Tuesday, June 19, 2007
THIS MAY BE WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING IN THE RV INDUSTRY
RV Business
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
June Dunivan, a founder of Longview RV Center in Longview, Wash., is closing the business after 30 years of selling and servicing RVs, according to the Longview Daily News.
"It's just something you don’t think will happen," she said. "They’ve been 30 good years, tough years, but we’ve survived."
Dunivan built the company into a multimillion-dollar business with 19 employees by 1997, but now there is only a handful of RVs and four employees left. The business will close when the inventory is sold off.
Dunivan credits her customer-centered approach for keeping business steady throughout most of the years. "We’ve taken care of them and they come back," she said. "We treat them like family."
But the RV industry shifted gears during the past few years. Gas prices doubled in seven years, and the recent spike was the final straw, Dunivan said.
At Longview RV, sales dropped by about 50 percent in 2006 from 2005. "We used to sell 25 to 30 units a month during the summer time," she said. Last August, Dunivan cut the sales part of her business and focused on servicing existing RVs.
"We had been seeing a decline for the past three years as the gas prices went up," she said. "And it kept getting worse. Also, we weren’t seeing the Baby Boomers (buying RVs), which experts were calling for."
Longview is a city of 35,000 located on the Columbia River downriver from Portland, Ore.
Dunivan said she plans to lease her high-traffic location to one or more businesses, but "if the right offer comes along, I might think about selling."
"It’s been my baby from the beginning, it’s been fun," Dunivan said with tears in her eyes. "I guess it’s just time to call it quits and move on."
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
June Dunivan, a founder of Longview RV Center in Longview, Wash., is closing the business after 30 years of selling and servicing RVs, according to the Longview Daily News.
"It's just something you don’t think will happen," she said. "They’ve been 30 good years, tough years, but we’ve survived."
Dunivan built the company into a multimillion-dollar business with 19 employees by 1997, but now there is only a handful of RVs and four employees left. The business will close when the inventory is sold off.
Dunivan credits her customer-centered approach for keeping business steady throughout most of the years. "We’ve taken care of them and they come back," she said. "We treat them like family."
But the RV industry shifted gears during the past few years. Gas prices doubled in seven years, and the recent spike was the final straw, Dunivan said.
At Longview RV, sales dropped by about 50 percent in 2006 from 2005. "We used to sell 25 to 30 units a month during the summer time," she said. Last August, Dunivan cut the sales part of her business and focused on servicing existing RVs.
"We had been seeing a decline for the past three years as the gas prices went up," she said. "And it kept getting worse. Also, we weren’t seeing the Baby Boomers (buying RVs), which experts were calling for."
Longview is a city of 35,000 located on the Columbia River downriver from Portland, Ore.
Dunivan said she plans to lease her high-traffic location to one or more businesses, but "if the right offer comes along, I might think about selling."
"It’s been my baby from the beginning, it’s been fun," Dunivan said with tears in her eyes. "I guess it’s just time to call it quits and move on."
