View topic - What happened to Evergreen?

I remember when I bought my first Evergreen 5 years ago I did some googling and I seem to recall I found something that said they went under basically because of a family feud within the family that owned the company. I just spent 10 minutes searching this site and did not find anything but I have to think there is a thread on here about it.

How long ago did they go under?

I seem to recall that was the brand that MEC carried before Nova Craft, wasn't it?

There is an archive of a 2010 MEC catalog with an Evergreen canoe in it

https://issuu.com/mountain-equipment-co ... ng_2010/21

I believe that before they were distributed by MEC, they were associated with and maybe built at the Complete Paddler on Oxford St., just off the Gardiner Expwy. in Etobicoke. Not sure what caused their demise, but they did build very good canoes.

I have one. (Maple.)

Someone once told me that they were made in Quebec, but I don't know if that's true.

Here are a few links to related threads. The third one discusses them being gone from the MEC site by 2011:

https://myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5228
https://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewto ... 107&t=3635
https://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewto ... 16&t=37500

I thought Mohawk got their XL design from them... .

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"It's healthy to be dirty" - Lars Monsen

Evergreen was located where the Complete Paddler is today. That is where the canoes were made. They went out of business because the owner spent money he didn't have. Not much more than bad business. Their most lasting contribution was picking up the Mold for the Bluehole Starburst and continuing to make one of the best river boats ever. Their Kevlar models were just ho hum. I wouldn't be surprised if they farmed some of those out to OEM manufactures in Quebec.

Likewise the Sunburst

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Brian
http://www.JohnstonPursuits.ca

 

I have an Evergreen Prospector in Royalex, and it is awesome. Super versatile. I would buy another one if possible.

Kelly McDowell, who owns and operates The Complete Paddler is formerly an employee of Evergreen, at the same location. There are old molds hanging from the rafters in the store. He knows a lot about it but is unlikely to post here. Call it bankruptcy if you want, but the story I heard amounted to a cash flow shortage in one form or another.

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For he today that sheds his blood with me. Shall be my brother;

They were built in etobicoke. They ran out of money. Story as old as time. Boats were generally good to excellent quality.

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I like canoes

i was an MEC employee in TO at the time they came into existence. i had 3 over the years and wish i never sold the royalex Prospector. i got engaged in that boat at the bottom of a rapid on the Petawawa. i also had the most stunning canary yellow kevlar prospector with black walnut trim they custom built for me. it was unreal. they also had reasonable prices.
it's my understanding that all the hulls were made in Quebec at an established canoe factory due to skilled labour and all hand laid. they were nice, but not sophisticated layups. all trim was done in house at Etobicoke. owner was a nice guy and treated me very well, but as mentioned, was a poor businessman and thus the demise of the company.

Just for kicks; I was at TCP on Saturday and the former owner of Evergreen (named Jeff) is apparently still a hanger's-on, friendly with everyone and around the store from time to time. There were 3 examples of his craft on the storage racks in the back lot, and mine made it 4.

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For he today that sheds his blood with me. Shall be my brother;

What is TCP?

TCP - The Complete Paddler

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Brian
http://www.JohnstonPursuits.ca