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What recession ....... Toronto Boat Show $$$$ Up

2K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  patrickrea 
#1 ·
In a report from the Globe and Mail yesterday, sales at the Toronto Boat Show are holding steady from lastyear. I've heard from several sources that people are still buying. One dealer that usually sells 9 SeaDoo boats all season, sold 8 the first weekend of the show.

Thanks to Sweetwater Cruising for the heads up on the story.

Droves of boaters drown out economic worries
TENILLE BONOGUORE

January 14, 2009

Midwinter voyageurs have been flocking to the Toronto International Boat Show, where a deluge of sales on the weekend suggests enthusiasts will fork out plenty of cash to escape the woes on land.

"Right now, today, we're likely ahead of the game at least by $1-million, and the show's just getting going," said Greg Crate, owner of Crate Marine Sales.

On the opening weekend, two of the luxury yachts that dominate the main hall sold for a handsome $1.5-million each - one to a couple who've never owned a boat before.

As the Boat Show at Exhibition Place usually accounts for about 70 per cent of Crate's annual revenue, the wave of sales looks set to carry the company comfortably through 2009.

"We feel this year there's been more serious people at the show than we've seen in a while," said Mr. Crate, estimating that this year's show sales will top $5-million. "They want to see the ice gone and sun shining, and get boating."

Boat sales at some shows in the United States have slumped by up to 50 per cent, and there were fears that would wash over Toronto, too.

But Carolyn Burgess, owner of Scarborough's The Rigging Shoppe, said there has been no downturn yet. U.S. manufacturers are now hoping the Canadian market can help tow them through the turmoil.

"People who are passionate about boating are going to continue to be passionate," Ms. Burgess said.
 
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#2 ·
...and people are wondering where the $350B from TARP has gone...

The rich, my friend, are getting richer - and buying boats in Toronto!
 
#4 ·
Canadians are feeling the recession, but not as badly as our american counterparts. The housing market has slowed, but not tanked, but the auto industry is faring no better here than below the border, as most of our plants supply the US market either with cars or parts. As far as retail goes, we saw more shoppers in the mall after Christmas than before it. People seem to have forgotten that their Retirement savings have been decimated.
 
#9 ·
It is true that the media, in its insatiable lust for readers/viewers/dollars cannot seem to shed the tendency to over-dramatise everything. Some of us fall victim to the hype and end up using inordinately strong words like 'decimated', in an effort to make their thoughts stand out from among the myriad of others. I apologise for the relapse.
 
#10 · (Edited)
really that comfortable about backsliding 5 years in their retirement plans. or having to work another 7 or 8 to get back to where they were.
It depends on where your money is/was. Resources and mfg are down. Banks are holding pretty well. There are some good bargains out there. Land is not tanking - it is correcting but there'll never be any more of it and the demand just keeps going up and up. The condo market is getting badly damaged.

THere have been losses, but they are not substantial enough to scare most of us. An unfortunate few have been wiped out - which is why you need to listen when your financial advisor tells you to diversiy !!!!

I think that the difference here is that an awful lot of the 50 somethings have lived through the same events prior to this. Things are actually not as bad (yet) as they have been in the past. It's a much more significant recession this time - there are seismic changes - the global financial system will emerge with an altered structure, but we're really moving to a lower risk - more easily sustained model.

Sooo..while there are certainly many thousands of people who have been dealt a significant financial blow - the number is not as great as the media would like us to believe. Coupled with this is the knowledge that if we stop spending our money we will get into SERIOUS trouble on a micro scale. Hindsight is providing us with a bit of reassurance, and I think that the general populace is dealing with the straitened circumstances considerably better than the press would like us to believe.
 
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