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Business news
around the lake
Port Royale wows ’em with floating ship’s store, amenities •
Hammond’s Fishing Center sponsors weekly tournaments, announces
expansion plans •
Boat
bars making a splash in the residential market
Port Royale wows ’em with floating ship’s store, amenities
By Pamela A. Keene
 When the Hall Chamber of Commerce gathered for
Business after Hours at Port Royale off Brown’s Bridge Road last
month, eyes were wide and mouths agape at the expansion and
improvements to the marina. The 25,000-square-foot floating retail
campus has an interior two-story waterfall, spacious sales docks, a
brand new ship’s store and plenty to dazzle even the most laid-back
visitors, all connected by a network of docks.
“It’s really a destination on Lake Lanier,” said Rick
Albrecht with Port Royale. “There’s nothing like it on the lake with
our lighthouse gas dock and an inside waterfall that’s two stories
tall.”
At night, the 100-acre marina looks like a small city
with lights and plenty of shapes to attract visitors. After all,
it’s among the largest floating amenities centers at an inland
marina in the nation. And it’s quickly becoming a landmark for
boaters on Lanier.
The new gas dock and 6,500-square-foot floating
ship’s store also includes a deep-water courtesy dock, boat rental
fleet and covered in-the-water sales dock. The company sells
Bayliner cruisers and run-abouts, Tracker pontoons and Yamaha jet
skis and jet boats.
Port Royale Marina, formerly Lan Mar, has been part
of Lanier’s landscape for more than 30 years. In September 2006, it
was purchased by T.E.I. Industries Inc. Port Royale has been
undergoing major renovations since that time, including new
buildings, adding new docks and slips, upgrading the dry-stack
storage and working on the marina’s infrastructure.
The next steps in the continued project include
expansion of parking and re-creating the entrance to the marina off
Browns Bridge Road. Eventually, the floating docks and retail
amenities will encompass nearly 40,000 square feet.
For information about Port Royale Marina, call
770-887-5715 or visit
www.parkmarine.com and click on the Port Royale logo.
Hammond’s Fishing Center sponsors weekly tournaments, announces
expansion plans
By Pamela A. Keene
Every Wednesday night through the end of July,
Hammonds Fishing Center is sponsoring fishing tournaments for the
public. The tourney begins with registration at 5 p.m. at Van’s
Tavern boat ramp and the competition takes place from 6 to 9 p.m.
Additionally, the well-known and long-time fishing
store has announced plans to build a new facility adjacent to its
current location Hammonds Crossing at the intersection of Ga. 369
and Ga. 306. Construction is slated to begin in October.
“We’re more than ready to expand,” said Candi
Hammond, owner. “We’ll more than double our size and expand our live
bait capacity and inventory.”
Currently, Hammond’s is located in a
3,500-square-foot building. The new location will be approximately
9,000 square feet of space. The building will be more visible from
the intersection on the 9-acre site, which also includes boat
storage.
“We purchased all the fixtures, signs, racks and
shelving from the former Boaters World in Anderson, SC, and we’ll be
using it to expand the store,” she said. “With all new inventory,
we’ll be the place for people to come for local knowledge about
fishing.”
For information about the tournaments call 770
888-6898.
Boat
bars making a splash in the residential market
By Pamela A. Keene
What could you do with an old boat? Well, Curt and
Cory Simic have just the ticket: turn it into a bar for your
recreation room, patio or back yard. The brothers thought up the
idea when they were remodeling Cory’s basement and they’ve turned it
into a business.
“My wife Kristy wanted us to paint a beach scene, but
we thought that using a boat for a bar would be really cool, so
that’s what we did,” Cory said. “Now it’s grown into a niche
business as part of our remodeling and home repair company.”
The brothers are taking boats, cutting them to fit
the situation and installing them in basements and recreation rooms.
They’ve also built a boat bar on wheels that can be used as a
backyard bar then rolled into storage. There’s even one built on an
old van chassis.
“Our own boat bar is a 19-foot Sea Ray that we got
from a nearby marina here in Henry County,” Simic said. “Basically,
we cut it in half long ways, then whittled it down to fit through
the door of our house. It took a lot of measuring.”
The brothers had already decided to start a
remodeling business when the boat bar idea came about, so they’re
banking on the uniqueness of their product to help them stand out
above the crowd. They also do home repairs, HVAC, plumbing, custom
floors and entertainment centers. The company is called Simics
Unlimited. Cory is retired from Georgia Power; Curt has worked in
construction and custom interiors for about 17 years.
They can use a bow or stern of a boat for a bar or a
mobile cooler. They can even make flowing drinking coolers. They
have a basic stock of about a dozen boats to choose from, or they
will work with clients using the customers’ boat.
Their work includes doing special boat bars for
restaurants as well. “If you can think it up, we can build it,” he
said. “Everybody calls us workaholics, but we really like what we’re
doing now,”
“Our wives Kristy and Lisa have been very supportive
of our new business venture,” Simic said. “As far as we know, no one
is doing anything like this with old boats.”
Simic Unlimited can be reached at 770-296-3098. The
website is
www.SimicsUnlimited.com.
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