Gaining Ground
in Traverse City
By Kate Conlon
T
o say that 2020 was an exciting year would nearly be the understatement of the century, but amidst the chaos and reopening directly in the middle of launching season, early last summer we closed on the acquisition of the former Traverse Bay Marine in Traverse City and began the process of onboarding staff, customers, and vendors. We happily welcomed the fantastic existing staff into the Walstrom fold, including a certified master Yamaha technician. General Manager, Joel Shoemaker, spent the summer working out of the new office to get a lay of the land and familiarize everyone with the Walstrom systems. Service Director, David Lesh, also spent time working at the new office having gained the most staff in the transaction and bringing a new parts manager onboard to join the team. The addition of service and storage capabilities to our already present sales department has been a transition we have been looking forward to making for a long time. When Traverse Bay Marine, an established business with over 40 years of service, became available we knew the 16 | walstrom.com
fit was perfect. Though there have been the anticipated bumps of transitioning any established business, we know that bringing the level of excellence in boating we require from all of the Walstrom staff to the Traverse area was something that would be beneficial to customers new and old. With the addition of Crest Pontoons and Lund Boats to our already impressive list of Pursuit, Tiara, Chris Craft, and Sea Ray we have a boat for everyone and three expert service departments to keep you safely on the water no matter where you might be boating in Northern Michigan. “We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in the Traverse City area boating community and excited to offer
our unparalleled level of service to more boaters on both the Great Lakes and many surrounding inland lakes. Traverse Bay Marine proudly served the boaters of Traverse City for 40 years, and with the passing of the torch to Walstrom Marine we look forward to elevating the customer experience even more. It’s been a great success thus far and we look forward to many more years of service in the Traverse City area.” Tom Ervin, President. We are open 24-hours a day online at walstrom.com and available by phone at (231) 426-2141. Stop in and see us at our new Traverse City location at 228 US-31 South. We look forward to serving you soon.
