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Camping World

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Camping World Holdings
Company typePublic
NYSE: CWH (Class A)
Russell 2000 Component
IndustryRetail
Founded1966; 58 years ago (1966)
FounderDavid Garvin
Headquarters
Lincolnshire, Illinois
Number of locations
227 (Dec 2018)[1]
Key people
Marcus Lemonis, Chairman and CEO
ProductsRV Parts and Accessories, Camping and Outdoor Supplies
RevenueIncrease US$4.792 billion (2018)[1]
Decrease US$201.015 million (2018)[1]
Decrease US$65.581 million (2018)[1]
Total assetsIncrease US$2.806 billion (2018)[1]
Total equityDecrease US$32.917 million (2018)[1]
Number of employees
11,835[2] (2017)
SubsidiariesGander Outdoors
Websiterv.campingworld.com

Camping World Holdings, Inc. is an American corporation specializing in selling recreational vehicles (RVs), recreational vehicle parts, and recreational vehicle service. They also sell supplies for camping. The company has its headquarters in Lincolnshire, Illinois. In October 2016 it became a publicly traded company when it raised $251 million in an IPO.[3][4] Camping World operates over 180 retail/service locations in 46 states,[5] and also sells goods through mail order and online. It claims to be the world's largest supplier of RV parts and supplies.

The company is heavily involved in sponsorship of sports entities, such as serving as the title sponsor of Camping World Stadium and the Camping World Kickoff, which is played in the same stadium. It is currently the presenting sponsor of the National Hot Rod Association's Camping World Drag Racing Series and the Professional Bull Riders' Team Series. It was also the official presenting sponsor of Major League Baseball's League Championship Series and NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series.

History

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Ford E-Series RV.

Camping World began in 1966[6] with a small store in Beech Bend Park, an amusement park outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky, which billed its campground as the world's largest. Campers at the park were requesting a store where they could buy supplies, so David Garvin—son of the park's owner—took out a loan and opened the store. Garvin amassed a large customer list as the years went by, which proved to be sagacious later when he added a mail-order division to the company. That division thrived, fueling the company's growth for years to come.

In 1997, Garvin sold the company to the current owners, Good Sam Enterprises (formerly Affinity Group), of Ventura, California.[7]

In 2005, Garvin announced plans for a huge development near Franklin, Kentucky called "Garvin's". The development, described by Garvin as "a combination of Disney World, Camping World and Bass Pro Shops", will feature a large Camping World store with RV 250 service bays; a five-story, 650,000 square foot (60,000 m2) permanent RV trade show and exhibition area; a "free-range" campground with dry-camping sites; camping museum; and much more. Due to the recession, however, the venture never got off the ground and much of the land proposed for development was sold at auction in October 2011.[8]

In early October 2016 Camping World raised $251 million in an initial public offering. The 11.4 million shares sold for $22 each. Marcus Lemonis co-owns the company with private equity firm Crestview Partners and plans to retain "substantial control" through his ownership of ML Acquisition and ML R.V. Group.[3]

Operations

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Camping World in Belleville, Michigan

Under the Freedom Roads brand, the company sells RVs through a network of about three dozen independent dealers.[9] In 2007, the company opened the Camping World RV Sales dealership; formerly known as Stout's RV. It is located on Interstate 65 south of Indianapolis, Indiana.[10][11] Since then, the chain of dealerships has expanded to more than 100 locations.[12]

The company also operates RVs.com.

In 2017, the company expanded into hunting and fishing gear by acquisition of Gander Mountain, which includes the Gander Outdoors and Overton's brands.[13]

In December 2020, Lemonis announced a partnership with electric vehicle manufacturer Lordstown Motors. The deal stated that Camping World act as the service and maintenance provider for the Lordstown Endurance pickup truck, as well as potentially marketing and selling the truck at their Camping World centers. As of June 2021, the two companies announced the deal was off.[14]

Sports sponsorship

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Camping World has major sponsorship involvement in sports, particularly college football and auto racing. In a 2020 interview with Autoweek, Lemonis emphasized the importance of a "conversion rate of familiarity" for sports fans—particularly those from racing series—into potential Camping World customers.[15]

Since 2016, the company has held the naming rights to Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and also sponsors the stadium's Camping World Kickoff college football game.[16] The stadium's bowl game was known as the Camping World Bowl from 2017 to 2019.[17]

In 2017, the company became the inaugural title sponsor of Major League Baseball's League Championship Series.[18] This sponsorship lasted through 2022.

In 2023, the company became the inaugural title sponsor of the Professional Bull Riders' Team Series.[19]

Auto racing

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Main articles: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
The Camping World-sponsored NASCAR Truck of Ron Hornaday Jr.

Camping World's involvement in racing began in 2006 as a sponsor of NASCAR Busch Series driver John Andretti.[20] The following year, Andretti would also race with Camping World sponsorship in the NASCAR Cup Series and Indianapolis 500.[21] Other Camping World promotions during the 2007 season included sponsoring races like the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix at The Glen and forming partnerships with NASCAR team Kevin Harvick Incorporated.[22] Camping World would also sponsor various races and teams in both series over the years, such as Cup driver David Ragan and IndyCar's Scott Dixon in 2017.[23][24]

In 2008, Camping World assumed title sponsorship of the NASCAR Busch East Series and NASCAR Autozone West Series, dubbing them the Camping World Series East and West.[25] Both series names lasted until 2010 when K&N Engineering became the new sponsor.[26]

Camping World became the title sponsor of NASCAR's Truck Series in 2009, replacing 13-year sponsor Sears through its Craftsman brand (since sold to Stanley Black & Decker). The sponsorship started in 2009 and will last until 2022.[27]

On May 8, 2018, NASCAR announced an extension of Camping World Holdings' involvement in NASCAR, including a rebrand of the Truck Series to the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, a move made as Camping World's 2017 acquisition of the brand has allowed them to brand the series with an outdoors store.[28] After two years with Gander Outdoors branding (the second of which was as the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series), the series reverted to the Camping World Truck Series name in 2021.[29][30]

In October 2020, Camping World acquired the naming rights to the National Hot Rod Association's pro series, branding it the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.[31] The sponsorship had been spurred by a tweet from Lemonis in September expressing his interest in supporting the NHRA after it had lost its title sponsorship with Coca-Cola.[32]

In February 2021, in response to the previous season's Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed's truck running nearly unsponsored during the first two races of the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Lemonis made a "challenge" to all unsponsored teams for the 2021 Bucked Up 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His deal was to give teams $15,000 just to have the truck wrapped in Camping World colors and logos, $25,000 if the truck comes in the top 10, $35,000 for a top 5, and $50,000 if the truck wins. Numerous drivers and owners took Lemonis up on his offer, including Creed.[33] Lemonis' sponsorship campaign continued in later races, with his other companies like Good Sam also being involved, and included supporting NASCAR Xfinity Series teams.[34][35][36]

Ahead of its inaugural season in June 2021, Camping World became the title sponsor for the Superstar Racing Experience, naming it the Camping World SRX Series. The collaboration was led by Lemonis' donation to the Plating Change charity.[37]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Camping World Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K for 2018 Annual Report. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Report). Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. ^ "Camping World Holdings". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  3. ^ a b "Here's How Much Camping World Just Raised in Its IPO". Fortune. Reuters. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  4. ^ Yerak, Becky (7 October 2016). "Lemonis' Camping World raises $250 million in IPO". Chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  5. ^ Hirsch, Lauren (6 October 2016). "Camping World raises $251 million in IPO". Reuters. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Camping World founder dies in accident at his home". Nascar. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  7. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (1997-03-04). "Affinity to Buy Camping World, Ehlert". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  8. ^ Minor, Robyn L. (March 17, 2012). "Garvin land along I-65 auctioned". The Daily News. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  9. ^ "FreedomRoads business profile". Archived from the original on August 2, 2008. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  10. ^ ""Camping World announces grand opening of Indianapolis store at former Stout's location," May 16, 2007". Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  11. ^ "Camping World RV Sales, Indianapolis". Stoutsrv.com. 2013-06-25. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  12. ^ "RVs & Campers for Sale - Camping World". rv.campingworld.com.
  13. ^ Jenith, Aich (24 May 2017). "Camping world Branch Locator - Camping world Hours, Locations and details". www.hours.com. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  14. ^ O'Brien, Dan (2021-06-22). "Lordstown Motors 'Not Part' of Camping World's Electric Future". Business Journal Daily | The Youngstown Publishing Company. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  15. ^ Wade, Susan (November 24, 2020). "Why 'The Profit' and Camping World Boss Marcus Lemonis Sees NHRA as Sound Investment". Autoweek. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  16. ^ Murschel, Matt (April 26, 2016). "Camping World new title sponsor for Orlando Citrus Bowl". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  17. ^ Murschel, Matt (May 27, 2020). "Cheez-It Bowl: Orlando game gets new sponsor to replace Camping World". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  18. ^ Brown, Maury (September 18, 2017). "Camping World Becomes First-Ever Presenting Sponsor Of MLB League Championship Series". Forbes. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  19. ^ "Camping World becomes title sponsor of PBR Team Series". Professional Bull Riders. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  20. ^ Glaspie, Akeem (February 14, 2020). "Camping World shares powerful John Andretti tribute video during Truck Series race at Daytona". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  21. ^ "IRL: Panther Racing adds John Andretti for Indy 500". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. May 16, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  22. ^ "Camping World Named Title Sponsor of Watkins Glen International IndyCar Series Race Until 2010". Camping World (Press release). Business Wire. July 3, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  23. ^ McFadin, Daniel (February 18, 2017). "Front Row Motorsports adds Camping World, Jacob Companies on David Ragan's car". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  24. ^ Miller, Robin (May 19, 2017). "Camping World to back Dixon's Indy 500 entry". Racer. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  25. ^ NASCAR (December 18, 2007). "WS/ES: New title sponsor announced". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  26. ^ "K&N to sponsor developmental series". Phoenix International Raceway. January 21, 2010. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  27. ^ "NASCAR, CAMPING WORLD ANNOUNCE 7-YEAR EXTENSION". NASCAR. May 5, 2014. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  28. ^ Hembree, Mike (May 8, 2018). "NASCAR Truck Series to be renamed Gander Outdoors Truck Series in 2019". USA Today. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  29. ^ McFadin, Daniel (November 19, 2019). "Truck Series gets minor name change for 2020". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  30. ^ Andrejev, Alex (September 15, 2020). "NASCAR Truck Series will have a new (old) title sponsor next season". Miami Herald. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  31. ^ "Camping World enters multi-year deal as NHRA pro series sponsor". National Hot Rod Association. October 4, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  32. ^ "Tweet from Camping World owner set up the company as the NHRA's new title sponsor". NBC Sports. AP. October 8, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  33. ^ "Camping World to back Grant Enfinger, others in Truck Series Race at Las Vegas". Frontstretch. March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  34. ^ Srigley, Joseph (April 16, 2021). "Marcus Lemonis Backing Four NCWTS Teams at Richmond with Camping World and Good Sam". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  35. ^ Reimer, Alex (April 16, 2021). "This gay racing phenom needed money to keep driving, and his calls were answered". Outsports. SB Nation. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  36. ^ Sturniolo, Zach (April 12, 2021). "Josh Berry Earns Sponsorship Offer After Martinsville Win". Frontstretch. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  37. ^ Hopkins, Dalton (June 1, 2021). "SRX Adds Camping World As Title Sponsor". Frontstretch. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
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