Segment 6: The Modern Rex Marine
This week’s continuation of the story of Lou Gardella and Rex Marine begins on a very sad note.
The sudden death of Lou’s wife Beryl in September 1967 profoundly affected him. Lou lost not only his beloved wife, but also his business partner. Those close to him often said his enthusiasm for life never quite felt the same afterward. Still, Lou kept building.
In 1968, construction was completed on the current Rex Marine building on Water Street. Lou, ever the builder, was actively involved in the project each day. The new facility included a 6,000-square-foot heated boat showroom where customers could comfortably view boats even during the winter months. The building also provided a much larger home for the store and parts department, offices for the boat sales team, warehouse space for inventory, and modern offices for the administrative staff.
The new showroom played a significant role in Rex Marine’s emergence as one of the Northeast’s largest boat dealerships.
Over the years Rex represented many well-known boat builders. In addition to Chris-Craft, notable brands included Viking, Egg Harbor (when they were still wooden boats), and around 1950 a line of wooden boats built by Lou’s friend and New Jersey boatbuilder Henry Luhrs. Rex also represented Silverton, Mainship, Striker, Baja and many others.
Rex Marine became a Formula dealer in 1989. While Formula boats are now primarily sold directly through Formula’s factory sales team, Rex Marine remains an authorized Formula delivery and service center, continuing to support Formula owners in the region.
Sailboat lines represented over the years included Island Packet, Catalina, Cape Dory, and even Chris-Craft sailboats, among others.
In 1988, a major transformation took place at Rex Marine. The assortment of service buildings and showrooms that Lou had constructed between 1945 and 1970 were demolished to make way for the current indoor valet rack storage building, service shops, and rental spaces. With approximately 200 indoor storage bays, the facility remains the only indoor storage operation of its type in Fairfield County.
The boating industry has always been cyclical, with periods of strong growth followed by slower markets. In 1992, Rex Marine exited the new-boat sales business and shifted its focus to brokerage sales, storage, and service operations.
At that time the showroom was leased to Bassett Boat Company. After a number of years Bassett arranged for its Sea Ray dealership in Fairfield County to be acquired by Surfside III, which was later acquired by MarineMax. When MarineMax relocated down the street to the former Norwest Marine property around 2015, Rex Marine again hosted Formula boats in the showroom until the COVID era brought changes to the industry and Formula shifted to factory-direct sales.
Today the former showroom is used primarily for heated indoor winter storage, while boats for sale are displayed during the spring and summer months.
Together with Norwalk Cove Marina, the Gardella Family’s marina operations now manage hundreds of boats through dockage, rack storage, and winter storage, serving boaters throughout Norwalk Harbor and Long Island Sound.
Service and customer care remain central to the company’s identity. Rex Marine is Connecticut’s only marina to receive Mercury Marine’s CSI Award for Outstanding Customer Service in eight consecutive years.
Rex Marine continues to grow and evolve with the times. In 2025 rooftop solar panels were installed on the service building, helping reduce operating costs while also lowering demand on the regional power grid.
Nearly ninety years after Lou Gardella first became a Chris-Craft dealer, Rex Marine continues to serve generations of boaters on Norwalk Harbor; still family owned, still rooted in the same harbor Lou explored as a young man, and still guided by the same commitment to hard work, innovation, and taking care of every customer who comes through our docks.
The business grew, the harbor changed, but the foundation never did.
Nearly ninety years later, Rex Marine continues to serve the same waters, guided by the same values it was built on.