Temperatures outside the Treasure Island Resort & Casino – host to Northern Wholesale Supply’s 35th annual RV Supershow in Welch, Minn. – were brisk on Thursday.
Meanwhile, dealer foot traffic was relaxed but brisk at the distributor show.
John Hawkins, aftermarket sales manager with BAL, said Northern Wholesale has long been a good show for his company based upon the number of orders dealers place, and he said he expects the same to hold true at this year’s show.
Jordan Harvell, a representative for Torklift, said his company always does well at Northern Wholesale, because the company’s aftermarket products for truck campers are popular with the large number of dealers in Minnesota and the surrounding states who sell truck campers.
Meanwhile, Sam Schell, senior vice president of business development with Pace, said dealers seem very interested in the company’s new pay-as-you-go Wi-Fi product, the Travlfi Journey1.
For their part, Northern Wholesale show execs said Thursday that they were pleased with how the show was progressing. (The show began on Wednesday with several vendor-sponsored educational seminars and a two-hour after-dinner event where dealers could visit exhibitor booths.)
Dean Kruchten, Northern’s director of sales and marketing, said this year’s show attracted 44 new dealers and several new suppliers, which are two measures the distributor uses to gauge the success of its show.
“Dealers told us they were looking forward to the return of an in-person show,” Kruchten said, noting that in 2020, the distributor switched to a virtual format because of COVID-19. “Everyone seems very happy to be here.”
Chad Smith, the new CEO of Northern Wholesale, said he believes dealers came to the show ready to buy products and noted that the distributor has added warehouse space and stocked up on products to accommodate them.
The show will conclude tonight at 7 p.m. and will be immediately followed by a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament that is a mainstay of Northern Wholesale shows.
To see the best new product and runner-up from the show, ciick here.
