Crystal Clear

At 12 years old, Luke Kujawa had no idea what he was getting himself into. Gripping thousands of dollars in cash in his hands, he nervously finalized the first sale in his boat-selling career.
Nearly 20 years later, the VP of sales and marketing at Crystal-Pierz Marine in Minnesota still has a firm hold on his family’s business. What’s more, he’s helped to grow that business more than $60 million in the six-plus years since his return to the company.
Crystal-Pierz began as a little mom-and-pop dealership in 1956. Since the time that Luke’s parents Myron and Sue began selling boats from their NAPA dealership, the company has seen tremendous growth. Most of that growth has occurred since Luke has returned to the company. Since then, the regional chain has taken home a boatload of awards, worldwide top-sales honors from the likes of Glastron, Bennington, Lund and Crestliner, not to mention what the company reports as record sales at every major boat show it has attended in 2004. And they’ve done it all with what Luke says is a focus on relationships.
“Our commitment to serve the customer is nothing without the parts people, the service people, and everyone else who has a desire to carry that out,” he says. “Manufacturer relationships are a very important thing. And we strive for good relationships with everyone.
“The industry is working toward changing this, but someone has to be the buffer for the customer. In our opinion, the dealer has to take the hit on that.”
It’s that mindset and what Luke calls a fun atmosphere at Crystal-Pierz that allow the company to build on the ideas that the 31-year-old creative marketing mind can generate.
“It’s way better to try something and fail than not to try them,” he says. “We have a company that has successfully managed a strong growth style. Everyone around here kind of expects that.”
With an eye on additional growth opportunities, there’s no reason they shouldn’t.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button