If there was an award for guts and determination it should go to NERVDA this year. After forming their group several years ago they ventured out on their own and produced their own Boston RV Expo the past two years at the Bayside Exposition Center in the shadow of the Boston high rise buildings and across the harbor from Logan Airport.
Under the direction of Shawn Sheehy, Esq., Executive Director of NERVDA, and with leadership provided by Marty Hanoud (Marty’s USRV), Jeff Hirsch (Camper’s Inn) and Brad Moore (Bradford RV Centers), the group met frequently this year as the financial meltdown of the economy started to take its toll on the RV industry.
New England dealers were facing a loss of support from manufacturers and declining sales forced many dealers to delay down payments on show space that the association needed to make the installment payments required by the show venue. This series of events led to the NERVDA leadership team meeting with the venue management team and informing them that the cumulative effect of everything impacting the industry was not going to allow them to come up with the required payment and they had to make the difficult decision to postpone the 2009 show and hope for better market conditions in 2010.
When I blogged about the potential demise of small regional shows a few months ago I didn’t think for a minute that these guys would not be able to rally the dealers in New England to fully support their own association to produce one of the largest RV shows in the region each year. Each month brought more bad news with manufacturers closing, suppliers cutting back, banks exiting the wholesale financing arena and consumers unable to obtain retail financing when desiring to buy that new RV.
Other shows in New England are struggling with the same factors that killed the Boston show this year and may suffer the same fate as deadlines near for deposits from the dealers who have been severely impacted by the economic downturn.
I participated in many of the NERVDA meetings to provide communications and report on national news that everyone hoped would get better, but it didn’t.
Is this a sign of things to come as we enter the show season around the country?
Is New England a blip on the radar screen or will other large shows face the same challenges?
There will be another challenge in 2010 as the Bayside Expo Center may be closed for development of the high profile sight for other commercial investments. The new Boston Convention and Exposition Center in South Boston is much larger and more expensive and is out of the question unless the economy did a complete reversal of fortunes as quickly as it faltered this year. There may be no venue available if the dealers can organize a show next year, certainly not in the immediate Boston area.
I’ve been going to camping and RV shows in New England for over 40 years, and this show will be sorely missed by the thousands of people that would flock to it every January, even if there was a foot of snow on the ground! The Boston show allowed RVers to shake loose of their cabin fever and check out the exciting lineup of new trailers and motorhomes that would fuel the desire to hit the road in a new RV when winter faded and the balmy days of spring arrived at the campgrounds.
What’s going to generate that excitement this year?
Can the dealer’s association stay together to weather the storm?
This is a sad say in Beantown, and I’m sure I speak for all the New England Dealers, especially Marty, Brad, Jeff and Shawn Sheehy – this show did not die due to lack of interest. These guys sacrificed hours, and their own dealer resources, to keep this association alive and did everything in their power to make this show happen. Many other dealers, banks and finance companies also participated in various meetings throughout the year and deserve credit for their participation also. But in the end, it just wasn’t going to happen in 2009 and we can only hope that the country finds a way to start digging out of this hole and putting these dismal days behind us as we start a new year in a few weeks.
I applaud the efforts of NERVDA and the manufacturers should know, and appreciate, how much work went into producing a show that would allow us to showcase the RV industry in Boston. Those of us who call New England home certainly do.
Thanks guys, you fought the good fight and went down swinging.