Whitefish Marine to move into expanded space

Whitefish Marine is constructing a new, 9,000-foot space that includes boat maintenance bays and an indoor showroom near the intersection of U.S. 93 and MT 40 south of Whitefish.

The company broke ground on the building in March and is hoping to start moving in by mid-summer, said Megan Gonzalez, brand manager for Whitefish Marine.

The maintenance personnel will be the first employees to occupy the space as soon as their bays have floors and walls suitable to start parking boats. The new maintenance area will be indoors, while the current maintenance area requires a lot of the work to be done outside.

“We’ll have, I believe, six bays of indoor service which our guys are really excited about and the other half will be an indoor showroom and retail space,” Gonzales said. “Our service department will move over there first so the guys can start working indoors. As soon as the building has walls and a floor, they will be over there.”

About two and a half years ago current owner Garth Wells purchased the business. Prior to that, it mostly functioned as a used boat dealer, but it has since turned into a multi-functional maintenance center that also deals in new and used boats.

Since Wells made those changes, Gonzalez said the company has gone through a period of sustained growth.

“The business has just been growing and thriving year over year,” Gonzalez said.

Still, the company has had issues with the public not knowing the extent of their expanded services. They see this relocation to a new building as an opportunity for a rebranding, and hope that could lead to a real blossoming of their business.

“We’re really excited about it because a lot of people don’t even know we are a boat dealership since they know the old dealership did rentals,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve really tried to get the word out there that we are a boat dealer.”

The new building sits on an 18-acre tract of land also owned by the company, so they will be able to keep their entire inventory on-site. Currently, they have to rent an off-site space to store some inventory, which means it is more difficult to show customers.

The expanded indoor showroom will also allow them to better showcase inventory through the winter months. Whitefish Marine is open year-round, and will stay that way once they move to the new facility.

In recent years, Whitefish Marine has also hosted a decontamination station for boaters to make sure their vessels are clear from aquatic invasive species.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.