RVBusiness, July/August 2020

An Airstream shell was cut in half and is now used as a display for apparel and other retail items 50 RVBusiness J U L Y A U G U S T 2 0 2 0 Bert Alanko A key component of the new facility is the 20 bay 18000 square foot service department Colonial Airstream from page 40 blank palette just the way we wanted it to be every inch of it All that aside the Lenzo brothers said they also had succession in mind when planning their new East Coast store Jim Lenzos son Nick currently works at the dealership while John is thinking that his younger daughters may eventually step into the RV retailing game there as well This is something that we built for our future and our childrens futures noted John So we really stepped up to the plate we feel We put up a building that while Im not going to go into costs has been a big undertaking for us Its a boutique type of a thing keeping in mind that were not part of a big conglomerate or a publicly held company We dont ever plan to be We dont have the acreage in New Jersey to even come close to that We consider ourselves a customer oriented family run business So a big part of their strategy is to keep things simple befitting an RV dealership that doesnt aspire to be a global power Yes added John we only have two manufacturers Our strength is that we and our staff of about 40 specialize in what we sell So we try to know all the answers We dont have 50 products where we have to learn everything And thats what were trying to do as well as build for the future for our children to run the business God willing And thats what it the new store is for Its not a hit andmiss type of thing Its a thing for the future for us As for the sales outlook for 2020 the Lenzo brothers believe theyre well positioned to weather the economic storms during a year in which many homebound consumers have at least temporarily lost interest in air travel Moving forward John maintained we feel like were in a very good position Not trying to create a good situation out of a bad one but nobodys going to want to fly for a while obviously They dont want to go to a hotel room They dont want to go on a cruise So again similar to what happened after 9 ll we saw an uptick in business and we see that happening right now The other thing added Jim is that a lot of people are at home furloughed from work and they have a lot more time to be on the computer and making phone calls and doing their due diligence about possibly getting into the RV lifestyle or stepping up to a different unit or things like that So our traffic has been way up We just had a meeting with Airstream and the activity online has been up between 1200 and 1400 Now that doesnt necessarily all equate into sales but the good news is that the interest and activity level is way up and we see promising things moving forward RVB Rental Surge from page 43 stream of people are booking their trips within a week of their departure dates Peer to peer specialist Outdoorsy for its part has also experienced a significant uptick in business a 450 spike at one point in recent weeks among both existing and all new RV enthusiasts Oh yeah its soaring Outdoorsy CEO Jeff Cavins told Fox Business on May 20 as he essentially introduced his firm to the general public Now Outdoorsys not a manufacturer of RVs were an Internet marketplace If youre familiar with Airbnb and marketplaces like that were essentially the RV corollary for people who want to get outside they want to get out of their homes They want the freedom of fresh air and outdoor travel And were experiencing just soaring numbers on our platform right now Outdoorsy is also seeing more immediacy among its rental clients who are booking rentals one to three days out instead of the former average of two to three months out with half of todays customers departing within the same week Our prediction is that once restrictions are lifted more than ever people will want to be in control of the cleanliness of their travel modes and accommodations stated Cavins Prioritizing their personal health and finances more people will likely rethink the traditional route of air and hotel travel and may also look at taking trips closer to home This new normal paired with pent up demand for travel particularly RVing and camping could create a real surge on the tail end of COVID 19 Additionally he added this mode of travel also gives travelers the keys to controlling their environment including the cleanliness of their accommodations It also allows travelers to take a quick getaway in their own backyard that doesnt require much advanced planning which will likely be the norm as people slowly dip their toes back into the vacation pond Traveling via RV also naturally provides people with the ability to travel away from crowds and overrun tourist hotspots to camp in a location where fresh air and open space are your two closest companions a welcome reprieve after months spent in confinement Meanwhile RV rental insurance veteran Bert Alanko a profit center leader for MBA Insurance which is a unit of Brown Brown Insurance Co said his Scottsdale Ariz office has also experienced a surge in calls from both peer to peer and traditional fleet mode insurance clients People arent flying to Europe said Alanko People arent even flying state to state unless they absolutely have to And nobodys going to get on a cruise ship this year So how do you keep your family safe You go rent an RV And when they open up all these federal and state park campgrounds our business is going to go crazy People are going to rent RVs take their family be safe and I think were going to see extended vacations into the fall How then does Cruise Americas Smalley see things developing for the rest of 2020 Its really a mixed bag Smalley maintained And of course its all last minute so who would have known that you would need to staff up during a shutdown to handle all the demand and its coming from all angles You have a one way rental demand You have sales people coming in wanting to buy our retired vehicles Those are flying off the shelf Rental demand is through the roof but obviously because you cant plan for this its really hard to manage But were doing our best as weve done for the past 48 years The entire team has come together and were trying to make the best of what is probably going to go down as one of the toughest years in the companys history But were obviously trying to mitigate that with this newfound American road trip that people are suddenly realizing is the way to go RVB Jennifer Young Ryan Quinn and Jeff Cavins of Outdoorsy