Lake Holcombe Dock & Lift reaches far outside the area

Darin Duncan, owner of Lake Holcombe Sales & Service, and Lake Holcombe Dock & Lift (left), and Trevor Taber, business manager for the dock business, are excited to expand the products and services offered at the State Hwy. 27 location. Before long, a year-round showroom will be open to house some of the products, while the sales and service portion keeps busy full steam, with the Husqvarna product line and yard machine maintenance. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

Darin Duncan has owned Lake Holcombe Sales & Service for three years, but this summer, entered into a new venture alongside the existing business – Lake Holcombe Dock & Lift. When the property to the south of Lake Holcombe Sales went up for sale and long-time Mark’s Marine across the road, Duncan jumped at the chance to create something new.

“I decided to put the two together… hopefully, expand our franchise,” he said.

Duncan bought the dock business from Mark’s Marine owner Mark Cigan and began work on a year-round showroom, for people to view the products. The company carries Lakeview and Voyager docks, as well as ShoreMaster lifts.

“We have a guy that will install them,” said dock and lift business manager Trevor Taber.

Through subcontracting with Joe Cigan, of JT Dock & Lift Service, docks get installed and maintenanced, while winterizing wraps are taken care of by M. Cigan.

“I know, eventually, we want to get involved with winterizing, but Mark’s got it for a while,” said Taber.

The docks business does carry some used lifts, and while it’s hit or miss, they sometimes have used docks. It all depends on if a patron wants a Voyager, the Cadillac of docks, or a Lakeview.

“It’s kind of a personal preference,” said Taber. “They’re both good, sturdy docks – good quality.

Legend trailers and Triton enclosed trailers are also part of the stock at Lake Holcombe Dock & Lift.

“We’re always looking for something new to bring in,” said Taber.

About half the sales are simply from people driving by on State Hwy. 27, where the two businesses are located, who see the docks and pull in. It’s not just local traffic, as many of the sales come from travelers or weekend visitors.

“It’s just a great location,” said Duncan. “We’re hoping to build it up.”

As one of the few dealers in state that are exclusively Husqvarna, Lake Holcombe Sales is No. 2 in sales north of Milwaukee/ Madison.

“We’re pretty proud of the fact, for how much we sell for such a small town,” said Duncan.