West Marine to close Port Washington store, 58 others nationwide following bankruptcy filing

West Marine, a national retailer of boating, fishing and water sports equipment and supplies, is closing its Port Washington store as part of a nationwide bankruptcy plan.

The store, at 16 Soundview Market Place, is one of 59 stores across the country slated for closure, according to a list of stores to be shuttered on the retailer’s website. 

The company will also close two other New York locations, in Watertown and Irondequoit, according to its website.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, West Marine has four other sites on Long Island, in West Islip, Riverhead, Huntington and Patchogue.

The chain, which had 200 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico before announcing the closures, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 17 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company, founded in 1968, had "approximately $549.2 million in total outstanding debt obligations," according to its bankruptcy court petition.

Unlike Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, where the goal is to sell off assets and cease business operations completely, Chapter 11 procedures are about reorganizing debts to continue operations, bankruptcy experts have said. 

As of its petition date, the company had 2,600 employees in stores in the United States and in Puerto Rico, according to court documents.

“West Marine is closing select retail locations as part of its ongoing Chapter 11 restructuring," a company spokesperson said in an email to Newsday Monday. 

"This decision reflects our effort to align our store footprint with our current business needs, while continuing to evaluate our portfolio in coordination with landlords," the company said. 

A company spokesperson said the retailer was not able to comment on the exact timing of its planned store closures, including at its Port Washington location.

Chris Squeri, executive director of the New York Marine Trades Association, a trade group, said despite the retailer’s large size in the industry, it has faced stiff competition for years on Long Island

“It’s pretty much the largest retailer of its kind in terms of the accessories and marine supplies it sells … but there’s a lot of smaller mom and pop stores on Long Island,” Squeri said.

In addition, competition from online retailers has put  extra pressure on companies like West Marine, which Squeri said was "slower" in making the pivot to ecommerce.