Route 66 Dealers Gather in Colorado for 20th Annual Rally – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News

Members of the Route 66 Dealer Network will hold their annual rally beginning today at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs.

It will be the 20th annual event for the independent dealerships who have banded together to help smaller each other attain the purchasing advantages of a large dealership. The dealers also agree to service each other’s customers and have an agreement with Canada’s RV Care Network to provide similar services.

Network Partner and Co-Founder Rob Merrill said about a dozen new members have joined the network since last year and he expects more than 80 percent of dealer members to be in attendance as well as around 30 vendor partners.

Rob Merrill

“For a long time, we didn’t have a lot of open markets, but with consolidation and a lot of dealers being sold we had some turnover,” Merrill said. “It’s always a reunion of sorts. Most of the dealers report back to us that it’s one of the most worthwhile business events of their year in terms of what they get from it. They get a chance to compare notes with their peers and go to workshops.”

Merrill said dealers can expect training opportunities as well as a look ahead at program Route 66 will offer in the next year. The vendors on hand also can make presentations and discuss proprietary programs with the network.

Like most dealers across the country, Route 66 dealers are up against an economy that has put the economy on edge, but he said the dealers he has spoken to are cautiously optimistic while being sober about the current reality.

“People have had a tougher summer than they have had in a while,” Merrill said. “We’re seeing F&I revenues increasing and participation in programs that are consumer value-adds is going well.”

The rally kicks off today with registration all day and an afternoon golf tournament. Tuesday will feature meetings, educational workshop and a Partner Expo with an evening dinner party and entertainment.

Things wrap up Wednesday with more Expo Partner meetings a dealer closing session, which will feature the honoring of the Larry Coker Award.

“We’re going to be talking a lot about the value of the Route 66 Network and of being independent,” Merrill said. “Certainly the big box guys have some economies of scale that we don’t have. We also really believe there’s a huge opportunity for the independent guy to be different because the owner is part of the business. They control it. They control the message. They can set standards about customer care that doesn’t sound like the typical customer experience people are having at the big box stores.”

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/route-66-dealers-gather-in-colorado-for-20th-annual-rally/