Attendees See ‘Positive’ NTP-Stag Expo as Good Sign for ’25 – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
By all accounts, the 2025 NTP-Stag Expo was a solid success. Dealers, suppliers and NTP-Stag officials all reported good attendance, good business and good camaraderie – and all hope it’s yet another sign of good things ahead for an industry that is eager to latch onto anything that would indicate a return to better times.
Presented by Airxcel, the 2025 NTP-Stag Expo took place Jan. 20-21 at the Gaylord Rockies Convention Center in Aurora, Colo., and featured several hundred dealers and suppliers taking part in educational sessions, keynote presentations and a vibrant trade show.
Saying he was very pleased with all aspects of this year’s Expo, NTP-Stag President Bill Rogers noted that his event is the industry’s last distributor show, and many dealers will wait and take advantage of the breadth of parts and accessories on display and the special pricing available at the Expo.
“I think a lot of the customers may have been waiting to come here and see how things are going. We usually attract pretty good crowd and, obviously, we did again this year,” he said.
“I think the training sessions were really well-attended and usually that’s a good sign,” he said, adding the Marine Certification session enjoyed its largest attendance ever.
“Last year, we ran out of space and people wanted more, so that was great,” Rogers said. “The other training and certification sessions for the suppliers also was full. And I got really good feedback from suppliers on the attendance and the engagement on all the customers.”
Indeed, RVBusiness spoke with a number of dealers and suppliers that also reported positive feedback.
Piar Adams, Vice President of Marketing, Aftermarket & International Sales for Airxcel, said the show was “great.”
“I would say that it met our expectations in terms of traffic which felt perhaps a little bit heavier than last year, and dealer sentiment was strong, optimistic,” he said.
“But we’ve seen that really in all of the distributor shows leading up to this one,” he added. “We were at Arrow a few weeks ago in New Orleans, and Meyer last week in French Lick, (Ind.) and both those shows were really good. The attendance was good, and early returns on sales were good, too. We also were at Tampa last week, and we had great attendance and a lot of positive things going on with consumers at that show. So, when you tie everything together, it seems like we should have a better year than we did last year.”
Monte Bates, Parts Manager for Best RV Center in Turlock, Calif., had only just arrived at the show when he spoke with RVBusiness.
“We just got here maybe an hour ago, but so far so good,” Bates said. “I’m here for some weight distributions and then some NTP in-house brands like Arcon, Husky – things like that. We don’t do a lot of ordering here, no, because we can order things when we need them throughout the year. But we do want to take a look around, too, just to see what’s out there.”
Bob Brammer, president of Stromberg-Carlson, said the Expo had a “positive vibe.”
“I think consumer sentiment is on the rise, dealers are seeing more traffic on their lots, and you can just tell that everybody’s excited to start 2025 with fresh start,” he told RVBusiness, later adding that the positive vibe has led to an increase in business for his company. “We are seeing an uptick – and for different reasons. We have certain people trying to buy ahead, maybe get ahead of tariffs. That always helps. It might be tempered in a few more months from now, but the other nice thing about that, and it happens, sometimes you go in with a conservative forecast and then things are going better than you think, right? So, it just pulls that business in a lot quicker.”
“I’m really hoping that President Trump will do something about De Minimis,” he added, “which would bring a lot more business back into dealerships and traditional RV suppliers who import, let us play a fair game, and not just have a 35% disadvantage.”
“What I like about NTP’s Expo is you get everything, right? We got people from all over the U.S. and we got Canadians. And, again, I just feel a positive vibe. NTP Stag does a great job. It’s first class, the facility’s first class, speakers are great, and you can just tell everybody feels appreciated – and we appreciate them being here and taking time away from their homes and families to come out and see what’s new and share their vibe with what’s going on.”
Rich Elliott, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Progress Manufacturing, said the Expo was “great.”
“The traffic’s been good. The dealers are very optimistic,” he said. “I think for a long time we all wanted something to be better, but it wasn’t getting much better. So, the hope has kind of turned into more true optimism now. I think everybody’s really excited about 2025 and we’re expecting some good things.”
He added that, specifically for his company, the highlight is this “price revolution” that they’ve implemented for 2025 in which they’ve dropped price on both Equal-i-zer and E2 weight-distribution hitches.
“A lot of people are asking us how we’re doing that. We didn’t change anything. It’s the same hitch everybody’s used to and that they’ve loved for years and years, but we’ve lowered the price as we’ve gotten through inventory,” Elliott explained. “And with being part of the Dexter organization, we’ve really improved our processes and we’re really excited about passing that on. The dealers need that margin right now in the marketplace that we’re in. So, the lower price is one thing that we’re doing. We’re also including hitch balls. They’re now installed in the Equal-i-zer. E2 will be kind of a rolling change in 2025, but people will see that start to happen here shortly.”
Brent Clark, president of Big Hoss LLC, an independent manufacturer’s rep company, was staffing the Fogatti booth – his other clients include Xponent solar awnings and Renogy power systems – and, after having spent most of his career on the OE side of the industry, said this was his first time at the NTP-Stag Expo.
“For me, it’s no different than working with OEMs. It’s absolutely still all about relationships,” he said. “And these people are a great source of information. They give you detailed feedback about a specific product and how it works or doesn’t work, and the pain points that they see every day. So, you can take that and your OEM experience and put it together and explain, ‘Well, this is why that’s doing this or that.’
“So, the Expo been a great experience for me,” Clark continued. “Obviously, the dealers appreciate the NTP-Stag organization and what they provide – both their products and their services. Plus, I learned a lot about NTP’s e-commerce business.”
Josh Palmateer of Baydo’s RV sales in Chehalis, Wash., said the Expo was a great show overall and he especially appreciated the “great educational opportunities and good deals.”
“I’ve been doing this for a little while, so there’s nothing that super stands out,” he said of the supplier-led educational sessions, “but I did like the InteractRV seminar. That was pretty good. The WFCO one was pretty decent, too. Those are the only ones that really pop out in my head anyways.”
As far as taking care of business at the show, Palmateer said he’s doing some bulk ordering as well as smaller batches as well.
“It’s a little bit of both. We do stock up here on enough weight distribution hitches, sewer hoses, toilets, vent covers and stuff like that at the beginning of the year,” he said. As far as anything new that caught his attention, he singled out the lithium batteries from Epoch. “Yeah, their lithium batteries are pretty competitive as far as price point goes, so you get a lot of battery for it.”
John Primm, Director of Distribution for Dometic, and Sara Dover, Dometic’s Brand Manager for RV, also had positive feedback on the Expo.
“This being the final show of the season, the turnout is great. Dealers are very optimistic about the season that’s coming up, so we’re really excited. Traffic has been good,” Primm said. “We have the ability to show them all of our Dometic products. We have the new CFX5 here. We have the new Fresh Jet here and merchandising materials and everything, so it’s been very exciting so far.”
Primm noted that dealers aren’t placing large orders at the show like they have in the past, but that’s because they know they can get most anything they need with a day or two nowadays from distributors like NTP-Stag.
“I mean, the industry has changed so much. Dealers are very excited about what they’re seeing here, but they also know that they could count on distributors to get the product the next day,” he explained. ‘So, in their minds they’re like, ‘I get three deliveries a week so I can get a customer in one day, figure out what I need, and then the product comes in the next day.’
“That’s just the way the market’s gone, right?” he continued. “So, that’s not a reflection on any of the brands, it’s just dealers being more efficient with their inventory, and taking advantage of the distributors quick deliveries.”
For her part, Dover noted the Expo – and other shows – offered everyone a chance to become reacquainted with each other, too.
“I think that’s one thing that I really saw last night and today through the show,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for our team members to interact, network, talk business, and obviously catch up with the dealers that are here. I think from the branding side of it, I’m always concerned about what we’re talking about, how we’re representing, but I’ve seen so many people walk up and just say, ‘Oh, I got to connect with so-and-so.’ That connection is priceless.
“The other thing, too, that I’ve seen that is great for the signs for the year is Tampa was an excellent show,” she added. “Consumers were out and buying, they were spending more than they did last year, and hopefully numbers will reflect that. They were excited about new things, they were excited about engaging with Dometic and our products, so I feel that 2025 is going to be really great.”
