Lake Minnetonka Service and Parts Are in Full Swing At Our New Long Lake Facility!

History

Let’s take a moment to look back at our Lake Minnetonka location and how it came to be what it is today. Fall of 2012 the former MarineMax building became available on Lake Minnetonka which is now our 1444 Shoreline Drive sales location. The opportunity to include “Lake Minnetonka” as a location on all of the marketing assets of the company and secure a Twin Cities location was pinnacle for River Valley to continue its’ growth pattern of the last several years. It has also offered validity as a top marine dealer in the state. As River Valley created a business model around the small location it was clear with the size of the facility it would never support sales and service in a single location. So how does one sell and service product sold on Lake Minnetonka and still continue to grow their business? The model was “Boutique Sales” a single point sales location that would be supported for service by existing locations in Red Wing and Rochester.

Maple Plain Service Location

As River Valley’s brand offering strengthened and sales continued to grow so did the demand on service, between January, 2012 and December, 2017 the existing model seemed to work. However, over the next two years the Red Wing and Rochester service centers were nearing capacities in the Spring Delivery and Fall pull out seasons. River Valley expanded into mobile service, partner storage locations in Maple Plain and even a satellite smaller service facility in Maple Plain as the search began for a facility that would be acceptable for the needs of the growing location. Late in the year, 2019 River Valley acquired the former “Crows Nest” in hopes that the facility would be a great solution for service for the Lake Minnetonka customer base; finally a location 15 minutes away from the lake that had the capabilities to hire full time Service and Parts professionals to serve our local clients! This location offered a safer (than 1444 Shoreline Drive) pick up and drop off for clients in need of service or picking up their newly purchased marine product. The new service facility offered many things that were needed to support the Twin Cities based customer and poised itself for additional future growth. We hired an interim Service Director, Vince Shimanski (15+ years experience) as well as an in-house technician and some additional support staff. Fast forward to late March,2020.

Covid.

The beginning of March, 2020 had so many questions like most businesses, how was this going to affect us? Who knew that outdoor activities were going to be one of the only primary activities that families could participate in for the foreseeable future? By the end of March product begin to fly off the shelf, people flocked to the lake to just get out of the house and be with their families in an outdoor environment and not shut in their homes. Usage of marine product increased, first time boat buyers entered the market at unheard of rates and with those two factors; necessary repairs and service calls increased. We needed people! Not only that, we needed more space! We outgrew what we felt was a good fit for future growth in a matter of months. We began the search for a permanent Service Director, Parts Manager and Technicians to add to our team.

Long Lake Service Location

Before many boaters even were on the water for the year, sales and service demand increased for our Lake Minnetonka locations, we knew we needed a growth plan. The hunt was on! We got a lead that First Student in Long Lake was nearing the end of their contract at 505 Tamarack and was likely going to relocate down the street. We continued searching for facilities and properties that would be a fit for our needs. As their contract was expiring our deal progressed, we finally got some applicants for technicians, parts person and a service manager. Familiar names to locals joined our team and we continued seeking a facility. Under Vince Shimanski (Interim Service Director) we added Mark Larson as Service Director with 25+ years of experience, Megan Biersach as Parts Manager with 5+ years of experience and two additional top Master Certified marine technicians to the team; only weeks before announcing internally that we inked a deal on the 505 Tamarack, Long Lake Facility. A light refresh of the interior (new paint and carpet) was completed immediately as we took possession. Now when is the best time to move facilities for a marine service center? Not August, but it had to be done, The space was needed for technicians and product. 12,500sq ft of service bays, offices, conference room, sales office, in-ground fuel and parts warehousing were essential to move business forward. Recently in October, we added a new General Manager to oversee the entire Lake Minnetonka operation, Kevin Kerkvliet, a know asset within the Marine Industry. The facility located on 1.6+ acres has room for marshalling of product, 2 roads of access for drop-off and pick up products, now only 5 minutes away from our Lake Minnetonka location and the nearest boat ramp on the lake. It also is more accessible for clients not on the lake as it is a straight shot down HWY 12 onto Wayzata Blvd from 394/494 interchange. We look forward to a new service experience for all of our customers at this new facility with this new team!

The Team