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Test waters across the border (06/04)

By IAN ROSS Build upon what you do best and stay there. “Find a niche and do the best that you can do,” says Keith Robinson, co-owner of Souris River Canoes, an Atikokan builder of high-quality composite canoes.

By IAN ROSS

Build upon what you do best and stay there.

“Find a niche and do the best that you can do,” says Keith Robinson, co-owner of Souris River Canoes, an Atikokan builder of high-quality composite canoes. “Build the best products for that niche and stay there.”

With an ongoing emphasis on R & D and product improvement, Souris began placing their watercraft with outfitters on both sides of the Ontario-Minnesota border, allowing them to test out their canoe.

They ended up redesigning their canoes “from top to bottom,” says Robinson. An Ely, Minn. retailer, the Red Rock Wilderness Store, took notice and now they are Souris River’s main U.S. distributor selling between 200 and 300 hulls to customers all over the U.S.

www.sourisriver.com