WAYZATA, Minn. — The Minneapolis Convention Center should be buzzing this week, with hundreds of boats on display for the Minneapolis Boat Show.
COVID-19 sunk the show.
But the global pandemic continues to fuel a spike in boat sales that’s left inventories at local dealerships far below traditional mid-winter levels.
“Normally we would have 25, 26 boats at the boat show,” Curt Schwieso, a boating consultant at Wayzata Marine, said. “Now we have 17 in the showroom and that’s what we have right now to sell.”
What started in 2020 - when COVID-19 restrictions send families scrambling for alternate activities - appears to be continuing into 2021.
Wayzata Marine’s Rob Alvarado says he tries hard not to sound high pressure, but customers need to understand that waiting to purchase may mean no boat for summer.
“If you ordered one, it would probably be October, September,” Alvarado counseled a potential buyer on the phone.
The boating consultant said buyers are scooping up inventory sight unseen.
“In one year, I’ve sold more boats over the phone than in 13 years of working here,” Alvarado said.
The National Marine Manufacturers Association estimates 2020 boat sales grew by 12 percent compared to 2019 – with sales more robust than any time since the great recession.
The increase likely would have been greater, had boat manufacturers not been forced to idle their plants for several weeks in the early days of the pandemic.
Marit and Sean Woulfe had planned to shop for a boat at the Minneapolis Boat Show, but after the cancellation, stopped by Wayzata Marine instead.
In the showroom, they found a 21-foot Chaparral that fit their needs and pounced the same day.
“Just with the whole pandemic, we wanted something more to enjoy, you know,” said Marit, clutching the couple’s baby son Henryk.
Demand is similarly high for used boats. On Monday, Wayzata Marine had just four used boats in its inventory, and one of those sold that day.
Schwieso offered this advice: “If you want to be on the water when the ice goes off, which most people do, you need to be acting today – if not yesterday.”