The following was reported in The Elkhart Truth.
RV companies and suppliers came from all across the country this week to showcase products and connect with industry leaders at the Northern Indiana Event Center.
The RV Supplier Showcase was taking place inside the RV/MH Hall of Fame through Thursday. The event took place at the same time as the RV Dealer Open House and the THOR Dealer Open House.
There were 141 companies that participated in this year’s supplier showcase, said Ryan Szklarek, executive vice president of the RV/ MH Heritage Foundation and show director.
About half of the companies are from around North America and many other companies are local, since Elkhart County is the RV capital of the world, he said. There were also companies from Asia, Germany and the Netherlands.
“I think the suppliers are a very creative bunch,” Szklarek said. “And so, they’ve gotten into applications, one after another, and now they’re really into a lot of different niches, I would say. The market with the way things are going with the manufacturers, it’s a time where RV usage is not just for luxury camping anymore. Now it’s a means to an end if you want to tailgate at a sporting event or a concert. You want to get off the grid and be alone in the wilderness, and so for the suppliers, they need to produce products that allow those different ways of using an RV to make sense.”
Szklarek said the supplier show is an opportunity for quality conversations on the executive level.
This year’s supplier show is the sixth annual show, Szklarek said. The first year the supplier show took place, organizers did not realize how high the demand was, he said.
“It was in our smaller room,” Szklarek said. “It was 18,000 square feet. We were able to fit about 96 booths in there. Not 96 companies, 96 booths, a lot of them will take multiple spaces. We ended up having a wait list that was almost as long as it was actually exhibiting.”
As the event grew and became a staple in the RV industry, the demand became higher, Szklarek said. Once the 36,000 square foot convention hall was built at the Northern Indiana Event Center, the supplier show could host more RV companies and suppliers, he said.
Szklarek acknowledged the current struggles in the RV industry, but he said it was expected. For the suppliers, it is a great opportunity because it is their chance to talk to companies while manufacturing slows, he said.
“It’s not really any secret that during the COVID period, the demand for buying RVs was absolutely through the roof,” Szklarek said. “And so manufacturers were producing as many units as they possibly could. And so then, of course, there’s going to be a drop off after that, and we’re kind of experiencing that now, finally, where manufacturing is not happening at a rate with building RVs as what we’ve seen in past years. But every time there’s a dip, there’s also a mountain that’s coming behind it, and so it’s just a little bit of an intermittent period for the RV industry.”
Some suppliers have been coming to the show for years, while for other suppliers, it was their first time at the show. At the same time as the supplier show, the RV Dealer Open House was taking place at the RV Hall of Fame. One of the newcomers to the RV Dealer Open House was ADDAX Outdoors.
“We’ve been around about four years,” said Brian Rea, chief product officer for ADDAX Outdoors. “We originally took this to SEMA, the car show down in Vegas, and Jim Morrison, the CEO of Jeep at the time, saw these, and he’s like, ‘Man, these are awesome. We want it on every Jeep dealership lot.’ And they ended up taking this down to Moab and took it on a trail called Hell’s Revenge.”
According to its website, ADDAX Outdoors is trailer manufacturer, which has partnerships with companies such as Jeep. More information about ADDAX Outdoors can be found at addaxoutdoors.com, or on Instagram.
ADDAX Outdoors is based near Salt Lake City, Utah, Rea said. The RV Dealer Open House was the first time ADDAX Outdoors had been to a show in Indiana, he said.
“It’s been awesome,” Rea said. “We’ve been able to sign up a handful of dealers here and sell a bunch of trailers, so it’s been a good show for us.”
More information about RV Hall of Fame, or details for next year’s shows can be found at www. thervmhhalloffame.org.
Read the full article in The Elkhart Truth here. Please note there is a paywall.
