Solid Opening Day at Hershey Show ‘Bodes Extremely Well’ – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
HERSHEY, Pa.– Highlighted by the 7,007 people – 723 more than last year – who passed through the gates on Wednesday, Sept. 11, the 55th Annual America’s Largest RV Show kicked off to rave reviews at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.
Hosted through Sunday, Sept. 15, by the Pennsylvania Recreation Vehicle and Camping Association (PRVCA), the 2024 “Hershey RV Show” features about 1,500 RVs on display from 40 manufacturers as well as hundreds of exhibitor booths staffed by aftermarket suppliers and campgrounds.
“We had an excellent opening day,” PRVCA Executive Director Heather Leach told RVBusiness. “I spoke with several manufacturers and dealers who stated it exceeded their expectations, which is a great sign for the industry. Pre-sale tickets are on par, if not exceeding, last year.”
Forest River’s Doug Gaeddert, who was recently named president of the company’s RV division, said the positive opening day “bodes so well for our industry.”
“When you look at the uncertainties everybody’s talked about – including the debate last night and the Fed meetings next week – and then you look at the show today, where the traffic was physically backed up out on the main road and the line of people were backed up all the way out into the parking lots this morning, it bodes extremely well for all of us in the industry,” he said.
Gaeddert said the industry in general and Forest River in particular has worked tirelessly on the 2025 model year lineup to incorporate several innovations, and everyone is eager to show off the results to the public during the Hershey Show.
“We’ll have a lot of feedback from the show,” he said, “but there is a lot of optimism right now. And, like I say, when you look at the lines that were out here, and the traffic lines that were actually holding up traffic out here on the highway, it’s because of an overwhelming interest in the RV lifestyle and our industry. And it bodes well for everybody in it, whether they’re aftermarket supplier, a campground owner, an OEM, a dealer, a finance company, go right down the list. I mean, it makes you smile.”
He also sang the praises of the Hershey show itself and how it serves as an indicator for the market.
“What’s perfect about Hershey is it’s the first major retail show where it’s all new product for the model year, right? And so, Hershey falls two weeks in front of the Expo, – as we call it at Forest River – back in Elkhart, where we’re going to showcase the wholesale side of this product,” Gaeddert said. “But getting the retail responses to innovative product or, retail finance programs, or the way we’re reconfiguring our new branding – all that’s really cool. We get a ton of feedback here, and then that allows us, over less than a three-week period, to factor both retail impact and the consumer, our ultimate customer, as well as our dealer customers.”
Indeed, others with whom RVBusiness spoke also had positive reports from the opening day.
• General RV Center CEO Loren Baidas, who was walking from one of his company’s displays to another, said he was “excited” for this year’s show.
“We’ve got eight, nine displays here, so we’ve got a great presence at the show. We’re looking for some great retail action this week,” Baidas told RVBusiness. “Hershey has something for everybody. We’ll sell a lot of trailers. We’ll sell fifth-wheels. It’s still a very good motorized show. Everything from Class Cs and Bs right up to the big diesel pushers.”
• Kyle Miller, director of sales for the Cruiser and DRV divisions of Heartland RV, a THOR Industries Inc. subsidiary, said he and his team thought the people who came through their display were “very engaged, well researched, asked a lot of questions, so we’re very optimistic about how the show’s going to go.”
Miller added that the Hershey show remains an important barometer for the industry, and noted that its impact on sales isn’t just reserved for the five days of the event.
“So, regardless of what sales are here this week, if the traffic’s good, the interest is good, and that’s going to lead to sales downstream at some point. Those are all important indicators for us as we look forward into 2025 and how the industry continues to rebound,” he said.
• Amanda Laney, marketing specialist at Steele Rubber Products, noted that the parking lot was full this morning during the early hours of the show, and was enthused with the crowd thus far.
“The traffic does seem decent,” she said. “The people who we’ve had come by our booth seem they want to learn a whole lot more than just, ‘Hey, what do you have?’ I feel like they’re looking for more education. We get a lot of, ‘This is what we’ve been looking for. How do I know to tell which product it is that we need?’ There’s a lot of stuff people don’t know, so they’re literally looking for education.”
• Josh Peek, and outside sales representative for Genesis Products, and Allison Horner, marketing associate, were staffing their company’s booth inside the Giant Center. Both were very pleased with the opening day.
“Absolutely,” Peek said. “So, I actually got here a couple hours after the show started this morning and Allison had already retail sold two rolls of our Revive Kit. There’s been a lot of interest through the booth and asking questions as far as the DIY or upfitting of the retail buyers’ current units, and then also even new OEMs as far as making the units their own. But most of all, they’ve been interested in doing the overlays because they’ve either had damage to the unit from themselves or they’ve seen our kit on the internet.”
Noting that Genesis doesn’t sell its products directly to the consumer, Horner added that the two are hosting two seminars to further introduce and explain the Revive collection of products that are designed to transform and upgrade an RV.
• Matt Ellinger, VP of Sales, Newmar Corp. had just returned from walking through his company’s full display and was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who were already perusing the Class A motorhomes.
“This week we’re selling through Campers Inn, and we’re here to provide that education. We get to do little demonstrations in the booth. We have two seminars this week, so there’s a lot of touchpoint opportunities,” she said.
“First of all, it’s great to see all the people,” he said. “Right away, right at the very beginning, there were people in the Bay Star, in the Dutch Star looking at it, pulling out cabinets, touching and feeling the Newmars that are in the display. In talking to some of the people early, everything has been positive.
“They were looking at what’s different for 2025,” he continued. “I’ve met a lot of Newmar owners that say, ‘Hey, I like what you did here. The cabinets are very different.’ I mean, we’re showcasing some of the new things that we’ve done within our coaches that really haven’t been on dealer’s lots for very long. So, this is our time to shine, too, and really show some of the new ‘25’s that are out there.”
• Similarly, Winnebago Towables Product Manager Grant Smith said he was pleased with the initial consumer response on two new floorplans for the conventional-build, single-axle Access travel trailers. The first is the 18DVH, which is a double over double bunkhouse, while the other is the 18RK, which is a rear kitchen/rear bath unit.
“So far, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said, noting the Access hits an aggressive price point without sacrificing many of the more desirable amenities. “A lot of times in that single axle segment, there’s very little content to talk about in the trailers, so we are trying to differentiate ourselves a little bit in terms of, I would say, creature comforts.”
“But what people are noticing is, while the Access may not be the least expensive single axle trailer that they looked at in the show, it has a lot of value,” he continued. “We strongly feel that there is a group of customers that is looking for something maybe just a little bit nicer, a little bit more comfortable, and they’re willing to pay just a little bit more – but still be well under $20,000 at the show to buy these trailers.”
• Ryan Brady, co-founder of Alliance RV, said he was expecting a “big week, like it always is every year.”
“We’re particularly excited,” he said. “We did a lot of changes to our products and we changed over model year, the ‘25s in that July time period. But, really, this is the first big retail show where we’re getting our products in front of the retail public. So excited to get the feedback. And the early results have been good. Traffic’s there. Obviously, we’re early afternoon on day one, but liking what we’re seeing so far.”
“Obviously the interest rate environment is well documented, but I think that reality has certainly set in for consumers, so they’re not sticker-shocked when they see what the interest rates are. I think that’s a positive,” he continued. “And we always say, ‘People want to camp.’ And we certainly operate in a cyclical industry, but at the end of the day, it’s a secular growth industry, and there’s always going to be people out there looking to trade up and get into the lifestyle.”
• Speaking only a few hours after the gates opened, Forest River General Manager Karl Miller said the show was “going great.”
“We had a dealer meeting last night and some of the dealers that are here we’re saying that this could be the best weather we’ve had in 15 years at the Hershey Show, so we’re excited to have great weather,” Miller said, who was with Forest River Vice President of Marketing Tom Gruger. “A lot of retail consumers want to come in and look at all the new floorplans, the new options, the new colors and, hopefully, that will turn into sales and will kick us off for the fall.”
• Grant Gillis, the OEM sales executive with RVMP, and Kevin Mack, the company’s marketing director, said they were at the show to “showcase our very innovative products” to both consumers and OEMs alike. People who haven’t yet heard of RVMP are “intrigued” by the company’s suite of generators, Gillis said.
“A lot of them, after going through the OEMs outside, noticed our product in many of the units on certain brands and would like to know a little more before actually purchasing the RV on the lots,” he explained.
Mack added that the two also were hearing from consumers who were singing the praises of RVMP’s customer service team.
“I was just writing an email to our customer service lead about how so many people thank us for all the support that our team has given them,” Mack said. “And that goes everything from us helping a DIYer install, to if there’s any issue in their coach that we’re helping them out throughout the process. It’s just really great. It makes you kind of tear up just to hear people speak so highly of our customer service team, because we put a lot of effort and a lot of resources into our customer service team. And seeing that payback in happy customers is just absolutely amazing.”
• Bontrager Outdoors National Sales Manager Jaime Moreno and Brian Sutton, the company’s general manager, said the first day was “very steady.”
“Those whom we’ve talked with are interested in buying,” Sutton said. “It hasn’t been just people looking just for the sake of looking. It’s been a very positive outlook so far from the people I’ve talked with.”
Moreno added that he was especially pleased with his discussions with show-goers.
“It’s all been positive. Nobody’s come in with the doom and gloom and saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to wait for this or that.’ They’re being very straightforward. They’re going, ‘We’re interested. We’re looking,’” Moreno said. “Most of them are doing the research. They want to come in. They want to try to find something to buy. They’re not saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to wait and see if I can get it lower,’ or anything like that. The optimism is they’re coming in to buy. That’s a beautiful thing.”
