Troubled Affinity Group

[Rick Long]

The troubled Affinity Group, owner of the Good Sam Club, Trailer Life and Motorhome Magazines, has put its 72,649-square-foot office complex in Southern California up for sale for $9.7 million, Ventura's Pacific Coast Business Times reports.

[scenic route]

I knew the costs of all that 'junk' mail would eventually cause 'em some problems. Bob

[Alan_Hepburn]

It may not be the end of the world for them - often it's a simple business decision. The company I worked for had a large building that they built - several years ago they determined that it would save them a ton of money to sell the building, and then lease it back. That way they save property tax bills, among other things.

[justimagination]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scenic route I knew the costs of all that 'junk' mail would eventually cause 'em some problems. Bob

...........Thanks Bob, I could have not said it any better. I was a longtime member until I found out you could sign up @ several camping locations for only $12.00 yearly. I questioned it with home office @ renewal time, and I believe it was like $29.00 then, and was told in a pleasant way that was promotional offers only good for "NEW MEMBERS". That was enough for me as I also told them all the junk mail reduction could save enough to pass the savings on to the members, Oh well, so be it. JMHO.
David G.

[Wayne MD]

It could also be a downsizing in business and getting rid of inventory. Next will be increases in your yearly subscription rates? Never trust a business deal in secret..Hope someone has the real story here.

[wa8yxm]

You left out RV.NET which they also sponsor/own.

This might actually be a good thing for some of us.. Affinity group owns many campgrounds and thus is a member of the Campground Owner's Assn's in many states.

The COA argues before legislature that we should ONLY park (even if just overnight) in a licensed campground.. This is the outfit that has gotten many Wall-mart's and Flying-J's and such posted "NO OVERNIGHT RV's"

[wnytaxman]

It doesn't surprise me that they would be in trouble. When they bought out the old Meyers RV in Upstate NY they bit off a big chunk in a declining market. Their Hamburg store made it through a couple of years before they closed it. They've since reopened but with no service and strictly sales. The rumor was that the Hamburg store had a $400,000 a month overhead. You've got to move a ton of rigs to cover that nut!

[Santara]

They also own camping world, whic i was in the other day in st augstine , 1 person on floor& also check out, had hell of time getting help & ck stock at other store, had a parts guy which had no idea what the store was far

[Ken Roberts]

Sometimes a bad economy is a blessing in disguise. If you run a tight, top notch ship in good times you have a heads up in bad times. I would not consider Affinity to be a "tight ship" and certainly not top notch. An awful lot of their "growth" in recent years has been via acquisition, and not all of the acquisitions were good moves; i.e. many of their RV dealerships were already weak dealers when Affinity bought them out. In some instances they have whipsawed their vendors relative to pricing, etc. In other instances they have bought out very strong competitors and then buried them at sea; i.e. Camper's Choice had a great mail order operation that used to raise havoc with Affinity's Camping World; solution buy 'em out and CW now owns a majority of the RV accessory and supply mail order busines in the country.

Other than the loss of jobs, I would not see that the demise of Affinity would be any major loss to we RVers, the general public or the economy as a whole. Remember you reap what you sow, screw vendors and suppliers be ready to be screwed yourself. Give poor service at either CW or one of their RV dealerships be ready to see a decline in repeat business. Like I said other than the loss of jobs i for one will not lose a lot of sleep over Affinity's problems, Ken....

[bluepill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Roberts Camper's Choice had a great mail order operation that used to raise havoc with Affinity's Camping World; solution buy 'em out and CW now owns a majority of the RV accessory and supply mail order busines in the country.

I love it that WalMart kicks their butt on Camco products as well as some others.

[Ray,IN]

Didn't Marcus Lemonus recently assume the CEO position of Affinity Group? He used to be the CEO of Freedom Roads RV sales group only.

[Mr_D]

We went to an FMCA rally a few weeks ago and booked space at the upcoming Samboree in Redmond OR.
The FMCA rally was about the same length and included some donuts and coffee (three mornings as I remember and two catered dinners.
The Samboree has no donuts and coffee nor dinners, but many more seminars.
The Samboree is over $100 more than the FMCA rally although part of that is going early and having to pay extra for it.
This will be our first (and maybe last) Samboree depending on how we feel about paying so much. We've also attended an FMCA rally at Redmond so we have a good idea of the layout and facilities to compare against.

[Mr_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluepill I love it that WalMart kicks their butt on Camco products as well as some others.

Unfortunately Wal*Mart doesn't have tire cover in the size we need so I may end up going there. That'll be the first time in about 5 years that I've been in one of their stores.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D Unfortunately Wal*Mart doesn't have tire cover in the size we need so I may end up going there. That'll be the first time in about 5 years that I've been in one of their stores.

Have you considered calling or visiting our first sponsor www.rvupgrades.com ?

They should have those tires covers that you are looking for.

RVUpgrades has provided major door prizes for every National Rally over the past 11 years. Thank you Bill Rowell, President of RVUPG & Founder of iRV2.com.

Bill is currently traveling with his family and JoeK's family in their RVs in our great west. He's been telling me that he has wanted to do this for the past several years and finally he took the time to go and do it! I hope the air is not too smoke filled where ever they are.