In Store: Water Ski Pro Shop
Alliance: Let’s start this off right. What’s your favorite potato dish?
Water Ski Pro Shop: French fries, ice cream potato, baked, mashed, twice baked, skins, wedges, scalloped, hashbrown, cheesy potato, au gratin, potato soup, potato salad, potato bread, potato vodka, spud bars, and especially TOTS as in “Napolean get your own”.
A: Water Ski Pro Shop has been around for a long time. When did you drop the potatoes and start selling boats?
WSPS: 1984
A: How did the shop come about? What’s the back-story?
WSPS: We used to get all our friends together and do mass mail orders. The UPS man knew where to hide product under a huge bush in front of our house if we were at the lake. Tim had an auto repair business and he was a natural to work on the ten or so inboard boats that were in the valley then. We started the ski shop in an 850 square-foot shop behind our 800 square-foot house and were there until we could move the shop to an actual 3,000 square-foot retail location. In 1994, we moved to our current location with 10,000 square feet inside.
A: Your employees are more like family to you and most have been with the shop for many years. How has WSPS managed to keep employees for so long?
WSPS: They know that we know a guy who knows a guy!
A: We see that WSPS carries a good mix of inboard wakeboard boats. Which boat brands have a home in your shop?
WSPS: MasterCraft, Centurion, Nautique and MB. Plus we end up servicing most local inboard and V-drive boats because people know that the Water Ski Pro Shop is where to get the work done correctly.
A: MasterCraft and Nautique? How does that work? Isn’t that like a restaurant serving Pepsi and Coca-Cola?
WSPS: It is the best of both worlds. We have what you want! The customer rules.
A: What wakeboard brands do you carry at the store?
WSPS: Hyperlite, Liqud Force, Phalanx Wake, Byerly, O’Brien, CWB plus we have all the great gear to get you on the water with your wakeboard: Bern, Billabong, Quiksilver, Roxy, O’Neill, Reef, Fly High, Skylon, DBot-5, Accurate, Oakley, Nixon, Smith and Analog to name a few.
A: Quite a few boat dealers and pro shops have been going out of business over the past year or so. What has WSPS done to stay afloat (no pun intended)?
WSPS: Take care of our customers! Service, Service, Service.
A: With all the experience and history WSPS has, what is different about our industry today than say 20 years ago?
WSPS: Big boats, big wakes, big speaker systems, electronic everything. Other than that, we feel like we are back in 1984 and starting all over again.
A: Idaho can be a cold place during the winter. How do you guys stay busy during those cold winter months?
WSPS: Snowboarding, duh! Our big lines are Burton, Nitro and Forum. Our customers probably get out on the water more months than most places; and it is a tradition for a lot of riders to make a trip to the mountain and then to the lake on the same day. We have always sold a lot of wetsuits and drysuits for our population.
A: Boise, Idaho has some beautiful places to ride. What lake(s) can we find you and your crew at?
WSPS: Lucky Peak, Anderson Ranch, Arrowrock, Owyhee, Hells Canyon, Black Canyon, Dworshak, CJ Strike and Lake Lowell Reservoirs. McCall, Cascade, Red Fish, Stanley, Petit, Alturas, and Magic Lakes. For a desert, we have some great water.
A: Why does Boise State play on a blue football field?
WSPS: Where else? Boise State has always been different from everyone else; and if you have a blue-collar team, they naturally play on a blue field. It is easier for the viewer to see Boise State kicking some butt!
A: Last, but not least. And be honest here… how many times have you almost changed your name to Wakeboard Pro Shop?
WSPS: If you think about water, you think about us. Pro Shop carries all the watersport equipment, not just wakeboards.
Water Ski Pro Shop
3725 Chinden Blvd.
Boise, ID 83714
208-336-3270
February 2, 2018
Nice shop!