Johnson Outdoors announces plan to enhance competitiveness of Watercraft

Johnson Outdoors unveiled a comprehensive plan to improve the profit profile of its Watercraft business. The effort includes a restructuring of the unit's U.S. and European operations and streamlining at its Old Town, Maine facility. Specifically: Watercraft will transition to a lower-cost local independent distributor business model in Europe by the end of July. Watercraft R&D and marketing will move to Old Town, Maine from Bellingham, WA over the next year, consolidating all U.S. Watercraft personnel at one location to quicken the pace of new product development Streamlining at Old Town, Maine due to the capture of strategic synergies between Watercraft and Outdoor Gear, as well as position eliminations. In total, 17 positions in the U.S. and 11 in Europe were impacted by the actions announced. As a result of these actions, the company anticipates annual cost-savings of $2.0M by the end of FY14. Total costs and charges associated with the actions are estimated between $2.0 M-$2.5M to be incurred over the next twelve months.