WMAR

West Marine, Inc.

A retailer of boating supplies, fishing gear, and marine electronics, West Marine outfits recreational boaters with everything from ropes and anchors to electronics and safety gear. It began in 1968 when founder Randy Repass started selling nylon rope by mail order from his garage in Sunnyvale, California, under the name West Coast Ropes. The company took its current name after buying assets from a firm called West Products in 1977, and it opened its first store in Palo Alto in 1975.