RVBusiness, March/April 2020

BY RICK KESSLER CONSUMER SHOW ROUNDUP Nearly perfect weather conditions helped the Florida RV SuperShow held Jan 15 19 at the state fairgrounds in Tampa set an attendance record this year Tampa Shows Record Crowds A Sign of Good Things to Come I dont have crystal ball but I have been doing this for 38 years This feels like we all need to hang on because its going to be great year said Grand Design RV President Don Clark 68 RVBusiness M A R C H A P R I L 2 0 2 0 a bit but more importantly I was pleased to see the positive attitude of the buyers who want to get into or continue the lifestyle It was invigorating Clark said Theres been a lot of negative news lately about the economy about the uncertainty with the coming election and a lot of negative distractions but it was invigorating to go to a Tampa Show and have such a great response from retail customers and have heavy traffic and consistently heavy traffic I should point out Clark added that based on conversations with consumers throughout the show hes forecasting a really strong year for us I dont have a crystal ball he continued but I have been doing this for 38 years This feels like we all need to hang on because its going to be great year Similarly Loren Baidas president of General RV Centers a Wixom Mich based dealership that currently operates 13 stores also said Tampa was a very good show and traffic across the board was very consistent with a lot of positive customer sentiment out in the marketplace Looking at this and other shows then Baidas told RVBusiness he is seeing pretty positive signals for 2020 Yes I think based on our first two weeks of shows were seeing very consistent traffic at the shows Were seeing positive interactions with our customers and the opportunity to sell a lot of RVs So that gives us the outlook If indeed the Florida RV SuperShow is viewed as a barometer for how the RV industry will perform for the rest of the year then 2020 is looking to be a good one even more so when factoring in the positive reports from Cleveland Boston and the dozens of other consumer shows from the first couple of months this year see page 72 Hosted by the Florida RV Trade Association FRVTA Jan 15 19 at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa the 35th Annual Tampa Show set an attendance record with 74861 people passing through the gates this year about 600 more than last years record total FRVTA Executive Director Lance Wilson told RVBusiness that while the attendance record is certainly welcome hes even more pleased with the glowing reports from the dealers manufacturers and vendors You know when all is said and done this show probably goes down as one of our best ones ever Wilson said We had great reports from dealer participants and the manufacturers were ecstatic The good sales generally mean people have a good outlook for the year and thats more important than sales Wilson credited his FRVTA staff of seven full time employees singling out Marketing Director Dave Kelly and Show Director Lisa Colvin plus an army of volunteers working behind the scenes for successfully organizing and operating an event the size of the Tampa Show which featured some 78 manufacturers 1550 RVs and 450 vendors on the venues 120 acres He added that Mother Nature played a big part in the shows success as they enjoyed favorable weather not only during most of the shows five day run there was a brief shower the final day but during the two weeks leading up to the event as well Rain can play havoc with outside displays he said especially when more than 1500 RVs need to be set up Positive Reports from OEMs Dealers While they were reluctant to share specific numbers those who spoke with RVBusiness at the show and later said retail activity across all segments was better than last year foot traffic was heavy consumer conversations were encouraging and the overall vibe was marked by optimism and enthusiasm Don Clark president and Don Clark CEO of Grand Design RV the Middlebury Ind based towable subsidiary of Winnebago Industries Inc said his company was up in sales quite Lance Wilson