Wickford Marine Consignment, my kind of toy store
- Details
- Category: Discount Marine Supplies and Items
- Published on Saturday, 21 May 2011 21:44
- Written by George Boase
- Hits: 672
Location: 7725 Post Road
North Kingstown, RI 02852
(401) 295-9709
When I was a kid back in Missouri, we had a fun-to-shop, a little junky, store called Grandpa Pidgeon's. It was crammed to the walls with all sorts of goods with barely enough room to walk through. The one thing you were sure of is if you needed it, they probably had it and at a very deeply discounted price. Sometimes you had to look pretty hard to find it.
Wickford Marine Consignment takes me back to a childhood comfort zone. It reminds me a lot of Grandpa Pidgeon's. It's jammed to the walls with all kinds of new and used boating merchandise. Everything you can imagine and a few things I have to ask ... what the heck is this for? You still have to look hard, but for me, I kind of have fun doing that. Sometimes I go there not knowing exactly what I'm looking for. It much like treasure hunting. Half the fun is in the hunt.
The wife and I call it "our toy store." I started shopping there right after I bought Guru's Method, our 25 O'Day. It needed a lot since the owner before me had stripped it out for racing. What amazed me was how much original equipment they had there for a boat built in 1977. I bought a table, swim ladder, anchor, portable VHF and full size VHF and finished off with an older GPS. I can't even remember how much of Guru is furnished now by Wickford Marine Consignment.
The merchandise is a strange mix of surplus, salvage and new. I know a lot of people are hesitant to purchase something used. I know I am when it comes to something like electronics. I bought an inverter once that didn't work from the start and took it back. They gave me no problem at all with refunding the full amount. This is a good time for me to also mention that while the merchandise and price is the reason I shop there, the people are what really sets them apart. Every experience I've had there has been positive because of the people. I've never meet a better group to do business with. It's really why I have no trepidation about purchasing used, surplus or salvage goods. I know if there's a problem, they WILL take care of me.
Consignment must be a thing that's catching on in the yachting world. They recently opened a second location in CT. I wish them all success!
