On the road north: Huett Marine

Good old fashioned common sense is sometimes missing in business. The past few years have seen many boat dealerships fall victim to the economic hardships around us. In many instances it's unavoidable – other times it's the result of bad business practice when times were good. One switched-on business who's succeeded and has been through thick and thin is Sydney's Huett Marine.

Situated to the North of Sydney in the suburb of Cowan, Huett Marine is one of Sydney's longest established marine dealerships with a solid reputation for service and supply of quality boats.

Huett Marine is a fourth generation business starting life as Huett Boat Shed at nearby Berowra Waters, now the site of the Berowra Waters Marina. Roger Huett's grandfather George Huett started the boat shed which then took shape as a dealership when the company took on a Johnson franchise in 1961. In 1964 the family sold the boat shed business and kept the franchise while operating it from the family home at Berowra Waters. This was the birthplace of Huett Marine.

The company's current location along the Old Pacific Highway at Cowan became available in 1974 when the F3 freeway was opened. Interestingly the site is an old Caltex service station, the biggest in Australia at the time. When the freeway was built, the old highway became just another road and the service station moved to greener pastures. This left an ideal location for a boat dealership. The family also held onto the premises on the water at Berowra for servicing, and at one stage, opened up a dealership at nearby Hornsby. This was during the '80s when business was booming.

Roger and his son Craig Huett told Marine Business of the busy days when customer after customer would turn up at Berowra waters after buying boats from the dealership in Cowan.

“People would come here, pay their money, and even though the boat was down at Berowra Waters, buy the boat sight unseen. People wouldn't do that these days,” said Roger.

However, the company went through a very rough period in the early '80s but managed to re-establish itself – not without a few burnt business relationships with suppliers.

Jumping forward many years, Huett Marine in now a specialist Evinrude E-TEC  dealer and sells Stacer packages and more recently the renowned Haines Hunter brand again.

Already being an established Evinrude dealer meant stocking E-TECs was a no-brainer. Roger says selling E-TECs is both an advantage and a disadvantage. “For sales it's an advantage, but with servicing it's a disadvantage” he said. However, this is starting to change with more older E-TECs coming around for their first service after the three year period.

Stacer has been onboard with Huett for about 15 years and Haines Hunter for about 12 months; although Huett has stocked Haines Hunter in the past and has always been impressed with the quality and popularity of the boats.

“During the 1980s we sold lots and lots of Haines Hunters. I remember when that 17L came out and you couldn't get enough of the things, they were selling like hot cakes. I remember at one stage we had ten 17Ls sitting up there along the back fence. Every one you could get hold of, someone would want to buy it,” explained Roger.

Craig Huett says they're very happy with the Haines Hunter line-up. He also mentioned this style of boat has been affected with the onset of cheaper US imports. “The Australian fibreglass manufacturer  is doing it tough at the moment, Haines Hunter are doing well, but some of the smaller ones are doing it very tough,” says Craig.

Craig also says the sale of marine electronics is being affected by grey imports.

After a long time in business Roger Huett puts some of the success down to not over committing themselves with lavish showrooms and over stocked dealerships.

“Anyone who opens a business and throws too much money at it won't succeed,” he says.

Huett resisted pressure to move to a more prominent location and in doing so, kept overheads low. After trading through both good and bad economic conditions, keeping  a measured approach to business has seen Huett Marine succeed as a prosperous Australian family business.