Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 11, 1993 TAG: 9303110150
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PUBLIC GETS REVVED UP ABOUT RVING
Three years ago, when Robert White came to the American Women's Show for the first time as an exhibitor, he brought eight recreation vehicles from his New River Camping Center in Radford.Someone complained that wasn't enough to make a good comparison, so the next year he came with 23. He plans to have about 40 on display when the three-day show opens Friday at the Roanoke Civic Center.
There will be everything from a $2,995 Coleman pop-up camper to an $87,000 Winnebago motorhome that levels itself with the push of a button.
White believes that RVs are on a roll.
"From the amount of effort and the amount of products I am putting into the show, I am saying that 1993 is going to be an exceptional year," he said.
Last year wasn't too bad.
"We had terrific sales down at the show last year. I retailed 17 pieces," White said.
So during lean economic times, which would you figure has been getting the most attention, the $2,995 Coleman or the $87,000 Winnebago?
The Winnebago-type motorhome, by far.
"I'm talking about high-end stuff, 31- to 34-foot, Class A motorhomes that retail anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000," said White. "That has been what is selling for 2 1/2 years.
"In fact, last year motorhome sales were 65 percent of my business."
C&L Camper Sales of Radford, the other RV dealer in the show, will have a display that features motorhomes exclusively.
No longer is the typical RV buyer a young couple with two kids who plans to save money while having fun outdoors by staying in an RV rather than a motel.
"The average age now is 55," White said.
The buyer is an early retiree, or somebody about to retire, often with a bundle of cash from a company buyout.
"All their life, they have been saying, `When we retire, we are going to travel around and see what is going on,' " said White.
The choice of an RV isn't a matter of money; it is freedom, he said.
"RVing is the most pleasant way to go. By far, it is not the cheapest," White said. "If you are going to Florida for two months and stay down there, you can rent a condominium for the taxes that you would pay on an RV.
"But the RV gives them the ability to move around. It gives them a free lifestyle."
That's what RVing is all about, Florida in the winter, Alaska in the summer and everywhere in between. It's no longer a two-week campout deal. It is 6 months of wanderlust.
"The whole approach has changed. That's why we are getting more people who are attracted to the higher-end pieces; to larger units. They are willing to pay the bucks to get it," White said.
Now White and other dealers hope the improving economy will mark the return of the first-time, low-end buyer. And that appears to be happening.
"We are seeing increased activity in the used-vehicle side of travel trailers; we are seeing more interest in the folding tent campers. That is the first sign of the economy breaking," he said. "We have seen interest already this year, and that is early for this market."
So at the show, and afterward, White hopes to observe growing numbers of young couples and families with kids taking a serious look at RVs.
"Those are the people who have been reluctant to step up to bat and purchase any kind of RV," he said.