Despite Weather, Vendors Pleased with Quartzsite RV Show – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
QUARTZSITE, Ariz. – The 41st annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show wrapped up this past weekend and, according to several vendors and exhibitors, the show was generally a positive – despite spotty weather over the course of the show that ran from Jan. 20-28.
Indeed, Monday, Jan. 22, was a day of continuous rain to the point where water ran through the 610-foot tent that is the cornerstone of the event. While the normally warm weather is a draw for RVers, particularly those who may spend weeks or even months in the area, the rain can also keep them hunkered down.
“There was a bit of a weather issue,” said Kimmy King, the show’s promoter and daughter of the late founder Kenny King. “Some of my longtime vendors say sales are a bit down, but they’re still happy as can be given the world that we’re living in today with everything being more expensive.”
The show has exhibitors with everything from fudge to storage solutions, solar and battery technology, massage chairs, hot tubs, and almost any RV product or service one can imagine.
One of those exhibitors was Curt Curtis of RV Country, which has 18 locations in the West and is the official dealership of the event.
“This is always our best show of the year and it’s going as good as it did last year,” Curtis told RVBusiness, adding that top sellers were larger fifth-wheels, fifth-wheel toy haulers and used diesel pushers.
“We’ve taken on the Brinkley line and it’s been a success for us,” he mentioned. “So far, our service team has said the quality of these is exceptional and our salespeople says they’ve been easy to sell. There’s a lot of pent-up demand.”
Speaking of the service side of things, Jon Goldstein of Leisure Coachworks, Fontana, Calif., has been a Quartzsite show vendor for a decade. “Overall traffic has been good. We had a couple days of rain which definitely played with the traffic scenario,” he said.
In addition to the longtime vendors, this year several companies came from overseas to demonstrate new technology and one of those wasEco-dynamic Tech Limited.
Michael Soon of Eco-Dynamic Tech said, “We’re glad that we came. We got some great customer feedback. We’ve had great comments and great suggestions. We’ve had a lot of interest in our product.”
The company was exhibiting their new solar awning describing it as the first fully rollable solar awning where we’ve integrated the solar module into the awning fabric itself.
Solar and battery storage was of key interest to attendees based on the seminars. Those who presented seminars on this subject filled the separate 10-by-20-foot seminar tent to overflowing on most occasions.
That might also explain the popularity of the Living Vehicle’s travel trailer on display with its own solar awnings.
Brian Bergeron of California-based Living Vehicle said the company didn’t necessarily come seeking orders, but rather brand awareness – and in that area they succeeded.
“It’s been a great turnout; really positive responses. A lot of people are excited that we’re elevating the standards in the RV industry. The quality of our builds has really resonated a lot of people,” said Bergeron. “Of course, there’s some sticker shock – our prices start at $200,000 – so we’re a little higher than the average in the RV industry. But once someone goes inside and sees the quality of the product and the boondocking capabilities – including 4,000 watts of solar and oversized battery packs which means you can stay off grid indefinitely and still have the luxuries of home – it makes sense.
Another popular seminar topic was guided RV tours, withFantasy RV Tours typically filling the seminar tent, primarily with their tours of Alaska.
“The seminars have been really good; I think people want to come see that. Batteries, trips – that’s been a big draw for us,” said Andrew Mac Donald of Fantasy RV Tours. “That’s been where we can tell our story to multiple people.”
Thomas Grossmann ofEuropean Motorhome Tours had much the same to say. “A lot of people we meet again and again. People seem very eager to travel again since the pandemic,” he said.
The show also was where TechnoRV, an online parts retail operation, announced a new fuel buying card. Michael Kilbourne described the new card as enabling people to visit over 1,000 participating fuel stations for a discount on fuel of up to $1 per gallon.
“We’ve been here for the last four years. We’ve expanded our footprint and plan to expand next year. The quality of customer has been terrific,” Kilbourne said.
Brynlie Harris of RVLock in Logan, Utah, said the show is a great place to come and see their customers in person. Typically, they sell via e-commerce.
“We have been so busy all week. We have sold out almost all the product we brought,” he said.
But it wasn’t all RV products, as evidenced by vendors like Terrill Agnew ofHigh Seas Trading Company, which makes tropical print shirts in the USA that feature genuine coconut shell buttons.
“I’ve been coming here for 14 years. This is one of my best years. I doubled the size of my booth,” he noted. “I’m just glad to see a lot of people out here in spite of the weather. People were good sports. I’m surprised we did this well because of the weather.”
So, you could say, even when the weather was less than beachy, people still brought that Aloha spirit.
