Neha Patil (Editor)

Camping World

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Type
  
Subsidiary

Industry
  
Retail

Founder
  
David Garvin

Traded as
  
NYSE: CWH

Number of locations
  
120

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Key people
  
Marcus Lemonis, Chairman & CEO

Products
  
RV Parts & Accessories, Camping & Outdoor Supplies

CEO
  
Marcus Lemonis (13 Sep 2006–)

Headquarters
  
Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States

Founded
  
1966, Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States

Parent organizations
  
Good Sam Enterprises, Affinity Group Holding Inc

Subsidiaries
  
Camping World of Hanover

Profiles

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Camping World is an American corporation specializing in selling recreational vehicles, 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. Camping World operates 120 retail/service locations in 36 states, 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 also the title sponsor for the NASCAR Camping World East Series, NASCAR Camping World West Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Recently, it has become the title sponsor of the Camping World Stadium, home of the Orlando City soccer team.

Contents

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History

Camping World began in 1966 with a small store in Beech Bend Park, an amusement park outside of Bowling Green 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 a windfall 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.

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; a 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.

In early October 2016 Camping World raised $251 million in an initial public offering. The 11.4 million shares sold for $22 each. 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.

Operations

Under the Freedom Roads brand, the company sells RVs through a network of about three dozen independent dealers. 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. Since then, the chain of dealerships has expanded to more than 100 locations.

The company also operates RVs.com.

Auto racing

Camping World has major sponsorship involvement with NASCAR and the Indy Racing League, both for races and teams.

NASCAR Camping World Series

During the 2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, Grand National Division awards banquet, NASCAR introduced Camping World as the new title sponsor for the Grand National East and West Series, beginning in 2008. for the 2010 season it becomes the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Camping World was introduced as the new sponsor of the NASCAR Truck Series, replacing 13-year sponsor Craftsman. The sponsorship started in 2009, and will last until 2022.

References

Camping World Wikipedia