Phil Easton and his crew have spent more than 60 years selling boats and “family fun,” even during a recent rough patch with the COVID-19 pandemic still causing problems.
Easton, 78, hasn’t slowed down much since selling his first boat at age 17. He’s still selling boats, although they’re different than in 1958. Now, Easton’s Marine is selling higher quality and faster boats than Easton did at his first boat show decades ago.
The company has longtime repeat and generational customers who were referred to Easton’s by their grandfather or father.
“It’s a fun thing,” Easton said. “People in this part of the state love the water and we’ve been a part of that for a long time. Boat owners are like truck owners. They might buy a new boat every couple of years and recommend us to their family members. For instance, a lot of grandpas have told their grandsons to come to Easton’s to buy a boat.”
Easton’s foray into the family fun business comes naturally. His grandfather was employed by the City of Lawton as a lake patrolman for at least 20 years and his father was an avid fisherman and hunter who took his son to the lake each Sunday.
In the early days of Easton’s Marine, customers would “kick the tires” and buy boats at the dealership. But when the internet came into play, the business model and the company’s marketing method changed, prompting online sales to soar.
“We work on our website as much as we can,” Easton said. Technology allows the company to sell boats to customers in faraway places such as the Oklahoma Panhandle, west Texas and New Mexico. That’s been a positive for Easton since the pandemic has created a variety of issues for the boat dealership.
“It’s hurt our industry big time,” he said. “We can’t get the aluminum to build the boats. They don’t make aluminum in this country anymore. All of it comes from Canada and with 24% absenteeism in those plants it’s difficult to get the products we need. I should have 70 boats on the grounds, but I don’t have that.”
Easton also reported a shortage in steering systems, creating another delay in boat purchases.
“If someone wants to buy a boat in May, it may be August before they get it,” he said. “You just don’t know from day to day what’s going to happen. Right now, they’re only shipping sold boats.”
The three best-selling boats at this time are pontoons, aluminum fishing boats and Nitro bass boats, Easton said. Like many business owners, Easton cautioned that the pandemic will continue to alter his operations into 2022.
“It (the pandemic) isn’t something that’s going away in the next 30 days, maybe this time next year,” he said. Still, he remained optimistic based on previous sales and a loyal customer base.
“We had a good 2020 and we’ll have a wonderful 2021 if we can get product,” Easton said. “There is so much recreation in this part of the state. People aren’t traveling, but they are going to the lake and there’s plenty of water with Lake Lawtonka, Fort Cobb, Lake Tom Steed, Eufaula, Texoma plus the lakes in Duncan.”
In 2020, many boat dealerships like Easton Marine experienced jumps in sales because being on a lake with family was social distancing at its finest, outside is safer, there are fewer – if any – opportunities for large gatherings and families are searching for activities that keep them close to home.
Easton joked that the size of a customer’s boat depends on the size of his wallet.
“Jerry Jones has a yacht that has a crew of 42 people. He wanted one that was a foot longer than a football field, but you can have as much fun on an 18-foot pontoon as you can on a 42-foot day boat. It just depends on how much you’re into it.”
Easton called boaters “resilient people” who will drive to water to fish and have fun.
“Lake Murray, for instance, is only two hours away,” he said. “You can hook up your boat at 7 and be in the water by 9. It’s a fun way of life and that’s what we sell here.”
Most Oklahomans can travel two to three hours to locate a good-sized fishing hole or lake with recreational opportunities. Oklahoma has 11,611 miles of shoreline, more than the combined nontidal coasts of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The state contains approximately 1,401 square miles of water area in its lakes and ponds, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island, according to figures from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Oklahoma also has approximately 167,600 miles of rivers and streams, the OWRB reported.