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Page three:  Building a Business

"The Luger Guarantee" assured any doubters about buying and building a Luger boat kit.  It guaranteed everything in the catalog was honestly described and illustrated:  "If for any reason WHATSOEVER, you are not satisfied with anything purchased from Luger, we want you to return it to us."

"We will then exchange it for exactly what
you want or will return your money in full." 

Luger was committed to a customer's "complete SATISFACTION OR YOUR MONEY BACK."  And this unconditional guarantee applied to anything bought from Luger.  The company not only sold the boat kits, but also inboard and outboard power drives, trailers, a wide assortment of upholstered options and every accessory an owner could want to finish his boat. 

Building A Business 101:
          Luger Industries began as a small garage operation, and blossomed into a leader in American boating industry.  The Luger brothers were pioneers in the fiberglass boat kit market - but they were also successful businessmen who sold their products with marketing practices and strategies considered new at the time.

    1)  The "Guarantee of Satisfaction" - this was the only guarantee of its kind in the boating industry.  Customers were reassured with Luger's unconditional "Satisfaction or your money back" promise.  Their purchase was exchanged or the money refunded in full  - customer's choice.

    2)  "Order Now - Pay Later" was available to customers who didn't want to wait to enjoy their boat.  "Friendly Financing" was set according to the amount of the order and length of the loan.  A 10% down payment allowed the buyer to finance the rest, and made purchase available to a wide range of budgets.

    3)  Pre-Paid mailing cards for magazine insertion and pre-stamped self-folding order blanks made correspondence easy for would-be-customers.  Ren stated there was no need for an envelope or postage:

"We were one of the first marine businesses
to use mailing cards in magazines."

Placed within the pages of a magazine, these pre-paid mailing insert cards offered responding readers a free catalog.

"I could see the advantage of mailing our catalogs
for free.  They only cost us ten cents, at the time."

    4)  The return on the catalog's ten cent investment was realized in sales.  Early multi-page fliers presented detailed drawings of finished powerboats, the variety of options to outfit them, and included each boat's specifications and price.  Later, the catalogs were like magazines and featured full-page, four-color-process photographs of completed models being enjoyed on the water.  Additional images depicted Luger's many signature features, finished cabin interiors, and step-by-step pictorial demonstrations.

    5)  "Seeing is Believing" was a special insert included in catalogs of the seventies.  Luger enlisted the aid of satisfied customers and asked them to become "Owner Representatives".  A current sailboat owner remembers when his Father enlisted,

"The idea was that Luger wanted prospects to be able
to talk with someone who'd actually built a boat.
It listed satisfied owners, including my Dad,
who signed up for the plan."

The Owner Representative List was mailed with the catalog, and included the names, addresses, and phone numbers of its members.  Quotes from selected representatives were also included.  A similar promotion technique was used in the sixties by dedicating catalog space for comments and photos received from owners enjoying their completed projects.  The "Seeing Is Believing" insert was easier to keep current as memberships were updated.  Luger was confident in its product, and knew it could count on the satisfaction of previous customers.  Many sales would be attributed to these Owner Representatives, as well as the word-of-mouth recommendations of thousands of satisfied boat owners.

    6)  Single Source Shopping was available to the buyer that didn't want the worry of locating or sizing the extras that went with the "basic boat kit."  After the boat and seat/deck options were selected, the customer could also order from a variety of custom deck hardware, running lights, boat covers, convertible tops and windshields. 

"Luger's custom accessories were specifically
designed to add luxurious beauty and
wonderful convenience to your Luger Boat."

Luger was a "vertically integrated business" and not only offered the customer the boat kit and its accessories, but an extremely wide assortment of items related to boating and water sports in general.  Of course, high-end merchandise such as trailers, outboards and inboard engines were fully described within the catalog, but Ren remembers offering peripheral items like water skis and tow ropes, flags and life jackets:

"We made the boats, and sold them. 
We also sold anything we thought someone
would need - jackets, ladders, winches, engines...
Luger sold everything but oil and gas."

    7) Flexibility with the product enabled Luger to offer more for less, and then pass along the savings.  Since boats were purchased as kits, one hull could be offered as several different models, dependent upon deck, cockpit, keel or seating arrangement choices.  This product diversity offered a customized-for-your-needs boat kit to the buyer - - at no additional cost to Luger or the customer.

Luger Industries - The Largest Manufacturer of Kit Boats
          Many thousands of Luger boat kits  were purchased  and assembled in the company's 35-year history.  It's estimated the company sold as many as 100,000 kit boats during its reign.  In the early sixties at least ten other companies sold boat kits - but almost twenty years later, only Ozarka, Glen L and Custom Craft remained.  Still, Luger hit its peak in the early eighties when product sales reached 3 million dollars!  The company had survived competition by rivals and weathered several recessions by 1985, and Ren believed Luger may possibly have been the only major player left.  The company had evolved into the unquestioned leader in the field of assemble-yourself boat kits.
          Minnesota Marine started as a small business operated from the family garage.  Thirty years later, as Luger Industries, it had reached its peak - and then, began to slowly diminish.  As good as their product was, factors beyond Luger's control affected sales and ultimately the company's future.
          Interest in building boats from a kit waned.  New factory-finished boats had become easier to buy, and the eighties saw an abundance of used boats saturate the market.  Ren believed the country's changing lifestyle had its affect, too:

"More and more people were moving into apartments and condominiums.
No garages or backyards meant no place to build the boat."

          Detached garages were replaced with the convenience of attached ones, and boat construction odors that entered the family home were unwelcome - and the fumes could be unsafe if kits were assembled without proper ventilation.  The days of building a boat in the backyard garage were vanishing.

          The same savvy business sense that maintained Luger as an industry leader sensed the market's interest in kit boats was disappearing.  Rival companies had long since closed their doors, and Ren felt future demand would not be enough to sustain a prosperous business:

"Our decision to sell was based on declining sales.
But I was also old enough, and ready, to retire."

By the middle of the decade the company was sold, and the brothers left
the business of making boat kits to its new owners.  Orm Luger explained,

"We sold Luger Boats in 1985, and in '86 
Luger was inactive from an in-house spin down."

          Luger Boats was sold to a group of businessmen, and an attempt was made to revive the company in St. Joseph, Missouri.  Luger had obtained the American license to produce a popular multi-hull cruiser, and the product line was enhanced with the inclusion of Australia's 24' Sea Wind catamaran.  A 48-page catalog was printed for distribution in 1987 - to celebrate Luger Boats' 35th Year.  Unfortunately, the company's new owners did not realize the sales or successes needed to be a viable business.  Ownership was transferred at least one more time, but to no avail.  Luger Boats closed for business in 1987. 


In September of 2000, a seemingly unrelated news story told of a fire that consumed a commercial complex in a Kansas City suburb.  The facility housed Classic Yachts, a successful and well-known sailboat business.  No one was injured in the fire, but the flames were fueled by acetone and fiberglass resins, and an estimated $300,000 in boats and parts were lost.   The building was insured, but its contents were not.  The sailboat business could not recover from their extensive losses and closed.  In addition to their own inventory, a section of their warehouse also happened to contain remnants of the Luger Boats company - a few hull and deck molds, cabinets with files and blueprints, an old sign, and unopened boxes of 1987 catalogs.  The fire's damage was extensive, and Luger's last remaining inventory was lost as well.   

Orm Luger continues to reside in Minnesota, but older brother, Ren, lives in Florida and currently owns/manages an online retail business.  Both brothers fondly recall the years spent building their kit boat business, and enjoy lasting friendships formed with several of their customers that kept in touch over the years.

J. Rilling Johnston has been a Luger sailboat owner for seven years and became interested in Luger boats after starting a "Luger Owners Register" in 1998 so listed owners could benefit from the combined advice and experiences of its members.  Her involvement with Luger Boats increased with the publication of The Luger Sailboat Mooring at www.lugerboats.com, a reference website for Luger Boat owners.

Acknowledgements and credits:

* This quote by Orm Luger appeared in an article by Lee Wangstad.  Luger Industries:  A Minnesota Legend was written for The Bob Speltz Land O Lakes Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boats Society (ACBS).

- Thank you to 'JSC' - the Le'Continental owner who granted permission to use his powerboat photos, but declined proper photo credit.

- Thank you is also extended to Dave Kunz, who's still sailing the '73 Leeward his Father built, and provided information about the Luger Owner Representatives. 

- Extra special thanks and appreciations are sent to Ren and Orm Luger.  A conversation with Orm Luger planted the idea of writing the company's history, and the project started in 2001 with continued research.  Correspondence and conversations with Ren Luger provided a wealth of additional information, and the "accuracy of content" needed to complete and publish the company's history.  Without their valuable contributions this article would not have been possible.

Ren Luger and friend - circa 1955

© 2004  J. Rilling Johnston / The Luger Sailboat Mooring - all rights reserved
www.lugerboats.com   

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