General RV Center Acquires Stoltzfus RV’s and Marine – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
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WIXOM, Mich. – General RV Center, the nation’s largest family-owned RV dealer, has expanded its footprint with the acquisition of Stoltzfus RV’s and Marine, an RV and boat dealership in Pennsylvania.
Located approximately 35 miles west of Philadelphia in West Chester, Pa., this is General RV’s second Supercenter in the state and 17th location nationwide. General RV also has an Elizabethtown Supercenter near Harrisburg, Pa., that includes RV sales, service and parts. With the acquisition, General RV positions itself to increase opportunities to serve RV enthusiasts and owners across the region, including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
Stoltzfus RV was founded by Earl Stoltzfus, who started business in 1967 with property he rented before buying the property at 1335 Wilmington Pike, where the dealership is now located, 11 years later. In 2002 he sold part of the company to an (ESOP) Employee Stock Ownership program. The balance of the company was sold to the ESPO in 2007.
General RV President Loren Baidas told RVBusiness that his company was attracted to Stoltzfus RV for several reasons including its location, brands, personnel and facilities, but those weren’t the primary factor.
“The most important reason why this one made the most sense had to do with Earl because the culture of Stoltzfus RV is all entwined with Earl – how they do business and the employees that they attract and the longevity of the employees and their reputation,” Baidas told RVBusiness. “All of those things fit with the culture of General RV and that was really important to us. We weren’t just looking for another location, we weren’t just looking to be bigger. We wanted a dealership and people, employees, and culture that fit almost identically to who we are as General RV.”
Baidas said the immediate plan is to continue to run the dealership in the manner in which it was run.
“It’s a very well run dealership with great employees that know exactly what to do,” he said. “The only things we’re going to do over the years to come is hopefully add some things that General RV has learned through our multi-dealership group that can enhance the operation, whether it’s customer service, employee satisfaction, updates to the facilities, and leveraging technology to make things more efficient. Those are the things that we’re going to deploy over the next couple of years.”
The location has two buildings that include an in-store parts department, a dedicated pre-delivery inspection facility, more than 20 service bays and a showroom with RVs on display. The facility includes 16 acres of new and used RVs ranging from affordable travel trailers to luxury motorhomes. Existing employees will remain with the store as General RV explores opportunities to grow the business.
“Again, we don’t have to do a lot,” Baidas pointed out. “We had a couple guys there today. I was there a month ago with our team, spent the day talking to all the employees to make sure they knew they were the biggest asset that we had and why we were doing this and that their jobs aren’t going anywhere. We hopefully can enhance them and make them either earn more money or make them more efficient, or give them a great place to work. They’ll get to know us. I know they’re probably a little scared right now because it’s different, but we will take care of them and treat them right.”
“There are plenty of reasons why we are excited to join the General RV family,” said Bob Cox, former president and CEO of Stoltzfus RV’s and Marine and current General RV operations manager. “In the process of considering a transition, we wanted to partner with a company that had a great reputation in the industry and held the same values as our family. General RV was the obvious choice.”
This is the third new location General RV has announced in 2023. Earlier this year, General RV broke ground on a second dealership South Weber, Utah and its first-ever Supercenter in Salisbury, North Carolina. Both of these locations are expected to open in late 2024.
“As a long-time, family-owned business, we are committed to strategic growth and further enhancing our current and new customers’ purchasing and ownership experience,” Baidas added. “This means identifying new locations and acquisitions of dealerships who share our operational values. This location and the current team there align with our goal to not only grow in key markets, but continue to be the leader in the RV industry on all levels – customers, employees and community.”
About General RV
Founded in Michigan in 1962, General RV Center is the nation’s premier RV dealer. The company currently operates 15 full-service dealerships in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Utah and Pennsylvania. Each location offers a large selection of RVs for sale, RV service facilities and retail RV parts and accessories. In 2023, General RV broke ground on a second location in Utah and its first-ever location in North Carolina (both scheduled to open in late 2024) bringing its nationwide network to 17 locations.
Visit GeneralRV.com for more information.
Source: https://rvbusiness.com/general-rv-center-acquires-stoltzfus-rvs-and-marine/