Crocker's Marine
An opportunity came in 1973 to buy 2 acres of land across the street for $90,000. WYB financed $75,000 and payments were $674.13 per month which was a lot of money to Kay at the time. The first thing that was done when the company moved to its new location was to build a 40 x 250 foot storage shed. This would help generate extra income. The idea was that people would trailer their boats down from Raleigh and other inland areas, leave them stored at Crocker’s and then put them in the water on the return weekend, greatly reducing fuel consumption. This eventually led to an off site storage facility years later at Dutch Square. Boats could be winterized, stored, summarized and returned to the owner for the summer.
Next was the construction of a 10,000 square foot covered showroom in 1983 . Now the new boats were covered and kept clean. Families were now able to board the boats and view the features and benefits in a comfortable clean surrounding. We are now in the process of air conditioning the showroom, which will gives us one of the largest air-conditioned marine show rooms in Eastern North Carolina.
When Kay first started this business, he was the bookkeeper, salesman, mechanic, and the rigger. The first employee hired was a kid who went to UNCW. He worked part time between classes. As the business grew, a full time bookkeeper was hired. Andi McAdams came to us in 1981 from Greenville and had worked for Grady White. We are proud to say she has been with the company ever since and 2006 marks her 25 year with the company. Eventually a salesman, Richard Pratt, was hired October 1st, 1983, later becoming our sales manager. Today, in addition to Richard we have three full time salesmen. After many years in public accounting, Terry Wilder was later hired as our CFO. He has helped put systems in place that make us more efficient along with providing a vital role in establishing the Crocker Marine Group, Inc. This parent company includes Nautica Marine in Georgetown, South Carolina and Morehead Marine in Morehead City, North Carolina along with our original Crocker’s Marine location in Wrightsville Beach.
The company has continued to grow and change throughout the years. Next, Kay saw a need for a dealership in the growing Morehead City market area. In December of 1985 he leased an old Ford dealership where highway 24 and 70 intersect in Morehead City and Morehead Marine opened their doors. Later purchasing the property and having an indoor showroom, Morehead Marine has grown into one of the most trusted marine dealership on the Crystal Coast. In 1998 Tom Harris who at the time was a Morehead Marine customer was hired as the general manager, and has continued to grow our Morehead City location.
Jim Johnson, a fellow Grady White dealer in Georgetown, SC, was looking to sell his dealership. To make the deal work, Kay insisted that Marshall Truluck, manager of Georgetown Landing Marina at the time, come onboard and serve as the general manager of Nautica Marine. Marshall agreed, so in 1996 Nautica Marine was bought.
As our market has grown, Crocker’s Marine has expanded our service from Brunswick County to Sneed’s Ferry. We have two mobile technicians. This expedites turnaround time for servicing customers’ boats. A technician is always available on Saturday’s until 1 P.M. As our service department has grown, we now have five full time technicians and a full rigging crew for accessories and electronics. Major changes have taken place in the marine industry in the last 10 years. We send all of the technicians in the Crocker Marine group to service seminars throughout the year to keep abreast with the latest changes. (continue...)
4971 Arendell Street. Morehead City, NC 28557 : ph.252.247.6667
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