Meyer Mega Show Closes; Dealers Focused on Parts & Service

Closing out the show, Meyer drew names and awarded over $10,000 in prizes. The top winners were A1 Trailer Hitch, Campers Inn, Duke’s A&W, Rivertown RV, and Meyers RV Center. Flanking the winners are Meyer VP of Sales Cody Ziegler (far left) and Meyer RV Towing and Marine Category Sales Manager Ben Johnson (far right).

Dealers pause during the Meyer Distributing Mega Show to review their parts and accessories orders. (Photos by Jim Mac)

If you are looking for answers to the million-dollar question everyone in the RV industry is asking, don’t expect to find them at the Meyer Distributing Mega Show. No, we still don’t know what the new year will look like, nor do we have any idea when retail customers will start buying new RVs in droves again.

However, in talking to those dealers and vendors attending this French Lick, Ind., confab, we did hear that sales of aftermarket parts are strong, service departments are booked solid and, all things considered, this may very well be the bright spot in the RV spectrum. At least for the foreseeable future.

The Mega Show opened for sales at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, as dealers rode the escalator down to the 30,000-square-foot exhibit hall. Although the aisles weren’t should to shoulder, there was a steady stream of dealer personnel consulting with vendors and entering orders on the Meyer-supplied iPads.

The Fraserway RV team visiting the Meyer Show.

Sarah Habden, national parts and procurement manager for Fraserway RV, was representative of the several dealers RVBusiness visited with at the show. Fraserway, with 14 locations across Canada, is a major player up north.

“Over the past two years, a lot of people found camping and RVs as a pastime,” Habden said. “I don’t think they are going to go back. And this new camper age group is especially looking for cool things. They want Bluetooth in this, other add-ons; they are the demographic that is there to spend money.”

Habden added with a smile, “For many of our customers, they were so new that they didn’t know what to do, so they broke a lot of stuff.”

Jason Brown, owner of Motor Sportsland, SLC, Utah.

Another dealer anticipating a substantial parts and service business this year is Jason Brown, owner of Motor Sportsland, Salt Lake City, Utah.

“It’s winter for us in Salt Lake, so there isn’t much happening at the dealership as far as new sales. However, we have an RV show coming up in February that will tell us what the year will bring. Our service departments are definitely busy. We’ve been booked out solid without any lull or downtime. Aftermarket parts haven’t taken off yet, but, as I said, it is still winter,” Brown said.

While most vendors were steadily busy, one exhibitor drawing a crowd as we walked by was Lightspeed, the dealer management system that supports sales, service, parts and rentals.

Rob Grant, Lightspeed Director of OEM Solutions

“Right now, parts and service area has been a key conversation we’ve had with dealers,” noted Rob Grant, director of OEM Solutions. “Working with the Meyer team, we recently released a warehouse availability feature. This means that with Lightspeed, dealers can see the parts they don’t have in stock in their dealership and what parts are in the Meyer warehouse. Because they can see what is in the  warehouse, the dealer can provide the customer with an accurate estimate of when the part will arrive and set realistic expectations.”

Grant added that this new feature will save dealers time, reduce errors, and make for a more satisfied retail customer, something which he feels is a major focus of all RV industry parties.

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/meyer-mega-show-closes-dealers-focused-on-parts-service/