No matter how well-known and respected the high-performance brand or brands you plan to carry, opening a new dealership is not a matter of hanging a sign and announcing your plans. Certainly, the both are essential in getting your message to the public. But they are not foundational moves. They are merely jumping-off points before the real effort begins.
And before you sell your first model, there is endless work to be done.
Just ask relatively new Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats dealers Dan and Julie Weiss of Unlimited Marine in of Russell Springs, Ky. Owned by Gary Seeds, the full-service dealership already offered other powerboat lines before the couple partnered with Seeds to bring Nor-Tech offering into the fold in late 2025. Simply reaching an agreement with Nor-Tech took months of discussions and multiple visits to the Cape Coral, Fla., center-console and catamaran builder’s home-base before they made the announcement.
Now Unlimited Marine has five orders for Nor-Tech center consoles. Hull No. 1 currently is being painted by Stephen Miles Design.
“Our second build is wrapping up at Nor Tech in a couple weeks and will be headed to Stephen Miles as well,” Julie Weiss, a Fort Myers Offshore board-member, said. “We are excited to get these babies out and about.
“We feel like we are finally getting to start being a dealer now that inventory is going to be here,” she added. “But we’ve not done too shabby. In less than a year as a dealer—we have five custom-build orders and also have sold a couple Nor Techs on consignment.”
That Unlimited Marine has an existing brick-and-mortar facility, offers complete service as a certified Mercury Marine/Mercury Racing dealer and can take trade-ins—essential for any dealer—made life easier for the couple. So, too, did their presence in the go-fast boating community. Not only do Dan and Julie Weiss participate in Fort Myers Offshore events they co-organize the Lake Cumberland Thunder Run in Kentucky, coming July this year, on their home-water.
The bottom line? The couple has made all the right moves and worked tirelessly to establish the brand in a state where it had no representation. They got their message out there.
Then they went to work.