RVB Top 50 Dealers Bring Out Tender Spot at Heart of Industry – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – RVBusiness presented the 13th edition of its Top 50 Dealers Awards on Wednesday night at the RV Dealers Convention/Expo at Paris Las Vegas.
But as usual, it was the final special honors of the night that showed what the RV industry is all about. Those awards brought out the care for their communities that the dealers have at heart as well as the respect and honor dealers hold for those who have paved the way in leadership roles before them.
As Curtis Trailers received the Arthur Decio Humanitarian Award for its work with Make A Wish, COO Kory Goetz detailed his company’s work to provide custom-made trailers for kids so they can make special trips. Since 2018, Curtis Trailers has partnered in 18 trailer wishes for critically ill children.
“A trailer gives kids like (wish-maker) Zoey a chance to get away from her routine,” Goetz said. “You can’t imagine the impact these wishes have on our team. Meeting these kids and seeing the tremendous challenges they face keeps life’s priorities in focus. This gift is the epitome of what our industry was founded on.”
In similar fashion, when receiving the first Sherman Goldenberg Digital Excellence Award, Nathan Hart of Walnut Ridge Family RV Sales was thankful for being recognized for digital innovations, but he also was quick to acknowledge the contributions of the award’s namesake to spreading the industry’s message over the years as publisher of RVBusiness magazine.
Walnut Ridge has been a groundbreaker in using AI technology for marketing, lead gathering and putting customers together with sales reps who can help them find the right RV for their needs.
“This award’s especially special to me and our team because it’s named after Sherman Goldenberg,” Hart said. “I got to know him pretty well in my time on the RVDA board, and he was at every event, every board meeting, every industry introduction of product – my respect for him only grew each time I spoke with him. His vision for our industry is really becoming realized in the way we’ve become more united.”
For the Gaylord Maxwell Innovation Award, Campers Inn RV was the winner, for changing its marketing efforts to create consistent advertising campaigns for all 36 of its locations.
“Part of Campers Inn’s vision statement is being an innovative leader and positive disruptor,” said Ben Hirsch, COO of Campers Inn. “This idea of hyper-targeted advertising and some of the other parts started from an advisory board. And it grew to how to we get in front of our customers to deliver that real-time content.”
Five Blue Ribbon Awards were presented to outstanding dealers, including:
- Princess Craft RV, Round Rock, Texas
- Moix RV Supercenter, Conway, Ark.
- Fraserway RV, Abbotsford, B.C.
- Bucars RV Centre, Balzac, Alb
- Beaver Coach Sales & Service, Bend, Ore.
Each year, RV manufacturers are invited to nominate their best RV-retailing dealer partners as Top 50 Honorees, and this year well over 200 such nominations were received.
Nominated retailers are then encouraged to complete application forms for review by an anonymous, independent panel of industry judges – 12 of whom stepped up after this past Labor Day weekend for a rather intense day-and-a-half session at Elkhart’s RV/MH Hall of Fame, where they reviewed the applicants’ submissions to determine the final list of Top 50 dealers and special award designees.
Top 50 dealer honorees are, in alphabetical order:
- Airstream Adventures, Portland, Ore.
- Alpin Haus RV, Amsterdam, N.Y.
- Bama RV, Dothan, Ala.
- Beaver Coach Sales & Service, Bend, Ore.
- Bent’s RV, Boutte, La.
- Bowling RV, Ottumwa, Iowa
- Bucars RV Centre, Balzac, Alberta
- Byerly RV Center, Eureka, Mo.
- Camperland of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Okla.
- Campers Inn RV, Jacksonville, Fla.
- Colonial Airstream & RV, Millstone Township, N.J.
- Crestview RV, Buda, Texas
- Curtis Trailers, Portland, Ore.
- Fraserway RV, Abbotsford, B.C.
- Fun Town RV, Fort Worth, Texas
- General RV, Wixom, Mich.
- Gib’s RV Superstore, Coos Bay, Ore.
- Great American RV SuperStores, Hammond, La.
- Greeneway RV Sales & Service, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.
- Hartville RV Center, Hartville, Ohio
- Hemlock Hill RV, Southington, Conn.
- Hilltop Camper & RV, Fridley, Minn.
- Leisure Time Sales, Quispamsis, New Brunswick
- Moix RV Supercenter, Conway, Ark.
- Mountaineer RV & Outdoor Center, Jane Lew, W.V.
- Owasco RV Centre, Bowmanville, Ontario
- Parkview RV Center, Smyrna, Del.
- PleasureLand RV Center, St. Cloud, Minn.
- Premier RV, Blue Grass, Iowa
- Primeaux RV Superstores, Carencro, La.
- Princess Craft RV, Round Rock, Texas
- Rangeland RV & Trailer Sales, Rocky View, Alberta
- RCD RV Supercenter, Pataskala, Ohio
- Rich & Sons RV Headquarters, Grand Island, Neb.
- Ron Hoover RV & Marine Centers, Rockport, Texas
- Sicard RV, Smithville, Ontario
- Skaggs Family RV, Elizabethtown, Ky.
- Southaven RV & Marine, Southaven, Miss.
- Southern RV, McDonough, Ga.
- Steinbring Motorcoach, Garfield, Minn.
- United RV Center, Fort Worth, Texas
- Unlimited RV, Independence, Mo.
- Veurink’s RV Center, Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Vogt RV World, Fort Worth, Texas
- Voyager RV Centre, Winfield, British Columbia
- Walnut Ridge Family RV Sales, New Castle, Ind.
- Wilkins RV, Bath, N.Y.
- Windish RV, Lakewood, Colo.
- Woodland Airstream, Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Woody’s RV World, Calgary, Alberta
