Launched, rather. Jamestown Distributors and TotalBoat have become an industry leader in maker, craftsmen, and marine supplies. We're a family-run business based in Bristol, RI with a 40,000 square foot warehouse, where we've got everything you need to maintain, restore and even build your own craft. The most important thing you'll find, however, is our team of makers, craftsmen and boat lovers who really know their stuff. Our mission is to provide Tools and Inspiration for Craftsmen. We love to help people build stuff, and build a great team in the process. We believe that striving to model the following in everything we do makes us a stronger team, and leads to a better experience for our customers: 1. Make it simple- Strive to make things as simple as possible. Systems, processes, emails, products, explanations, descriptions in the catalog and on website. Only great products, no junk. Make it simpler for your coworkers and your customers. 2. Listen to Customers - If we satisfy our customers needs, if we make our customers happy, we will continue to grow. What do the customers want? 3. Continuously Improve - Strive to be better today than yesterday. What can we do to improve? How can we make JD a better place to work? How can we improve the experience for the customer? 4. Never say die - Don't give up! Stick with it. Finish a project to the end. Go the extra mile. 5. Have fun! - We spend a lot of time here together. We want to build a great team and enterprise, but let's not take ourselves TOO seriously. Lets have some fun!