Wielding a pair of giant, ceremonial scissors and surrounded by eager employees, company owner Lance Markham snipped through a big, green ribbon this past Friday as Young Harris Watersports & RV center celebrated officially opening for business less than a month earlier.
“We broke ground and started construction last October and were hoping to have our (Certificate of Occupancy) by April, but we were held up by supply chain issues and so we actually just got our COO,” Markham explained. “Friday of Memorial Day weekend was when we officially opened.”
Visitors to the brand-new, 26,000-square-foot facility enter through a large indoor showroom with offices overlooking the sales floor up front at 804 Harmony Rd., Eatonton. A large Young Harris parts department also serves customers and supplies 10 adjoining, air-conditioned repair bays able to accommodate up to 10 boats or RVs at a time, including bus-length motorhomes.
The new facility is a sister operation to the original Young Harris Watersports in the north end of the state, near Lake Chatuge.
Markham said he started out with just a watersports rental company in Young Harris, then expanded to a dealership there before partnering in 2014 with the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds to provide its guests with boat and personal watercraft rentals on Lake Oconee.
He soon partnered for rentals with several Lake Oconee marinas, too, then purchased property to build 44 Bridge, a lakeside fueling facility, boat rental outlet and wake shop at 1139 Lake Oconee Pkwy., between Greene and Putnam counties.
Then came the new, state-of-the-art Young Harris Watersports & RV sales and service center.
“Everyone knows we’ve got a really good reputation locally as being one of the better rental operations on the lake. Obviously, we’ve partnered with the Ritz-Carlton for seven years and you don’t do that and offer that level of service without doing something right,” Markham said.
“So we’re just looking forward to bringing that same kind of attitude and service to our sales department," Markham said. "We’re just really excited to add it to this area. And of course, we’re excited about carrying Monterey and Bayliner Heyday, as well as Godfrey pontoon boats. We also have Hurricane deck boats, the number-one selling deck boat in the country and another Godfrey product."
Young Harris also is an authorized Yamaha and Mercury facility, so Markham stressed it can do all warranty work on those marine powerplants, as well as any other boat engine repairs that may come up.
Young Harris added RV sales and service to its northern store three years ago, he added, so it made sense to also continue with five or six Forest River brands on the sales floor in Eatonton. Extensive retail space for both boat and RV accessories is part of the new Young Harris facility, too.
“We’re kind of excited about already getting inundated with requests to fix RV air conditioners and other systems in the local area,” he said. “Before we came, people here were having to go buy or get repairs made in Macon or Byron or even Atlanta. So we foresee that probably overtaking our boat business pretty rapidly.”
Markham said he foresees significant growth in the future, not only for his business but for everyone in Georgia’s Lake Country overall.
“We’ve been in the local area for seven years and we’ve got really good rental relationships with all the marinas here and we’re just really looking forward to bringing our game to the sales part of it, too,” he said.
Meanwhile, Young Harris Watersports & RV will continue to add new boat and RV inventory, as well as parts and accessories to its showroom floor, with several used boats and RVs also available for sale in the lot.
Markham said once the facility is fully stocked and staffed, he expects to host a major, grand-opening ceremony for the general public this Labor Day weekend.