Uncertainty at Ranger boats

[Flippin]

Earlier this week the President,VP and CFO of Ranger had a meeting with some of the Bass Pro executives. At the conclusions of that meet all the Ranger executives resigned. Randy (Pres) and Keith (VP) have been with the Ranger for a very long time and was shocked to hear this news. I could only imagine what was discussed that would caused this. 

[Quillback]

Who knows, but it is not unusual that when a company gets bought by another that the senior staff of the company that got bought leaves.

[Ham]

I heard a rumor from someone I trust, but I don't know how good his source is. It wasn't because they were changing the wallpaper in the break room. His source says it involves changing quality standards to make Ranger more profitable. "philosphophical" differences of option in the direction of the company. 

[m&m]

Quill, I agree that most of the time the senior leadership leaves and with a nice severance too. There is a reason that BPS bought them. Only time will tell. 

Mike

[Chunk Rock]

Certainly things are going to change. Quality included! Hang on to your old Ranger . IMO

[Mitch f]

I know some of the things can be automated, like how they do their pultrusion process, but it's going to be hard to replace the guys laying out the color schemes on the lamination of the hulls....which are all made to order.

[Champ188]

In my opinion, nothing good can come from Randy Hopper leaving Ranger, or Keith Daffron. Randy started out sweeping floors 45 years ago and eventually was deemed the man for the top job by Forrest Wood himself.

Again, MY OPINION is that Johnny is in business to make every last dime he can at the expense of quality. When they start talking about making changes to increase profitability, it can't mean much else than cutting corners that Ranger previously held as important to the manufacturing process. We've all heard the consumer nightmare stories concerning quality issues with Tracker/Nitro boats.

Glad I bought my pre-Johnny Ranger a couple of years ago. Hope it lasts as long as I think it will.

[Chunk Rock]

Like that Champ ( pre Johnny Ranger ) and you know how expensive pre rapala wiggle warts have become!

[Flysmallie]

I've worked on a lot of acquisitions and it's tough. In most cases you have to make some changes to make them profitable. There's usually a reason they were sold in the first place. I've seen some really good people that have built some good businesses that were in a tough spot and no other option. You either close the doors or sell. New company comes in with their own ideas and in some cases, a lot of cases, you end up loosing the best talent. Some of them are lost because they don't like the new direction things are going but most are lost because you can't afford to keep paying them what they are used to making. I'd say 95% of the businesses we have added through acquisitions are totally upside down on payroll. It's hard to keep paying the bills when you lose money every month. But I also know that not ALL these changes are necessary every time. But large companies get in the habit of getting what they want and have the feeling that people can be replaced. It is sad, but you have to expect that when the Walmart of the outdoors buys any company.

 

[Flippin]

I understand as companies change so do the people.  Although Ranger has gone through takeovers in the past but never has the leaders walked away from the company.  From what I understand, financially Ranger had a good year and has always been profitable.  I am sure there are things they could have done in order to cut corners but they have chosen to maintain their reputation of quality  that their customers have grown accustomed to expect.

If you have been to Flippin, where Ranger has always manufactured, you know it is a community of very few people.  Several generations of several families have called Flippin home for long time  It has somewhat of a Mayberry type atmosphere.  Randy, Keith and several employees at Ranger are a part of this tight knit group of family and friends.  In light of this, Randy and Keith did not just walk away from a 9-5 job with no emotional attachment..  They walked away from family, friends and a backbone of life spent building something.  So I would assume there is more to this than just a routine change of management.  This hoilday season there is an ominous cloud of uncertainty over this sleepy-eyed town in northern AR.