Lincoln Canoe and Kayak in Freeport has decided to move to Massachusetts, citing a tough retail market for its boats and the chance to share space with another manufacturer in the town of Amesbury, Mass.
Mainebiz reported the company’s owner, Marc Bourgoin, said the decision came after months of deliberation. He and his brother purchased the company, one of the country’s oldest canoe and kayak builders, in 2009. It was founded in 1959 in Stow, Mass., and later moved to Freeport.
Bourgoin told Mainebiz that the company’s retail business was taking away from its focus on building boats.
The company will move to share a 4,000-square-foot space with Speedboard USA, a maker of stand-up paddleboards. Bourgoin said he had been looking for other locations in southern Maine but met Speedboard’s owner at a trade show and the opportunity arose.
Bourgoin, who has been living in the Boston area, said the move will come with a reconfiguration of the company’s retail model.
The exact number of employees at the boat builder was not immediately available, but in July, the company won an award for American-made products in the category for businesses with as many as 10 employees.
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- Lincoln Canoe and Kayak owner Marc Bourgoin (left), said the historic boatbuilder is moving to Massachusetts. In this file photo, Bourgoin and boatbuilder Rusty Horning work on fiberglass canoes headed to high-profile customer Ralph Lauren.
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