I wanted to chime in as my experiences have been slightly different than those of the rest of the group. I dock in Deep River CT, only 20min from Defender (aka. The Toy Store) so as I’m sure you can imagine I drive over whenever possible. Sometimes it’s just not reasonable to drive 20min for something that costs $5.00 so I choose the new Deep River WorstMarine Express. These guys are fantastic, in every respect. I find what I need quickly, get it at Defender prices and support the local stores. (All the staff are from town). If they don’t have what I need, they get it and they get it fast. The service is great and the staff are smart enough to say “I don’t know” instead of giving me some bull#$it answer. I know this is the exception to the rule with WorstMarine but I wanted to point it out.
As far as spending the profits of the WestMarine Corporation, they do a lot for the community and I have seen it first hand. They have a program for kids to barrow lifejackets,
epirbs to rent at a great discount, waterfront clean-up projects, local clean-water education programs, educational programs on products they sell and other such things. Defender does many of the same things, including donating boats to fire departments and rescue teams but not free education. Just food for thought….