# Shakespeare Fishing Tackle Acquires Penn



## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

It's official:

Shakespeare Fishing Tackle Acquires Penn Fishing Tackle Mfg Co. USA Release
News 

For Immediate Release 
Columbia, SC – Shakespeare Fishing Tackle, a leading manufacturer of fishing rods, reels, fishing line and accessories is pleased to announce the acquisition of Penn Fishing Tackle Mfg. Co. Founded in 1932, Penn is the market leader in saltwater trolling and spinning reels and saltwater rods.

These products include the famous Penn International®, Senators®, GT, and GTO trolling reels, as well as Slammer® and Spinfisher® SSM and SSG spinning reels. 

“For 75 years, Penn products have been the gold standard for offshore, inshore and surf fishing,” according to Scott Hogsett, President of Shakespeare. “Shakespeare is excited to be able to add Penn’s broad assortment of saltwater products to complement the current Shakespeare, Pflueger and All Star freshwater, inshore and saltwater offerings.”

“We look forward to bringing to Penn the vast new product introductions and innovation that our customers have come to expect from Shakespeare and Pflueger each year. The Penn name is one of the greatest brands in fishing, but has lacked the resources to grow and develop markets. Our volume and economies of scale will allow us to reinvest in the brand and grow market share.”

Shakespeare is a K2 Inc. company, a premier branded consumer products company with a portfolio of leading brands.


----------



## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

I dunno. 

I could be wrong, but I'm not sold on that sale yet.

It seems a little ... um ... fishy.

Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.


----------



## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

Penn just went from bad to worse.


----------



## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

Guess I better take good care of the old US made Penn stuff I've got...Cause more than likely, the good stuff is now GONE....I just wonder what's gonna happen to the 525Mag, etc... You can bet it ain't gonna be good...


----------



## kermic (Aug 15, 2006)

*Penn Memories!*

I truely think this is a sad day for Penn fans like myself, especially the spinning fans. I realize Penn had their problems, but a big corporation like K2/Shakespeare is going to turn the Penn products into reel junk. I know Otto is turning in his grave and the reputation & quality that is synonomous to Penn & saltwater fishing is officially dead. Most likely you'll be seeing the spinfisher in your local walmart for 25 bucks next to the scooby doo shakespeare rod. i am truely sad about it, as I've had a lifetime of loyalty to Penn. K2 bought Penn for their name, as Shakespeare has virtually no presence in the salt market & Penn does. Penn needs economic help so the match is made in big business heaven I guess. 

In an ideal world I was hoping that Penn would realize they aren't selling shakespeare junk, and they would of taken the "quality" not "quantity" approach. I was hoping they would scale their product line down to offer just a few spins/conv. , make them in philly and make them the best reels money can buy as far as quality. They might not sell as many reels as a 10 dollar shakespeare in walmart but they would keep their quality reputation which I think is more important in the salt water market. I truely believe the surf/inshore & offshore fisherman market (in reels & rods) are completely different than fresh water small pond & lakes anglers. I believe Van Staal has their niche in the marketplace even though I'd never buy one. I respect their choice to sell a top of the line product and not concentrate on selling a billion junky reels. 

Anyway, I knew Penn was in trouble as when I walked into my local Dicks the other day to pick up some hooks I saw line up of captivas & silverado combos where all the shakespeare combo's USED to be! My jaw dropped!! Because as little as 4 weeks ago you couldn't find a single penn product in Dicks at all, now they are "loaded" with it. I walked out of that store knowing this was the end. 

I pass the Penn mfg. company all the time as I have for many, many years. I often felt a sense of pride everytime I pass by knowing that I am using a quality American product- that has been around for a very, very long time. I would bet that within a year or so I'll be passing by an empty warehouse/office where Penn used to occupy. I am from the philly area, and have fished the jersey shore my entire life. With any angler who has the same background as me the name Penn is fishing- despite what they have done the last couple of years. If anyone who knows Penn's rich history, they will know that Otto left OC reel company to make a the best QUALITY reel money can buy. I think that have maintained that quality for many, many, many years, but as history tells us big business will be more interested in the bottom line, not Otto's original idea of a quality reel to be fished in the harshest environment. 

Oh well, here's to capitalism!!


----------



## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

Well said, Kermic...

I, too, am really bummed out about the Penn name going down the drain. Fortunately, I have a sizeable stash of the good stuff, and it should no doubt last me the rest of my life, with good care. 

Guess I better get busy and fill in the gaps in my collection, before they are all gone...

ABU is also heading for trouble, and it won't be long before that good name ain't worth diddly squat anymore.

Luckily, I've got as many or more ABU'S as Penns...

Right now I'm wondering which company is gonna step up to the plate and make sure that those of us who require quality rods and reels continue to have something worth buying. Maybe Shimano and Daiwa will keep us going with their top quality products. I guess it's time to learn what's what with those brands, and try a few of their nice items.

Call me nutz if you like, but for me, a big part of the enjoyment of fishing is in the equipment. If all I had was the Shakespeare Tiger Spinner combos from the rack at Wal-mart, I'd quit fishing altogether. 

Every time I walk onto the JaxPier, though, I see a hundred or so of them, leaned against the rail. I see maybe two or three people besides me, who insist on quality equipment and take care of it...

So I guess those of us who "like nice things" are the minority, with most being willing to accept whatever's on the shelf, and fish with it.

Shakespeare would much rather sell 100 Tiger Spinner Combos to those who will buy them, than sell me one high quality rod or reel. 

And that's a damned shame....:--|


----------



## BLUESMAN (Nov 4, 2003)

*I got my first Penn on my 5th Birthady!*

55 years later I still have it and 14 others: 975Internationals, LiveLiners, 525's and SSg's. End of an era, guess that makes them all the more special. Have to keep em clean, lubed and casting. Penn has been synonomous with fishing in south jersey! :fishing:


----------



## kermic (Aug 15, 2006)

bluesman & railroader- You guys are right on my wave length on this. No matter what anyone says, Penn will never be the Penn what we love & knew again! The Penn's will be right there next to the tiger combo's and tidemasters in walmart and kmart. It's already happened at dicks. I agree too, that I take pride in good quality american equipment(st.croix). My China Penn's are nothing like my American's. I also have a good Penn stash, but for some reason I feel like my equipment is worthless. Penn really sold out, that's the bottom line. When St.Croix moves all their rods to China, that's it I might just give up fishing. lol

It's also a huge loss for me as Penn is in my backyard, so it's sentimental. Also, as Bluesman said- Penn and S.Jersey Fishing is synonomous, and I feel that is gone. It's really a lifetime of memories- fishing the jersey shore using my penn's ... man it does suck! 

Next time I go into Kmart and walk by the fishing department and see Penn all over I might just tear up a bit.


----------



## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

A CEO of Penn is actually a forum member ... at least he was long enough to participate in a thread a while back. It would be interesting to hear what he has to say. I am sure if he still plans on being a part of the new regime what he says won't endager that standing (if ya know what I mean) but if not maybe he can tell us what he really feels


----------



## tnturtle (Jan 10, 2007)

I can't help but think of what happened with
Harley Davidson.I once owned a '74 AMF Superglide.That merger was killing them and
then someone stepped up to the plate and made them what they are today;an American made,
top of the line, success story.Maybe something similar will happen with penn and they will go back to putting quality ahead of quantity.


----------



## david123 (Jun 24, 2004)

Amd te mane of the CEO is? We all need to PM him and get him to get involved in this discussio


----------



## david123 (Jun 24, 2004)

Amd the name of the CEO is? We all need to PM him and get him to get involved in this discussio


----------



## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

There was a thread awhile back about Penn outsourcing reel manufacturing to China. He participated in that thread but I cannot remember what his name was or the date the thread took place.


----------



## kermic (Aug 15, 2006)

I would love to have a discussion with anyone in the Penn organization. The Harley Davidson analogy is a perfect one for why they should keep manufacturing here, concentrate on quality reels for serious salt anglers period... the reason Otto started the company! These big mergers are NEVER good for the regular joe consumer like us. 

I just hope someone in the organization hears what their loyal fans are saying, but I doubt it. If penn loses 1,000 customers like us serious anglers, but picks up selling their reels/combos in dicks & walmart- 1000 ppl. is an absolute drop in the bucket. As I stated before they are already selling a ton of their combos in dicks- I saw it with my OWN eyes- no rumor there. I picked them up, spun them myself. That in itself tells you who they are marketing to, and what their future is going to become.


----------



## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

The jury is still out for me. Penn has always made top quality equipment and I hope they continue that tradition with the blessing and financial backing of "big brother". The other option, bankruptcy, would have been much worse. Hopefully that press release was telling the truth when they say that it will pump in money to push innovation, but then again, they may be lying and just using the name to push short term sales. It reminds me of two examples in the auto industry. One of failure and one of success. When Renault purchased Nissan, that company's products were crap and Nissan was on the verge of bankruptcy. Now the company is much healthier and their product line has begun it's return to a status it once held. On the other hand, when Ford purchased Land Rover and Jaguar, it completely destroyed the prestige of those brand names by pumping out non-luxury / non-exotic "affordable" versions of once highly regarded cars. I'm hopeing for the best. I can't imagine why Shakespeare wants to make more crap to compete with it's already existing crap, but who knows. Maybe the vast majority of people *can* be fooled.


----------



## kermic (Aug 15, 2006)

Well as I said before Shakespeare(K2)purchased Pflueger, they haven't improved their reels at all. They are basically the same, just being sold in different mid range stores and marketed a bit differently. It really just boils down to have the shakespeare name associated with Penn... that's what is disturbing. I thought the same thing about Pflueger. Penn will loose it's identity like I thought Pflueger did, for some reason the name conjures up a cheap feeling, whereas Penn always had the opposite feeling (for me) then a shakespeare. 



**** KMART SPECIAL*** ATTENTION!!!

NEW on sale Aisle 3 Get your Penn Slammer Teletubbies Edition- 19.99! Get em while they are hot!!!


----------



## Orest (Jul 28, 2003)

*The CEO of PENN on here*

is "senatorreel".

Dave Martin
CEO 
Penn Fishing Tackle


----------



## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Dude..... Are you trying to make me cry at my desk. I'm at work, man, cut it out......

Seriously, you're probably 99% right, but i got that feeling too. I have lots of Penn equipment and right now I'm feeling like my investment has just dropped in value by half.


----------



## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

If Penn does go down the crapper (swirling in the bowl right now)....The cash value of our original U.S. made stuff is sure to rise. If you don't believe it, hit E-bay, and search yourself up a real nice Mitchell 302. Those things bring crazy money.

Another "Great Name" that took the sewer-swim years ago and now means CRAP from Wal-Mart.

I'm lucky enough to have some of those old reels, too...


----------



## HuskyMD (May 19, 2000)

I might have to find a way to buy another 525 mag before they fall apart at first cast/retrieve...


----------



## can't fish today (Oct 8, 2003)

HuskyMD said:


> I might have to find a way to buy another 525 mag before they fall apart at first cast/retrieve...


Yep, i figger the "new" 525 will look something like this shakespear classic:


----------



## USEF THE MAG (Jul 7, 2006)

Orest said:


> is "senatorreel".
> 
> Dave Martin
> CEO
> Penn Fishing Tackle


you mean the 'former' CEO


----------



## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*I guess*

We'll have to wait and see what happens.


----------



## kermic (Aug 15, 2006)

Railroader- the Mitchell analogy is right on the money, I forgot about them. Another good example of once a good reel that went down the toilet.


----------



## VICIII (Apr 8, 2005)

buy some daiwa stock...


----------



## HuskyMD (May 19, 2000)

anyone actually seen an official announcement on this? I can't find anything via Google nor on either of their websites.


----------



## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

I'm sticking with Shimano although Quantum is starting to grow on me a little bit.


----------



## Orest (Jul 28, 2003)

*I check a few Business*

magazine sites and can not find any reference to Penn being sold to anybody. I think it's another rumor.

Hopefully Mr. Martin will visit P&S again and put this rumor to bed.


----------



## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Orest said:


> magazine sites and can not find any reference to Penn being sold to anybody. I think it's another rumor.
> 
> Hopefully Mr. Martin will visit P&S again and put this rumor to bed.


Well I called the 800# for Shakespeare and they confirmed that yes they have indeed bought Penn. They said they just have not updated their website yet.


----------



## Flyersfan (Dec 5, 2003)

I must be livin' in a cave, because this is this first
I've heard of about (K2/Shakespeare) buying PENN. My opinion is that it's hard to manufacture a product here in the US and compete with the cheap 3'rd world countries. If it's made to strict spec's the product should be of equal quality.
Penn tried to hang on as a US made product for as long as it could. When the third world worker see's that his country is corrupt and he's getting screwed livin' in a hut, while others get rich on his efforts than maybe the world market will be a little more even.

Anyway I'm not big on Shakespeare, but Pflueger
I think highly about, but if this is all about raising
stock prices for the CEO's we all get screwed including the 3'rd world worker in his hutopcorn:


----------



## lipyanker (May 31, 2006)

its true spoke with the ceo of penn


----------



## Flyersfan (Dec 5, 2003)

don't know of him, but if he has a stock deal like that a$$hole at Homedepot, then the stockholders are getting the "POLE" so to speak

I won't shop in HomeDepot anymore because of that, I don't care if I only spend a few dollars a year in there, they won't be getting my dollars anymore, and until more people start doing that they will keep screwing people
it's one thing to believe in capitalism, but it's getting WAY OUTTA HAND,
210 million dollars....come on give me a [email protected]#KING
break, sometimes I think the Mafia is running Wall street


----------



## surfchunker (Apr 10, 2006)

*Amen*

the retired CEO from my company got huge ones too plus like 72 million in unsecured loans to boot


----------



## nomadfl (Jan 7, 2007)

The guy that sold Penn, had just bought them a couple of years a go, he used to operate a big tackle wholesale distribution firm out of North Carolina.

The reason for the sale of Penn...court ordered because of matrimonial settlement ....it could happen to any of us married guys


----------



## LiteTackleChamp (Jul 29, 2005)

we should of all chipped in and bought penn, then we could do things our way


----------



## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

CEOs are a BILLION $$$ a dozen...i worked for ITT(fluid handeling) and the one we had left...so thay got a new one...from the GAP...


----------



## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

*The Jury*



fishbait said:


> The jury is still out for me. Penn has always made top quality equipment and I hope they continue that tradition with the blessing and financial backing of "big brother"....


I use to do allot of backcountry skiing. K2 (second highest mountain in the world) has always been held in high regards as far as top quality, top of the line, SKing equipment. I'm sure that Penn Will be held with the same respect.


----------



## Smoothbore54 (Jun 8, 2003)

There was a time when Pflueger Reels were the equal of Penn.

Shakespeare turned them into Chain Store Junk, and I have no reason to believe they won't do the same thing to Penn.

Harley Davidson was "saved" by an "employee buyout", *not* by a huge corporation.


----------



## Smashed (Jul 1, 2005)

Actually, Pflueger was in the tank well before they were bought by Shakespeare. They made some great reels up until the 70s, but then they lost their edge. All their products from the 80s and 90s were junk. They were on the verge of closing down when Shakespeare bought them and now they're coming out with great products again.


----------



## rhorm (Mar 25, 2005)

I'm sticking with Quantum and Shimano. Anyway, think they will have this in red? They are already making some strong claims on the packaging.


----------

