Mercury Yacht Harbour about to lose its Force 4 Chandlery?

[Firefly625]

Anyone who keeps their boat at Mercury Yacht Harbour I am sure will value greatly our little Force 4 Chandlery, it may be the runt of the litter compared to the Force 4 in Hamble Point and Port Hamble but it is still sooo useful.

Manned most weekends by Ariel, the most knowledgeable of Force 4 shop staff you will ever come to meet. (seems to commute between an Italian superyacht that he maintains in Italy and Force 4 in Mercury.... go figure?>!) .. he will get you any part you need, or point you in the right direction. Often to be found on board people boats giving assistance and tips, so as well as losing the chandlery we will lose Ariel.

Stock is being run down, the shop appears to be on its way out. I have posted a comment on the Community page of Mercury Yacht Harbour Facebook page and according to MDL they are still in discussions with Force 4.

So I would just ask if you keep your boat at Mercury and want an on site chandlery rather than an empty shop and have a few minutes please either comment on their Facebook page, or email the team at Mercury <MercuryYachtHarbour.CustomerHelp@mdlmarinas.co.uk>, or write an old fashioned letter!
As I see it that shop is a resource and benefit to the marina residents, not to have an on site chandlery is a pain in the neck... I've experienced that at Hythe, its not good.

 

[SeaWeavers]

That is a shame, I'm new to boating but Mercury Yacht Harbour is my local launch site. Only met Ariel once when I needed stern gear oil, Ariel closed the shop, came down to our boat in the marina, checked the engine to see exactly what I needed, took photo's of engine number, whet back to shop to search the internet for exact oil we needed. I was amazed at the level of customer service he provided. Ariel will be missed and the Chandlery will be missed too.

 

[Sneds]

Would be a shame if it were to close
We are regular users of both the Bristol and Portishead stores, I like dealing with F4

 

[Firefly625]

That is a shame, I'm new to boating but Mercury Yacht Harbour is my local launch site. Only met Ariel once when I needed stern gear oil, Ariel closed the shop, came down to our boat in the marina, checked the engine to see exactly what I needed, took photo's of engine number, whet back to shop to search the internet for exact oil we needed. I was amazed at the level of customer service he provided. Ariel will be missed and the Chandlery will be missed too.

that is indeed his typical level of service:encouragement:

 

[rafiki_]

From a business perspective, F4 have a lot of stores, real estate and people to pay for, at a time when us keyboard warriors use t’internet to purchase. Where I am on the Hamble they have stores either side of the A27 bridge. How can this be economically effective? We all bemoan the loss of a great service, but it must be an easy business decision to close stores when you have so many in a small area.

 

[Firefly625]

From a business perspective, F4 have a lot of stores, real estate and people to pay for, at a time when us keyboard warriors use t’internet to purchase. Where I am on the Hamble they have stores either side of the A27 bridge. How can this be economically effective? We all bemoan the loss of a great service, but it must be an easy business decision to close stores when you have so many in a small area.

In many ways I agree Paul, this is where if I were MDL I would give them mercury shop rent free... just to keep the store open as a service to their berth holders. I mean who else is going to make a chandlery work at Mercury if F4 can’t?

 

[burgundyben]

The issue at Mercury is that its just a boat park, there so little training/charter/boat mending etc that the chandlery has so little trade.

 

[Firefly625]

The issue at Mercury is that its just a boat park, there so little training/charter/boat mending etc that the chandlery has so little trade.

Well actually there is Universal boat charters and Hamble sea school plus quite a few training boats used almost daily all year round that run out of Mercury, and Sea View charters normally get their boats lifted at Mercury.. and the rest of the folk that use it as a boat park all need a chandlery.

 

[burgundyben]

Well actually there is Universal boat charters and Hamble sea school plus quite a few training boats used almost daily all year round that run out of Mercury, and Sea View charters normally get their boats lifted at Mercury.. and the rest of the folk that use it as a boat park all need a chandlery.

But its not on the same scale as Hamble Point, or Port Hamble or Swanwick.

 

[Elessar]

But its not on the same scale as Hamble Point, or Port Hamble or Swanwick.

not that different to shamrock which has a large chandlery. I wouldn't want to keep my boat at a marina without a chandlery. Annoys me enough when shamrock shuts on certain days in the winter.

 

[Firefly625]

not that different to shamrock which has a large chandlery. I wouldn't want to keep my boat at a marina without a chandlery. Annoys me enough when shamrock shuts on certain days in the winter.

+1

 

[Firefly625]

But its not on the same scale as Hamble Point, or Port Hamble or Swanwick.

no, but then the shop at Mercury is quarter of the size with only one member of staff manning it.. its all to scale.

 

[Blue Sunray]

no, but then the shop at Mercury is quarter of the size with only one member of staff manning it.. its all to scale.

Sadly, as I have to agree that I have also received exceptional service there, although it does indeed only have one member of staff it almost invariably has no customers whenever gone in.

Force 4 are IMHO missing a trick in their lack of a decent click and collect service which would build on their network of smaller outlets at Marinas. Apart from the unforeseen I now get what i need by using marine Superstore's click and collect system and diverting into Port Solent on the way down. F4 would be much more convenient but I'm not going to take a risk on their stock levels if I don't have to.