Florida RV SuperShow Opens with ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ Vibe – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
TAMPA, Fla. – Cautious optimism would be the best way to describe the mood so far at this year’s Florida RV SuperShow, sponsored by the Florida RV Trade Association.
As North America’s largest retail RV show, Tampa has long been understood to be a barometer for industry activity in the upcoming model year.
On Wednesday – the first day when consumers were welcomed – crowd sizes were not record-breaking, but Dave Kelly FRVTA executive director and show director, said “I was pretty happy with the crowd, actually, I mean the public parking lot was pretty full and we’re hearing people were happy with the first-day results. We’d like more, but it wasn’t a horrible day for dealers and we’re hearing they’re pretty happy with what they got, but it’s not like they’ve had in the past.”
Total attendance was just over 17,000, a slight 2% decline over; last year’s tally of 18,111.
He said overcast conditions sometimes affect attendance because as consumers wake and see clouds, they’re concerned about the potential for rain.
Another factor affecting opening-day attendance, he pointed out, was that for the second year, the senior citizen discount was extended to cover Wednesday through Friday. Previously, the discount was only offered on Wednesday.
This, he said, tends to spread out senior citizen visits over all three days.
But, “Overall, I think everybody was pretty happy with yesterday,” Kelly said.
Dealerships were engaging with consumers on opening day and deals were being written, and while it was a bit too early to draw any conclusions, John Ferrando, Blue Compass RV Founder, CEO and President exuded a sense of confidence in his company’s prospects.
“We’re excited,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s a great way to kick off the year. We brought the largest team we’ve ever had, and probably the best talent from across our store network.”
That network includes 107 stores in 33 states with more than 15,000 units in inventory.
“We got a great product lineup across the board,” Ferrando added. “Airstream, Jayco, Forest River, Alliance, ForeTravel, Thor, Geneva. It’s really a phenomenal lineup of great products, and we are well positioned for a record show.”
Casey Tubman, president of Newmar, the Nappanee-Ind.-based builder of luxury motorhomes, said he believes the current market is “on the verge of what’s going to be positive.”
He said many people in the in the industry feel the same and pointed to some signs to support that conclusion.
“October’s retails came back out, revised as positive. November was negative, but we believe the revised will come back slightly positive,” he said. “That’s kind of the start of momentum. This show will be the signal for the year that says, ‘How well are we going to do?’ Presidential election’s over, so that helps. Interest rates have been already impacted a couple times. That just gets people feeling better. Even if it’s not changing a ton in the bottom line, it gets them feeling better about buying. So, I think we feel pretty good about what’s coming.”
He noted that the high-end luxury segment is, “a little bit insulated, so we feel good.”
He also added that on the product side, Newmar was showing it’s all-new smaller Super C model, the Grand Star which debuted at the Elkhart Open House in September.
“We’re showing it to the public for the first time, but we showed it to the dealers back at open house, and we’ve had real positive reactions. Lots of orders came in for it. So we’re expecting those to do real well. People have talked to different folks, our sales team, myself and others, saying, ‘Oh, I’m coming to see the Grand Star.’ We sold a couple pieces already this morning, that (Grand Star) might’ve been one of them. So we’re starting out good.”
Tubman, who came to Newmar just as the COVID boom was winding down, noted that the average age of RVers since then has fallen from the 50s to the 30s.
“Now, that’s going to be more probably the entry-level product,” he explained. “But in general, we’re seeing our customer as well come down in age. So again, each generation’s going to be different, but what we know is the younger generation now is about the environment, sustainability, getting out into the outdoors. There’s study after study that says it’s better for your health. They’re all listening to that, right? That’s that generation. And we’re seeing that come into play in our business as well.”
Coley Brady, co-founder of Elkhart-Ind. towable manufacturer Alliance RV said his firm has adjusted to current market conditions and believes those adjustments will be borne out in the coming market year.
“The biggest thing is meeting the demand now, for what dealers and customers are going to want. And you’re seeing a shift, too, in the product,” he said. “There are some brands that are emerging, and I feel like we’re one of those emerging brands. And there are other companies that are emerging, too, but it feels pretty good right now, with where we’re at. I feel good. I mean, I think the RVIA projection is maybe a 10-ish percent increase overall as far as shipments go, and retail probably a similar number. And our goal and our plan is to do more than that and grow market share,” he said.
