aye aye and good buy

So last night we’re sitting on the couch and talking canucks and i said – they wouldn’t trade trevor linden, at this point i’m not sure how much of a barganing chip he is – he’s just valuable to the city of vancouver. and john mentioned (and i forget where we saw/heard it) that he has potential to run for mayor, then said ‘captain vancouver’. this triggered an “aye aye and good buy!” and john had no idea wtf i was talking about.

Those of you who have lived in vancouver long enough to know “THE” captain know what i’m talking about. those late night 30 second cheap, homemade, budget commercials for the Captain’s Bargain Store on Alma. He was a rather large man, who did his own commercials and ended every one with “Aye Aye and Good Buy!” saluting the camera. So this was probably early 90s…

From Profit Magazine Dec. 1999

“…John “The Captain” Kut… who owns two Captain’s Bargain Stores in Vancouver, says he took up tacky TV advertising five years ago when ordinary newspaper ads failed to boost sales at his second-hand-goods outlets: “After paying my rent, there was almost nothing left over for me.” Kut couldn’t afford a camera crew or professional spokesperson, so his first piece, filmed with a home videocamera, starred the 350-lb. entrepreneur rattling off in-store deals while dancing a jig to the “Popeye” theme music. “I wanted to make sure people noticed,” he says.

That they did. Kut began airing the 30-second spot 10 times a night on local TV, between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Within a few weeks, customer traffic began to increase steadily. “Not a bad deal, seeing as I was only paying just over two bucks an ad” as part of a volume deal, says Kut. He’s produced dozens since, most of which feature “The Captain” promoting the latest gear in his stores, then signing off with his ready slogan, “Aye-aye, and good buy”…”

The captain dissapeared for a while but you could sometimes spot him driving around vancouver in his boat… i mean car. a really large 70s/80s style boat-of-a-vehicle with a HUGE sail on the top. Yep, it was the Captain!

Late 90s early 2000… the commercials are back on, local, late night, it’s the captain! he’s lost about 100 lbs and found Jesus! I haven’t seen any commercials lately (or in a few years) but at least he’s still around somewhere and i’m sure if you’re looking for used goods, you can check out his shop in Kits.