Boaters World closing includes Atlantic Beach location

ATLANTIC BEACH - Gene Helmlinger of Newport is training to work as a marine mechanic or electrician, but as he shopped this week at a Carteret County business preparing to close its doors he found the boating industry is one that has been hit by economic hard times.

Boaters World/Outer Banks Outfitters in Atlantic Beach is one of 130 Boaters World Marine Centers going out of business as a result of a bankruptcy filing and restructuring by parent company, Maryland-based Ritz Camera.

Helmlinger stopped by the store, which is now in liquidation, to take advantage of the sale, but he also saw the "All Sales Final" and "Going out of Business" banners as a sign of the times.

"I was surprised, definitely," Helmlinger said of the news of the closing. " . . . I really hope the economy starts picking up, especially in the boating industry."

According the news reports on the bankruptcy filing by Ritz, the national specialty camera retailer has faced challenges due to a move from film to digital photography and, most recently, the economy.

The company reportedly opened the Boaters World chain in the late 1980s to diversify. And while the boating and marine supply business proved profitable for many years, a rise in gas prices and the recent economic downturn have led to declining sales.

For the employees of the Boaters World in Atlantic Beach the economic situation brings mixed emotions.

Fifteen employees were laid off in February, and the remaining 15 learned Friday about the liquidation and plans to close the stores by June 30. Catalog sales close April 2.

"We just feel like we've been set afloat," said returns department manager Lorrie Jones, who was preparing to celebrate 20 years with the business in July.

"God knows none of us ever dreamed this would happen, but we never thought we'd see a recession like this either," Jones said.

They hate to see the business close, but there was some comfort in knowing it's due to circumstances they can't control.

"It's sad, but it is a little easier to accept knowing it is the economy and not something anyone did," said Georgia Pope, who joined the business in May 1992 and has served as its director of catalog sales.

Like Jones and Pope, several employees have been working for the business, which began locally more than 20 years ago, since its early days.

Carteret County businessman Ben Moore founded Outer Banks Outfitters in the early 1980s and it originally operated in Beaufort, Pope said.

Outer Banks Outfitters, which was catalog sales with a showroom, moved to its current location at Atlantic Station shopping center in 1994. The business was purchased by Boaters World in 1997, with Outer Banks Outfitters becoming a division of the marine retail chain, Pope said.

While there have been some changes over the years, one thing has remained the same, Pope said, and that's the customer service they've provided.

As word has spread about the closing, customers near and far have said Boaters World and Outer Banks Outfitters will be missed.

"The locals don't want to see us go," said associate Stacey Gray, who has greeted customers coming into the store for the past two years. "They're shocked. A lot of them didn't know about it until they saw the (going out of business) sign, and the ones who knew come in to say they are sorry to see us go."

For Pope and the employees who have handled catalog sales, phone calls and e-mails are coming in from customers around the country.

"I had a customer call me today who heard about it. I hadn't heard from him in two years because he doesn't have a boat right now, but he said he just had to call," Pope said.

Between the store and catalog orders, Pope said they have worked to help customers all over the world, from fishermen offshore to military personnel overseas.

Pope recalled a time they heard from a customer fishing offshore in Alaska when his radar went out. They were able to get new equipment to him via an overnight delivery to a boat waiting on standby to take it to him.

"Everything about that worked out, and when you are able to do something like that to help a customer, that's really gratifying," Pope said.

They will take with them those types of memories and those of their time together.

"We have no regrets except that we hate to see it close. We've been a family here," said Shanon Harris, who joined the business just two months after Pope.

While Pope will retire a bit earlier than she planned, Harris isn't yet sure of her next step.

"After 17 years you don't know anything different," she said.

The focus now is clearing out the store and helping their customers one last time.

It will keep their mind off the hardest part: saying good-bye to a place they have loved.

"We're all close. From the managers to the part-time staff, we're all close," said Jo Brazie, who has worked for the business for 15 years.

For Gray, who lives in the Down East community of Atlantic, it's a job worth the hour drive it takes her to get to and from work each day.

"We all look out for each other," she said.

Jan Manning of Newport, who is retired, has worked at the business only part-time but will miss it all the same.

"I'm going to miss all these people," he said. "I have loved working here."

Staff writer Jannette Pippin can be reached at jpippin@freedomenc.com or 910-382-2557.