Rumor is that Wilderness Systems may not be around next year? Does anyone have any comment on that? I have owned two Wilderness Systems boats and loved them. My current is a Pamlico 120. Being a native North Carolinian, and proud owner/supporter of their boats, I would sure like to know if there was any doubt of the company’s well being. Thanks
un_zarpe
Hmm
they put on a pretty big spread at the ECCKF, just redid the web site, NOT things you would waste time and money on if you were going under. Its probably perception propaganda!! L
Wilderness Systems
There was a nice article that someone had posted on the WS forum,when it was still up.
They are on their third CEO in three years. They’ve had massive layoffs and wage reductions.
This was all documented in the article, which was pasted directly from a business type news paper. So it’s not idle rumor.
Although their website is back up, they seem to be in no rush to get the forum section up and running. That would give people the oppertunity to discuss WS problems right on their site, something they weren’t happy about before.
where do you get
industry info? I also heard a rumour that perception and its holdings (islander,dagger mainstream) were bought by an islamic investment co. this true? I’m not trying stir up anything, just interested to see that large co’s from other diverse areas see kayaking as a good investment.
google it
you’ll start finding press releases and threads.
Regarding ownership of businesses,you could probably find some well known businesses in the US connected to all manner of people,pagan nature worshipers, Christian fundamentalists, or retired physicians with cultish followings who like to go on sybaritic adventures with the companies profits,horrors.
WS in Trouble - Article
– Last Updated: Apr-26-04 7:26 PM EST –
Go here and read all about it. Half way into the article it mentions last summers massive lay offs.
This sounds like a company that's not in trouble?
http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2004/02/02/story7.html
I'm not trying to discourage anyone from buying a WS yak. Heck, I may buy a Pungo 120. Just know what may or may not be down the road
Wildy
I just purchased a Wildy Pamlico 135T which was delivered very timely.
I think the owner of Confluence, American Capital Strategies, is a venture capital firm.
Their goal may be to trim the expenses out of the company so that they can “flip it” to another investor in three to five years. You often see large layoffs when venture capital firms purchase a company. Their main interest is short-term saleabilty of the company rather than long-term viability.
choices
you gotta admit they’ve covered the spectrum in model choices from the Tempest to dozens of flavors of sit-ons and sit in rec. kayaks.
curious
don’t want to see any company go down - too many people get hurt - - having said that, i can’t figure how that would effect me were i to buy a boat like a pungo, which i might for flyfishing - the boat is ultra strong, so don’t see ever needing them after the purchase - - i don’t mean this to sound callous, but more a question of why would i need them in the future ??