Venice Marina – Brooklyn, New York
Ask anybody who has been to Brooklyn, and it conjures up images of Coney Island, The Cyclone and Nathan’s Famous hot dogs. When entering this borough of New York City (population 2.5 million), you’re likely to be greeted by a “Welcome to Brooklyn, How Sweet It Is” or “Leaving Brooklyn, Fuggeddaboudit” road sign. With over 26 miles of shoreline, drive along the Belt Parkway during the summer months, and you will inevitably see residents and visitors alike enjoying the stretches of available waterfront.
Located in a prime location, right off the Belt, a stone’s throw from Coney Island and nestled in a canal between Sheepshead Bay to the west and Marine Park to the east is Venice Marina. Catering to the Gerritsen Beach neighborhood and adjacent areas, Venice boasts a 35-ton travel lift, marine forklift, full-time mechanic, ship store, as well as fiberglass and bottom painting services. Even though marinas are dotting the adjacent landscape, Venice is packed with boats of all shapes and sizes, including quite a few houseboat/catamarans, and is the only marina on their canal. This gives them a competitive edge, with easy access to Sheepshead Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. They have a full restaurant and an adjacent multiplex movie theater for patrons to enjoy, so there is never really a reason to leave when you’ve got your boat within the friendly confines of Venice Marina.
Operations Manager Shlomi Lughashi said, “I have no room, everybody wants to be here, I have a waiting list.” Read between the lines and you can surmise that come to the warmer weather Venice Marina is bustling. Yard Manager, John Knight who is responsible for the travel lift and forklift emphatically, agreed “Non-stop, seven days a week.”
Both Mr. Lughashi and Mr. Knight clearly understand that well-maintained equipment is the lifeblood of their business to keep their customers happy and ultimately revenues steady. When the forks on the forklift were showing wear from years of constant use and exposure to the uncompromising marine environment, they knew it was time, “They were over-life and needed to be replaced” said John.
Enter US Hoists
“One of your road salesmen stopped by,” said Shlomi, “he was very nice, knowledgeable and I told him to talk to John.” Typically, Venice would use another vendor, but because of the knowledge and initiative showed, he decided to give US Hoists a chance at fabricating a new set of galvanized forks and requested a proposal.
With the quality of upmost importance, particularly with a purchase of this kind, especially one that is going to cradle your customer’s prized possessions, any business owner will attest that cost is next on the list. When Shlomi received the quote, he was pleasantly surprised at what he saw, “The price was a big difference…about 25%…and there was a good follow-up.” This instilled confidence that US Hoists would handle the project to his satisfaction. In the end, the choice was simple. He accepted the US Hoists quote and signed a contract for the new forks.
US Hoists went to work, ordering up drawings, procuring the appropriate materials and eventually fabrication of the actual forks, which was completed in the Center Moriches, New York facility–about an hour east of Venice’s location in Brooklyn.
Fast forward to the February 2017 delivery and Shlomi and John couldn’t have been happier with the result. “I have to tell you about the welding, people who are in the know were very impressed,” said Shlomi. John quickly chimed in “everybody was very impressed with it, very impressed…I gave out your phone number to people because they need good professional help like this.” Also, they also appreciated the attention to detail and that the forks were galvanized to perfection.
When it came to the installation, US Hoists Senior Tech; Webster McKane was on site to do what he does best. “He was very good,” said Shlomi, “and he was a very happy person–I like to work with happy people.” On the flip side, Webster was thankful for the help from John in the installation, who helped with his expert knowledge of how to maneuver the forklift just right. John also pointed out “Webster was a regular guy, I liked that about him.” This is typical and evident of the one-on-one, symbiotic relationship US Hoists seeks with all of its customers.
At the conclusion of the visit, we returned to Mr. Lugashi’s office, and he thanked us for coming in and the fine work done on the forks. As is customary, we left behind some of our sales collateral, which included a US Hoists sticker with relevant contact information. In turn, we thanked him for the business and hoped he would call on us shortly. He quickly singled out the sticker, peeled off the back and firmly affixed it to the window in his office, “We’ll be working with you from now on.”
We appreciated the time at Venice Marina to sit down and explain their experience with US Hoists. Whether it be fabricating forks, performing a safety service on your travel lift, custom fabrication of a specific part, a new set of slings or quoting a new machine, our experience stretches back 40-plus years building and maintaining travel lifts. Give us a call and see what we can suggest for optimizing your yard.
