October 7, 2018
We recently had the opportunity to attend the RV Dealer Show in Elkhart, Indiana from September 24th to 27th. It is the largest show of its kind in the world, where manufacturers such as Forest River and Thor showcase their RV Models and dealers purchase inventory. Also, it is a time for RV Dealers, Manufacturers, Suppliers, and Vendors to socialize with others in the RV Industry. The show took place at the RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum. The museum displays models of RVs from the 1920’s until present, and provides background on the development of the RV Industry. If you are traveling through the area, it would be a great side trip!
The RV Manufactures offered a great week of entertainment and hospitality with concerts and top notch meals by professional chefs. Concerts included Loverboy, Eddie Money, The Swan Brothers, Kid Rock, and Trace Atkins. Evening meals were steak, lobster, king crab, shrimp, scallops, all the sides, and a variety of delicious gourmet desserts! In addition, Thor offered the top prize of winning 1 of 3 new Automobiles. The best part for me was getting to talk and share a meal with people in the industry, who came from all over the US and Canada.
The RV Manufactures offered a great week of
entertainment and hospitality with concerts and
top notch meals by professional chefs.
Our activities for the week were varied. First, were trainings at Lippert, LCI, where they had sessions on their new products including awnings, slides, and on-board computer systems. We were especially impressed with the new cordless awnings! Second, we attended the Dometic sponsored breakfast, by celebrity chef Kevin Roberts, followed up by a tour of the Dometic RV Refrigerator Factory. That is a large operation making over 300,000 units per year! It was amazing to see all that goes into a refrigerator being made! We also met the really nice office staff of Grand Design, a custom RV Manufacturer, and were given a personal factory tour. Finally, we met with several different vendors and all of them were really nice guys and great to talk to. Some of the vendors included Icon molded products such as customized fender skirts, Flair-it fittings for water lines, and the nice guys at Parallax Power Supplies who make premium power components. The Parallax owner just also happened to be a Sprint Car Racing owner too, so that was a bonus surprise with our son having raced Sprint Cars!
The show provided several benefits for Mobile Repair Specialists RV Repair with new products to tell our customers about and trainings. All in all, it was a fantastic week in Elkhart! We met a lot of great people in the RV Industry and we plan to take all of our employees next year.