CWH Execs Lemonis, Wagner Lead Power Breakfast Speakers – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
ELKHART, Ind. – A record-breaking crowd of more than 1,350 people attended this morning’s 2024 RV Industry Power Breakfast – the 12th such event facilitated by RVBusiness and sponsored by Airxcel Inc., Cummins Inc., Dometic, Forest River Inc., KOA, RVIA, RVDA, Spartan RV Chassis, THOR Industries Inc., Wells Fargo CDF and Winnebago Industries Inc.
Emcee for the event, RVBusiness Publisher Rick Kessler, welcomed those in attendance and thanked the organizing committee and coordinator B.J. Thompson, and offered proper credit to the “sparkling new convention hall here at the Northern Indiana Event Center on the RVMH Hall of Fame campus. We have a record-breaking crowd and I think you all can agree this is pretty damn impressive,” Kessler said.
He expounded on the charitable nature of the RV industry, its level of community involvement and its “immeasurable generosity.
“Across North America, the greater RV family – including manufacturers, suppliers, dealerships, campgrounds – have fully embraced philanthropy as a pillar of their companies’ corporate social responsibility. Whether making a child’s wish come true, building a house for a homeless family, blowing up 150,000 balloons right here in this building or raising millions of dollars at an annual auction to help kids get a better start in life there are – quite literally – millions of people and communities who are better off because of our industry’s willingness to help others in need. And that, my friends, is worth celebrating,” he said.
After thanking sponsors, Kessler gave a brief overview of current challenging market conditions, while noting a bright spot of a 9.3% wholesale shipment increase in Q1.
“And the long-term health of the industry continues to be very positive,” he said.
He recognized with a moment of silence four industry leaders who passed away this past year – Dan Pearson, PleasureLand RV; Claire Skinner, Coachmen RV; Steve Adams, Camping World and Good Sam; and Steve Paul, Lippert.
Before welcoming Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson to the stage, Kessler reminded attendees that RVBusiness will soon be accepting nominations for its annual Top 50 Dealers award program.
Roberson expressed deep appreciation for Elkhart, where he was born and raised, and for the RV industry, which, he said, enjoy a “symbiotic” relationship.
“Elkhart is an innovative, entrepreneurial city with a wonderful business climate. We foster it and we look for ways to platform it on a regular basis,” he said.
“All of you in this room have made Elkhart a leader in so many different ways,” he said, adding “Elkhart plays a role in our national economic landscape like no other city our size. I couldn’t be more proud to wear the brand of Elkhart, Ind. We thank you for what you do. We not only realize we are the most resilient community. We are the type of community that anyone would want to become a part of.”
Camping World Executives
Following Roberson’s welcome, Camping World President and CEO Marcus Lemonis and Chief Operating Officer Matt Wagner took the stage, ostensibly to field questions from RVBusiness Senior Editor Sherman Goldenberg and VP of Global Accounts for Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance Bob Parish.
Fielding a question from Goldenberg regarding the current state of business at Camping World, Lemonis quipped, “Well, as you would expect Sherm, I’m not going to answer that question directly.”
“Why would you start now?” Goldenberg joked.
“Before we get started,” Lemonis said, “I had a couple of things I wanted to share.”
Noting that this was his 23rd year in the industry, describing it as an “unbelieveable experience. I spent half of my life … in what I consider to be the greatest and most underappreciated industry that exists in our economy.”
He has seen many businesses over the years and been involved in a lot of different projects, but “nothing will ever come close to what I’ve experienced here.”
He admonished those in attendance to remember that despite the ups and downs, “this industry is part of the fabric of the U.S. economy, but more importantly, it’s part of the fabric of the U.S. culture. And everybody in this room is contributing to a lifestyle that allows people to affordably – more affordably than any other industry that provides leisure – to enjoy this great country, to spend time with their families and to do the things that we all want more of in our own lives. Are we perfect? No. But we’re pretty damn f***ing good.”
Saying he is a huge advocate for the RV industry, he surmised that the boating industry and other forms of leisure have made it unaffordable for families to enjoy the outdoors.
He said Camping World keeps affordability at top of mind when approaching its business model and conceded that many of the pain points faced by consumers in the industry still exist – service, service wait times, storage and campsite availability.
“Those challenges still remain,” he said. “I think the one thing I would encourage our group – this large group – to think about differently, is ‘What are we going to do to finally make that move collectively to something bigger and brighter?’”
He said the industry was able to product over 600,000 units to satisfy the demand created during the COVID pandemic, but “How do we as an industry come together, without any ego, without any sort of land grab, to get to 750,000 units. Because in that moment when we get to 750,000 or a million, all of our lives change. We’re able to employ more people. We’re able to contribute to the community … but more importantly, we’re able to grab market share from other industries that think they’re as good as we are, but they’re not.”
He described Camping World as a “small participant in the overall ecosystem. We stand here today and really ask, respectfully, for us to put those other things away about our position and our brand and our market share and all these other things that are important and really focus on how do we collectively create a better industry for the next generation of leaders.”
He asked, “How do we attract new talent and new innovation and new ideas and make it sexy enough? Not just by flashing big dollars in front of them, but by flashing an opportunity to have a career like I’ve had. There are very few places in the world where you can park yourself for multiple decades and have success.”
Regarding a question about a stated goal to achieve a store count of 320 by 2028, Lemonis said it hinges on a supposition that the company grows proportionally to meet demand.
“If we get to 320 stores and we have not solved as a group how to collectively fill that bucket, we’re all just effectively adding fixed costs to the same fact set of revenue,” he said.
Noting that the industry is facing rising costs in all facets of production, he worries that “we’re not doing the things collectively to grow revenue at a rate that outpaces the cost of doing business.”
The cost and quality of the finished good, he said, will ultimately determine the trajectory of the entire industry, “whether you sell a grab handle, the frame or the final RV. Our aspiration to grow our business is largely predicated on the health of everybody in this room.”
Fielding a question about the launch of brand-exclusive dealerships, Wagner said the move was driven by the consumer.
“The impetus behind the exclusive store concept was largely a byproduct of us acknowledging that there is a certain subset of customers that expects to be met by that high with that high-experience, high-touch ‘yes’ experience,” he said. “We know, for example, with some of the higher-end products, those customers expect us to be specialists.”
To that end, special training is employed to create highly specialized service and sales staffs at the brand-exclusive stores.
Lemonis discussed Camping World’s approach to new and used sales and how it affects the company’s profitability, explaining that when thinking of sales, he doesn’t consider price as much as monthly payments.
“There’s nothing that we’re doing differently in terms of we’re not better marketers. Our sales process isn’t better. In some cases it’s worse. But we really understand where that consumer sensitivity is,” he said.
Sharing that 50% of Camping Worlds inventory was priced under $30,000, he said, “controlling the price pendulum that ultimately correlates to payment.”
As interest rates come down, this gives the industry more breathing room regarding price and margins.
Consumers won’t stop recreating, he said, they will make a choice between the RV industry and something else.
“And you just have to win the buy box,” he said.
Gwynn Sullivan, executive director of the Care Camps Foundation took the state next, offering a brief overview of her organization, which provides free camping trips to childhood cancer patients.
She showed a moving video of two parents whose child has taken advantage of the program and what it has meant to their family.
Pete McCown, president, Community Foundation of Elkhart County, told the group how humbled he has been by the generosity of the RV industry.
Specifically, he mentioned the $70 million Elkhart Health and Aquatic Center and the surrounding River District development and he thanked Forest River founder and CEO Pete Liegl and his wife Sharon for their support along with THOR, Patrick Industries, Lippert and Dometic.
“We raised $30 million, in addition to the $10 million and the $15 million and the $5 million that Elkhart Community Schools and the Community Foundation and Beacon Health Systems contributed,” he said, noting that the center hosts 600,000 people a year and attracts Olympic level swimmers from across the nation.
After sharing a long list of projects, McCown said, “Due to your generosity, the Elkhart Community Foundation has become one of the largest and fasted growing community foundations in the world.”
He also noted the “hundreds of thousands of hours that the Lippert team contributed as volunteers in this community.”
In a brief video appearance, U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, thanked the group for “all the incredible work you’re doing for this great industry.”
He said he would continue the work of his predecessor, Jackie Walorski, who was a fierce advocate for the RV industry.
He specifically mentioned the Travel Trailer and Camper Tax Parity Act, which levels the inventory tax playing field between travel trailers and motorhomes. Passage would save RV dealers millions of dollars in tax payments.
“Keep up all your dedicated hard work,” he said. “I hope you have a great breakfast and I look forward to visiting with so many of you soon,” he concluded.
Toward the end of the breakfast, Darryl Searer, the president of the RV/MH Hall of Fame, announced the launch of a new $2 million fundraising campaign during his speech to complete the second phase of the convention hall.
He noted that phase one of the project was completed in 2023, with an additional 36,000 square feet of space added. The goal is to turn the facility into a turnkey operation, Searer said.
“The new expansion will provide state-of-the-art audio/video and event resources, and an added convenience and lower costs for customers,” he explained. “At this point we will be fully equipped to serve a regional audience. A study done by Johnson Consulting Group out of Chicago estimated that upon completion of phase two, over $30 million per year will be brought into the Elkhart economy from outside sources.”
