Numbers Off, But Vendors Pleased with Quartzsite Show – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
The 2025 Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show, the annual gathering of an untold number of RVers in the Arizona desert, is a wrap and the event was an interesting mixture of perceptions. That comes in the form of guessing the number of attendees to gauging perspectives on the show.
If the measure of success is the number of RVs that were sold, then it was a success. Once again Curt Curtis was on hand from RV Country which is the sole retailer of RVs at the event and Curtis reported strong sales. The desert event is always a place where shoppers come to buy and that was the case again this year.
“We’re strong again this year,” said Curtis, “in fact we’re going to extend our stay here by another week.”
RV Country is the sole RV retailer on the property at the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show.
Other interesting perspectives came from some first-time attendees who were also at the Tampa RV show just the week before.
“This is a different vibe,” said Matt Foxcroft, owner of Liquified RV Tank Treatment.
Indeed it is with there being as much home goods represented at the show as RV-specific product. There is also the sole RV dealer compared to the ocean of RV manufacturers and dealers in Tampa.
Another happy participant was Pearl Scarborough from H&H Brands, who said she always has a good experience, but is present and positive. “Plus it doesn’t hurt that I have chili for the other vendors every afternoon.” Her company sells mixes for making chili and Bloody Mary drinks.
Paul Patterson is another who was happy with the show. Patterson’s family has been a vendor at the show since before it was even on its current property and came with his mother, who was a vendor some 44 years ago. He has been part of the show since then and now has multiple booths in the big tent.
“Some of the booths did well,” said Patterson, but his food operation was down a bit.
Indeed, even though the number of people at the show appeared to be down, some vendors were ahead.
“It’s been a bit chilly this year,” said Dennis Lynaugh from RV Superbag. “That means people are coming inside and thinking about bedding. That helps.”
This year’s seminars seemed to be more popular than last with many presenters standing in front of overflow audiences in the seminar tent. What was popular? Once again, solar and off-grid solutions as well as coordinated adventures.
It’s easy to explain the appeal of solar and off-grid power solutions, so many of the people camping in the open land that is a big appeal of this area are relying on the power that their RV can generate, often through solar.
And speaking of lithium systems, Lion Energy was back with pallets of batteries which proved to be popular and disappeared in quick order. Selling its 700 amp-hour lithium batteries for $220 helped, and John Mann said their booth was a popular stop for attendees.
It wasn’t all selling – there was some informational booths and one of those was True Topper.
“I would say last year only a few people were aware of us,” said Jeff Chase. “This year half the people know who we are so that makes it a success.”
“We’re not just up, we’re up 50%” enthused Bob Weithofer of the Family RVing Association (formerly FMCA). That organization and Escapees both had booths and gave seminars at the show.
Show organizer Kimmy King also shared that Redlands RV, which sets up several service bays and offers service and upgrades at the show, also reported a record year.
But not all participants were equally enthusiastic. There is no doubt that the number of people in the area in general was down from last year’s boom.
“There’s no doubt that foot traffic is down,” said King. Some of the challenges this year included the exchange rate with Canada with Canadian attendees being at a disadvantage.
Quartzsite’s typically comfortable temperatures and acres of free and very inexpensive camping including Bureau of Land Management lands are a big appeal to people, many of whom spend their winters here escaping much colder climates. Many of those people have traveled from Canada but the number of people from there seemed off significantly. Further, it was speculated that many of the people who might come from the Los Angeles area also weren’t here due to the fires.
So what makes the difference between being successful or not?
“Show up at 100%,” said Foxcroft. “People come from all over to be here and they deserve to be treated well.”
Indeed he was one of the vendors who reported having a strong experience at the show.
Sort of like the old saying, attitude plus aptitude equals altitude.
