JACKSONVILLE – Chad Hovsepian considered last weekend’s Jacksonville Boat Show a success even if he didn’t have to sell any of the seven boats he had on display.
The general manager and co-founder of Lake Area Watersports in Melrose said the primary purpose of spending three days among hundreds of boats and thousands of potential customers was making connections and future contacts.
“We’ve been doing this for 20-something years, and it’s always been successful for us,” Hovsepian said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s a good way to get ready for the season. We make contacts here for after the show.”
Like a fisherman creating a trail of chum, patience is the key to future success.
Alec Adamec thinks the same way, but he’d rather now have to load up the 16 boats he brought from Adamec Marine in Orange Park.
“It’s great for business. It’s a highlight for what we do,” he said. “You get to see who has the best stock, who has the best staff. You get to show off what you do.
“It’s not about selling boats. It’s about starting relationships. But I still plan to sell all 16 boats before the show’s over.”
The show ran Friday through Sunday at the 265,000-square-foot Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center. There were clinics, free life jackets, lures and fishing rods, seminars, raffles and demonstrations, along with more than 75 different vendors, including nearly 40 boat sales companies.
The show was so big, some of the displays spilled into the parking lots.
For Hovsepian, it was also an opportunity to expand his ShuvIT revolutionary wake surfing training device. It’s a stationary swivel-based board that mimics what a wave board feels like behind a boat. It can turn 360 degrees and rock up and down. More importantly, it’s three inches off the ground, so it allows surfers to work on difficult tricks without the danger of a hard flop during high speeds on the water.
He built one to help his daughter, Lindsay, train for Wakeboard Tournaments.
“On Saturday, the (ShuvIT) boards will stop traffic,” Hovsepian said. “Kids will be on them all day long. It’s a good way for customers to stop to check out the brands of boats while they’re here.”
Adamec said his shop attends two boat shows a year. There are plenty of salespeople on the floor to cover the large selection of watercraft.
“We attract people from all over Northeast Florida, not just Jacksonville and Clay County,” Alec said. “We want to talk to a lot of people, so we bring everybody we can. It’s absolutely worth the investment.”
And a great way for local boat dealers to stay afloat.