Goodbye To Royalex?

[Al Agnew]

http://www.rapidmedia.com/canoeing/categories/news/item/1602-royalex-is-dead.html

Looks like if you're wanting to buy a Royalex canoe you better be doing it. This could be very bad news for those of us who love the durability and light weight of Royalex canoes.

[fishinwrench]

I agree with this :

Have no fear, I'm sure China has already stollen, copied and is about to shock the boating industry with a pennies on the dollar solution for another lost North American manufacturing company.

I never do any whitewater paddling but I've always liked and preferred the heavier polylink hulls. Neither me nor an F2 tornado have been able to tear one up. The extra weight doesn't bother me because I bought my canoe to float in, NOT to carry. I can drag my polylink model over a dry gravel bar with one hand.

[Chief Grey Bear]

While canoes come in plenty of materials that suit the needs of flatwater paddlers just fine, whitewater paddlers are particularly worried by the news. “I learned to paddle rivers in Royalex canoes. Without it, we’re going to have to change the way we all paddle whitewater,” says Scott MacGregor, founder and publisher at Rapid Media. “On the other hand, this may be a the kick in the butt the canoeing industry needs to find a material lighter, stronger and even more durable.” While MacGregor remains optimistic, he’s also ordering spares of his favorite Royalex whitewater canoe models.

Well boo hoo bawl bag. Maybe you should have learned to paddle in a battleship canoe like the rest of us did. But what do we know about paddling. We are just a bunch of flatwater paddlers. We'll be just fine. It is only the elite whitewater dudes that will have to adjust their fragile ego's.

Anyway, I agree with Wrench. I'll take a little added weight for durability.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Kevlar

[Al Agnew]

There's more to it, though, than just the possibility of not being able to get Royalex canoes anymore. Big companies buying up smaller specialty companies and then selling off the assets and discontinuing the products because they aren't as profitable as the other products the big company manufactures seems to be happening all the time. And then workers lose their jobs. This hits home in Missouri...there was a Spartech plant in Cape Girardeau. The Poly One people kept it open when they bought out Spartech, but are now closing it, and 90 workers will be losing their jobs. This isn't because of lack of demand for Royalex, it's because it's more profitable for the big company to sell the assets than to keep producing the product.

[ness]

....well. I don't think we really know what the demand for Royalex is. We also don't know why Spartech sold, but one reason companies sell is because they just can't make a go of it. It's not because big bad cigar-chomping executives break up the companies they buy just for the fun of it, without any regard to the workers or product users or -- yes, profits. If there's value in the Royalex name, patent or material, it'll get picked up, or another suitable material will eventually come along. And we're not out of canoes yet anyway.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I agree Ness the myth that companies simply make more money selling the assets is seriously flawed. What do the buyers do with all these assets that makes them more valuable? Why is it some companies are bought out and remain active?

I know you all can't wait for my opinion, so here it is. Look at the industry, kayaks have made a huge dent in the light weight boat market. Outfitters are putting in kayaks and rafts that weren't around all that many years ago. It's not business buying companies and then sell machinery to make ???? It's the changing market!!!!

[Al Agnew]

I agree Ness the myth that companies simply make more money selling the assets is seriously flawed. What do the buyers do with all these assets that makes them more valuable? Why is it some companies are bought out and remain active?

I know you all can't wait for my opinion, so here it is. Look at the industry, kayaks have made a huge dent in the light weight boat market. Outfitters are putting in kayaks and rafts that weren't around all that many years ago. It's not business buying companies and then sell machinery to make ???? It's the changing market!!!!

But why is it that this is so common? Do you think all those big companies, who often take over smaller ones with "hostile takeovers", are so stupid that they don't know that what the smaller company is producing is not profitable? That they buy the smaller company because they think its products are all great profit makers but then find out they aren't and think, "Oh, crap, we gotta sell this turkey and all its equipment and buildings?" I don't think so. There are tax laws, among other things, that encourage these companies to buy and liquidate smaller companies. They aren't dumb, and they saw profit in buying the company and then either selling off the buildings and equipment, or closing it down and moving some of the equipment elsewhere, with favorable tax consequences.

And no, the cigar-chomping executives don't close down these operations for the fun of it and they do close them down for the profit motive...and they bought them for the same profit motive.

[Chief Grey Bear]

But why is it that this is so common? Do you think all those big companies, who often take over smaller ones with "hostile takeovers", are so stupid that they don't know that what the smaller company is producing is not profitable? That they buy the smaller company because they think its products are all great profit makers but then find out they aren't and think, "Oh, crap, we gotta sell this turkey and all its equipment and buildings?" I don't think so. There are tax laws, among other things, that encourage these companies to buy and liquidate smaller companies. They aren't dumb, and they saw profit in buying the company and then either selling off the buildings and equipment, or closing it down and moving some of the equipment elsewhere, with favorable tax consequences.

And no, the cigar-chomping executives don't close down these operations for the fun of it and they do close them down for the profit motive...and they bought them for the same profit motive.

Exactly! And it has been proven time and time again through the years. Hell, they even made a movie about it.

[woodman]

In the beginning there was WOOD renewable and a specialized craft which big corporations cannot compete but Tupperware boat minded public refuses to support..... So there you go...... BUILD YOUR OWN BOAT and quit supporting those corporations destroying the environment...