NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Warmer weather is right around the corner, and that means boating season and days spent on the water.
A boat dealer near Lexington is making sure to still serve customers' needs, even though they can't let anyone into their show rooms or store right now.
Stokley's Marine is a family run business that started in 1972. Ralph Stokley's parents started the boat dealership.
"We've had second generation family now and actually my kids are here working too. So we've got third generation now," Stokley said, "It's just grown from a small two-person shop, to what it is today."
And today, if it has to do with boats, Stokley's Marine can do it.
"We sell boats, and we repair boats. We do service and parts and accessories," says Stokley.
It might be a little cool to get out on the water now, but busy season has started.
"People are fishing right now, so there's a lot of boating activity. And actually, people are boating more now than they normally would because a lot of folks aren't working," he says.
And out on the water in a boat is a nice way to keep distanced from other people. Stokley's Marine has made sure to keep their business operations safe right now, too.
"We've become curbside only during this time," Stokley says.
That's for everything from servicing boats, to parts and accessories, to even curbside boat sales.
"A lot of our boat sales are generated from phone leads or internet, but when folks want to see a boat, we'll have them come to the store and we park it outside. We let them get in the boat and look through it themselves with us on the ground talking to them," says Stokley, "It's a very different way of dong business for us, but we feel fortunate to be able to get to continue to do business during this time."
And until Stokley's Marine can welcome customer's back into their showrooms and inside the store, they'll keep taking the necessary measures.
