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A Door County marina in business for almost 60 years is sold to a Texas-based company

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6 months ago

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A Door County marina in business for almost 60 years is sold to a Texas-based company

Bay Marine of Sturgeon Bay sold the storage, service and harbor parts of the business, along with its marina in the Chicago area, but the previous owners retain the boat sales department

STURGEON BAY – A local marina and boat service that’s been in business for almost 60 years has been sold, along with its sister marina in the Chicago area, but its previous owners are continuing with their parallel boat sales business.

Bay Marine of Sturgeon Bay was acquired by TopSide Marinas, a family-owned company based in Frisco, Texas, that acquires and operates high-quality marinas around the country.

TopSide also bought Bay Marine’s marina in the Chicago-area city of Waukegan, Illinois, but former Bay Marine owners Matt and Mark Felhofer are continuing to own and operate Bay Marine’s location in Fort Myers, Florida, and its boat sales site in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Matt and Mark Felhofer also will continue to own and operate the boat sales part of the Bay Marine businesses in Sturgeon Bay and Waukegan, which are called Bay Marine Sales and will remain in their current locations at the marinas, leasing back showroom and office space from TopSail.

Bay Marine offered boat service, inside storage, sales and a harbor with 100 wet slips at 155 E. Redwood St. on the Sturgeon Bay channel. All but the sales part are now owned by TopSide and called Bay Marine Sturgeon Bay. The Waukegan inside storage and service marina is called Bay Marine Chicago.

All Bay Marine staff members in Sturgeon Bay and Waukegan at the time of the acquisition remain on board. Matt Felhofer told the Advocate the five staffers who were in the sales department stayed with Bay Marine Sales while the rest are with Bay Marine Sturgeon Bay and Bay Marine Chicago. Greg Gast was promoted to general manager of the Sturgeon Bay marina.

“With the acquisition of Bay Marine service, storage and marina operations, TopSide Marinas will now be running two of the finest marinas and boatyards in the Great Lakes,” Ryan Skiles, regional vice president of operations for TopSide, said in a press release. “The acquisition … reinforces TopSide’s mission of fostering a high-quality environment where our members and guests can create lifelong memories while maintaining an enjoyable waterfront experience for the avid boating communities in Wisconsin and Illinois.”

The acquisition gives TopSide Marinas 10 marinas in six states. For more information on Bay Marine Sturgeon Bay, call 920-743-6526 or visit topsidemarinas.com.

Bay Marine was established in 1965 as a family-owned and operated marina, spanning 16 acres with 100 slips, 115,000 square feet of inside storage, a service shop and captain’s lounge. The slips were renovated in 2022. Its sales department grew to become one of the largest regional dealerships in the country with its midwestern and Florida locations, and last year it was named to the Top 100 list of boat dealers in North America by Boating Industry magazine.

To learn more about Bay Marine Sales, visit baymarine.net.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@gannett.com.

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