The second day of Open House 2026 in Elkhart, Indiana, started early for a group of over 150 who gathered at Lippert headquarters for the fifth annual RV Women’s Alliance breakfast.
Prompting the group of women and men to discuss what they spend effort doing and pivoting to think if nothing stood in the way, what they would want to spend effort on, speakers Dr. Rachel Lindvall and Bill Coughlin encouraged attendees to learn from each other.
“We’re never at a place in our life where we can’t take on new adventures or do new things,” Lindvall reminded the crowd.
Following the early-morning breakfast, attendees scattered to the different OEM displays across Elkhart and nearby towns. Some manufacturers opted to hold Open House events at their own locations this year, rather than displaying at the centralized grounds close to the RV/MH Hall of Fame. Traveling to these off-site locations such as Alliance, Encore, Ember, Newmar, Terex and more, dealers took advantage of another day of sunny weather.
The big two — THOR and Forest River — displayed their model year 2027 offerings at their usual locations, welcoming in visitors with food trucks, lunch buffets and plenty of new features to investigate.
At Forest River, a hippie-70s-psychedelic theme welcomed guests, with mushrooms, disco balls and tie-dye decor stetting a chill vibe for the display. Employees were enthusiastic to show off two new park models — the Quailridge and the America’s Park Cabin — and innovative new floorplans at Impression, including a dual suite model and a mid-bunk design.
The excitement was palpable at Alliance this morning during a “state of the union” address by the Brady brothers, Coley and Ryan, who spoke about the positive retail performance their company has seen this year. They shared that Alliance is up 5.7% this year in travel trailers and fifth wheels.
The address ended with an exciting new unveiling; more details will be released by the company soon.
At Lance Camper Manufacturing Corp., company representatives reported an increase in traffic this year, including a lot of new dealers. Lance Camper also said it had a really good showing at the Hershey show.
Comments from companies with booths at the RV/MH Supplier Show had mixed feedback regarding this year’s foot traffic — some chalked it up to people being eager to enjoy the the gorgeous weather outside.
