By Greg Gerber on 1/5/2009 3:50 PM

I don't know about you folks, but I was ready for a new year about Aug. 1 of last year.

I can't remember a more challenging year in my adult life. The last time the RV industry saw this kind of challenge, I was in college and oblivious to anything of real significance in the world around me.

Granted, 2009 will provide challenges of its own. But, there are plenty of reasons for people in the RV industry to be optimistic.

And this industry is about much more than just vacations. It's about relationships -- spending quality time with friends and family. It's spiritual -- about basking in God's amazing creation. It's about education -- like taking children or grandchildren to places others only read about in textbooks. It's about travel -- avoiding airline hassles and expensive, inconsistent hotel experiences. Most of all, it's about freedom -- freedom to go wherever we want, whenever we want.

As for 2009, I say bring it on!

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 1/5/2009 11:59 AM

A friend sent me a copy of a recent Calvin and Hobbs cartoon that pretty much summed up everything wrong with our economy today in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way.

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/29/2008 12:07 PM

 

Someone recently suggested that the reason many of the leading companies in the RV industry are struggling today is due to the fact that corporate executives don't have enough skin in the game.

Sure, the corporate officers and board members are paid excellent salaries with excellent benefits, but when it comes to the company's bottom line and long-term financial conditions, some people feel the executives don't have much to lose. But, is that true?

Some of the companies struggling the most in the RV industry today have lots of stock controlled by corporate insiders. Yet, some of the more steady firms have little stock in the hands of executives and board members.

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/22/2008 8:47 AM

In announcing that he was closing all but one of his RV dealerships, California RV king Dan Gamel hinted that he was working on a new concept for bringing RV retail centers to shopping malls.

Apparently Gamel wants to develop stores in malls where customers walk through doors shaped like front caps of RVs, then sit in RV furniture as they shop for new units online. From what I read, I suspect the buyers will also be able to customize an RV and have it special ordered.

Although Gamel didn't disclose any of the details of his plan, it will be interesting to see if he can pull it off. I, myself, am skeptical of this one even though I am a big fan of e-commerce and know more people are shopping online every year.

Gamel's strategy must be to target two primary audiences -- extemely bored husbands or women who find mall shopping exhilarating and refreshing.

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/19/2008 2:45 PM

Villa International, the maker of high-quality furniture for RVs, announced an innovative and brilliant way to spur demand for RV furniture during a time when other firms are wondering how to stimulate sales. The company will accept shares of common stock as payment for the furniture.

For example, a custom upgrade that would normally cost $2,000 would only require approximately 62 shares of Merrill Lynch common stock, which closed at $32.25 on July 1. Merrill Lynch currently trades at less than half that quotation, $13.05. Villa will accept stock of some 35 companies. The discount from the July 1 price can vary significantly from current prices, reducing the cost of Villa’s furniture appreciably.

This is the kind of innovation that I love about the free enterprise system.  I salute Villa for being on the cutting edge and, more importantly, for deciding "not to participate in the great decline in the stock market."

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/19/2008 1:38 PM

 

I got an interesting e-mail this afternoon from an RV dealer upset over the credit freeze that has dealers deathly afraid for the future of the businesses they have built and struggle to maintain.

She does not think it is fair that the banks, which altered the rules they agreed to when setting up floor plan financing accounts in the first place, should be able to benefit in the feeding frenzy that takes place when other RV dealers bid against each other to buy repossessed RVs removed from sales lots because the bank withdrew floorplan lending from someone else.

It's a no-win situation, and I can certainly understand the desire of RV dealers to fight back against the injustice of being treated like deadbeats, when they have done everything banks have asked of them to keep their accounts current.

One thing I do hope happens is that RV dealers have very long memories regarding the way they have been treated by certain companies. And, when times are good again -- which will happen -- that they remember forever which companies stuck with them through the hard times and which ones sought to make their lives more difficult.

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/15/2008 4:12 PM

I applaud the efforts of the RV Dealers Association and RV Industry Association to raise awareness of the struggling RV industry -- without seeking a handout from Washington.

The RV Dealers Association today asked RV dealers everywhere to send letters to their elected federal representatives to encourage them to make loan money available to finance the purchase of recreation vehicles. In fact, not only are the business owners themselves encouraged to write letters, but other employees of the dealerships are also encouraged to do the same.

There are 150,000 jobs and 8.2 million RV owners who are depending upon a strong, vibrant and healthy RV industry. And that industry rests on the ability of credit-worthy dealers to get floorplan financing to buy RVs from manufacturers and the ability of credit-worthy consumers to get financing to buy RVs from dealers.

Your letter, sent today, may just help our industry recover more quickly.

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/12/2008 9:09 AM

In the war to see how many companies can receive federal money or succumb to nationalization efforts, taxpayers and free enterprise won a major battle last night when the auto bailout died in the Senate on a 52-35 procedural vote.

Since labor costs are the No. 1 expense of every business, apparently some senators wisely thought that any federal bailout bill should require concessions from the auto unions. And the unions agreed, kind of. You could sense the condescension in the voices of union leaders who said they would agree to wage reductions, but not until 2011 -- three years from now and long after the crisis has ended.

Just the other day I was reading that, according to Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), GM sold 9.37 million cars worldwide in 2007. Toyota also sold 9.37 million cars worldwide that year. But, GM lost $38.7 billion and Toyota made $17.7 billion. How can one company be so highly profitable while another which seeks to be rescued by the federal government continues to lose a staggering amount of money?

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/8/2008 2:53 PM

Jim Twamley, the self-proclaimed "professor" of the RV industry, declared yesterday that the entire RV industry is doomed to failure. In his mind, there is no question about it. Every single RV dealer, manufacturer, supplier and campground is destined for extinction.

Like most legitimate professors, Twamley is an out-of-touch elitist who dares lecture others about the RV industry without recognizing that it is the RV industry itself that has enabled him to do so much -- like enjoying the lifestyle full time.

The RV industry is NEVER going away. And I'll bet Twamley whatever he is willing to risk that this industry will come back stronger and bigger than ever before -- and will do so within 1,000 days.

Read More »

By Greg Gerber on 12/8/2008 2:24 PM

I see that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation adopting the RV Friendly initiative. Let's hope the initiative takes on a life of its own and begins to permeate government offices throughout California.

But, I think the concept of "RV Friendly" goes well beyond whether a particular business has pull-through driving capability. It is a mindset that should be representative not only of businesses looking for tourism dollars, but of government offices as well. And, with that said, I can't think of a state more unfriendly to recreation vehicle owners and users than the state of California.

When it comes to being "RV Friendly," California may very well want to encourage RV owners to visit the state and spend money at businesses in that state. But, their government offices have a long way to go in convincing me that the state truly desires to have people owning and using RVs.

Read More »