Northstar Canoe for Sale ?
- Thread starter M Clemens
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“I’ve been in the canoe business for 45 years,” Bell says. “The plan is to stay here, because we own the building, and to keep the same workforce, because they do a really good job. That’s my goal. My goal is to replace me, so I can do more of what I want to do at this age.”
Article further mentions that he and Bear Paulson started the company together. I wonder if this is for outright ownership, or a controlling stake.
Open article with incognito mode to bypass the paywall.
Article further mentions that he and Bear Paulson started the company together. I wonder if this is for outright ownership, or a controlling stake.
Open article with incognito mode to bypass the paywall.
That didn't work for me.
The little research I did indicated that Ted is the sole owner and while Bear is referred to as the co-founder he is an employee (manager) rather than partner or co-owner. No idea if that's actually true or not though.
Hope he's able to find a buyer and that the canoes live on.
Alan
That's very interesting...
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Adding to the growing list of canoe industry manufacturers changing hands. Within fairly recent memory would be Headwaters, Nova Craft, and Hemlock, as well as a handful of paddle companies. I have no idea how long the Headwaters or Nova Craft sales took, but Hemlock was on the market for a couple of years before Dave Curtis was happy with the buyers, and he told me he turned down at least one offer. The other canoe company that has been for sale for quite some time is Millbrook Boats. Kaz at Millbrook has stated on Facebook a number of times that he intends to end production if a buyer isn't found, but so far has kept restarting production each spring. I suspect Northstar is a profitable enough operation that it will stay open until a buyer is found, and it sounds like Ted is putting the effort in to find the right buyer.
Grasse River Boatworks also changed hands this summer: GRB Max.
I wonder what will happen to Bell's exclusive right to build the Seliga Tripper.
I suspect if he wants the kind of money he's asking that he'll have to.
It sounds like he currently has a good business that is fully staffed and that it can pretty much run day to day without him being there. They have orders on the books and outfitters they sell to regularly. That makes it a lot more appealing to someone looking for a money making venture. They'll have a very good idea of what to expect for income and profit assuming they don't do something stupid and ruin it.
But if Northstar Canoes was to shut down then all they have is the property, some canoe molds, and name recognition. Any buyer would have to hire all new employees (and hope they got good ones), start production up from zero, rebuild relationships with with outfitters who have already switched to other brands, and convince customers to trust them. That's a lot of work and worth much, much less money.
Ted is looking for a businessman that wants to own a canoe manufacturing facility. Kaz is looking for someone that actually wants to do the hard work of building (and marketing, and selling) canoes with (I presume) no employees in place. Kaz is probably much more integral to Millbrook than Ted is to Northstar which hurts the potential value of Millbrook. You would essentially be buying yourself a job rather than an investment. Not that it can't be a good and profitable job but it would seem to be a very different scenario.
Alan
I’m just glad we have people willing to take up building these canoes. Hemlock and GRB are small companies that could have easily been lost to us. I’m not too worried about Northstar, it’s a well established business and I’m fairly confident someone will take over.
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I would think the best scenario for Millbrrok would be another small manufacturer who would like to branch out into WW canoes without the development cost and time.
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When Ted sold Bell to ORC, the Seliga production went with it, so it should stay with Northstar as well, I would think. I suspect Redfeather did not put the Seliga back into production because Northstar had already resumed production on it.
