Family opens boating shop in Ephrata

EPHRATA- Siblings Cory Olsen and Lindsay Grady have found a way to turn their lifelong passion for boating into a solid business venture.

The pair, who grew up in Utah, have spent much of their lives on the water, said Grady.

"We grew up on the water, so boating really represents family to us," she said. "It's something we're passionate about and something we just love."

Grady was the first to move to the Basin, landing out here about eight years ago. Olsen ultimately decided to join his sister and moved to Ephrata about three years ago.

They were both happy to have ended up somewhere where large bodies of water were just a short drive away, said Grady.

"We have boats and we're out every weekend that we can be," she said.

But they might not be able to get out as much this next season, said Grady, since they'll be busy running their new boat shop, SunCity Marine Products.

The store officially opens March 1.

Olsen said Ephrata had a great boating shop for many decades - SunCity Marine. He actually worked there for a while, under owner Randy Reynolds. However, the shop closed down last year after Reynolds died, he said.

"We decided to open a shop because there is no boat shop now, and we'd like to bring one back to the community," said Olsen.

They wanted to keep SunCity in their new name because of its history in Ephrata. Olsen said he believes Reynolds operated the shop for more than 40 years.

Most of the shop's services will be similar to what the old SunCity provided.

"We specialize in pre-season checkups, regular service and routing maintenance as well as shrink-wrapping and winterization," said Olsen.

They'll also be able to do light repair work on boats, he said.

Olsen's wife Lindsay Olsen and Grady's husband Eric Grady will also be working at the shop. While they'll be catering to a lot of local boaters, Grady said they'll likely see a lot of boaters from out of town once summer starts.

"We know a lot of people come over from the West side for the lakes out here, like Banks Lake," she said. "This is a great area for water."

The shop will carry a few smaller retail items, like water skiing ropes, in case boaters have forgotten to bring them, said Grady.

SunCity will also provide after hours emergency services, in case boaters break down on the water for instance, she said.

"That's something we're proud to offer, we want to help people relaxing out there on the water," said Grady. "We don't want them to have to wait until the next day, so we'll go out there and help them out so they can get back to vacationing."

Boaters will also be able to find updated fishing reports at the shop, said Grady.

The whole idea is to cater to boaters in the area, she said.

"We want to be able to provide Ephrata with this fairly-priced service so people can take their families out on the water," she said. "It's great way to grow up and we just want to provide that opportunity for other people."

SunCity will hold Grand Opening events on March 1. Olsen said there will be free hot dogs and drinks around noon that day.

Residents and their families are invited to visit the shop that day to learn more about what they do, he said.

SunCity is located at 1322 Basin St. SW, Suite A in the Big Bend Business Park. They will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 1.