LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Camping World Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CWH) (the “Company”), operates the nation’s largest network of recreational vehicle (“RVs”) sales, RV service, RV parts and accessories and outdoor products. Today, the Company announced that management and its board of directors approved a plan to strategically shift away from locations where the Company does not have the ability or where it is not feasible to sell and/or service RVs (the “Plan”).
Currently, the Company operates 165 locations that sell and/or service RVs, with over 30 RV dealership locations opened or acquired since January 1, 2018. In addition, the Company operates 37 locations which do not sell and/or service RV’s but sell its assortment of outdoor lifestyle products. At certain locations that do not sell and/or service RVs, the Company is in the process of attempting to acquire and/or obtain the developmental consents, approvals and permits necessary for the sale and/or service of RV’s. The Company also operates TheHouse.com, primarily an ecommerce business, with five current specialty retail locations, and recently sold thirteen Uncle Dans and Rock Creek specialty retail locations.
The Company is in the early stages of evaluating the impact of the Plan and has had preliminary discussions regarding the sale, repurposing, relocating or closing of certain locations, with the current expectation of either selling, repurposing, relocating or closing approximately 27 to 37 locations. The actual number of stores the Company sells, repurposes, relocates, or closes may change. As part of the Plan, the Company is also evaluating the impact on the Company’s supporting infrastructure and operations and expects the majority of the activities contemplated under the Plan to be completed by year-end.
Marcus A. Lemonis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We believe the sale and/or servicing of recreational vehicles is our core and most important offering and, with the RV and outdoor consumer crossover, we believe there is an opportunity to continue growing our market share and improve our financial performance through the operation of locations with RV sales and/or service and, when feasible, our hunting, fishing and camping products. We will continue to operate our RV sales and/or service locations under three banners, Camping World, Gander RV and Outdoors and Gander RV.”
Mr. Lemonis added, “We will continue to open new RV dealerships and opportunistically make RV dealer acquisitions. To that end, we recently opened, or plan to open, new RV dealerships under the Camping World, Gander RV and Outdoors, Gander RV and Airstream banners in Coldwater, MI; Springfield, IL; Breaux Bridge, LA; Wichita, KS; Greenville, NC; Cicero, NY; Marion, IL; Denton, TX; Ashland, VA; Ft. Pierce, FL, Belleville, MI, Henderson, NV, Lakeville, MN, Hermantown, MN, Forest Lake, MN and Oklahoma City, OK. We are also very pleased to announce the acquisition of two new RV dealerships, Richards RV Center located in Quincy, MI and Diamond RV Center located in West Hatfield, MA.”
About Camping World Holdings, Inc.
Camping World Holdings, headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, is the leading outdoor and camping retailer, offering an extensive assortment of recreational vehicles for sale, RV and camping gear, RV maintenance and repair, other outdoor and active sports products, and the industry’s broadest and deepest range of services, protection plans, products and resources. Since the Company's founding in 1966, Camping World has grown to become one of the most well-known destinations for everything RV, with locations in 36 states and a comprehensive e-commerce platform.
For more information, please visit www.CampingWorld.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements about our strategic shift, the financial impact and timing of implementation of this change in strategy, expected store closures and openings, business plans and goals, including the ability of our strategy shift to provide us with greater flexibility and to maximize stockholder value, and our beliefs regarding our competitive position. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations.
These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our ability to implement our strategic shift; any remediation of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; the availability of financing to us and our customers; fuel shortages, or high prices for fuel; the well-being, as well as the continued popularity and reputation for quality, of our manufacturers; general economic conditions in our markets and ongoing economic and financial uncertainties; our ability to attract and retain customers; competition in the market for services, protection plans, products and resources targeting the RV lifestyle or RV enthusiast; our expansion into new, unfamiliar markets, businesses, or product lines or categories, as well as delays in opening or acquiring new retail locations; unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with expansion through acquisitions; our failure to maintain the strength and value of our brands; our ability to successfully order and manage our inventory to reflect consumer demand in a volatile market and anticipate changing consumer preferences and buying trends; fluctuations in our same store sales and whether they will be a meaningful indicator of future performance; the cyclical and seasonal nature of our business; our ability to operate and expand our business and to respond to changing business and economic conditions, which depends on the availability of adequate capital; changes in consumer preferences; our reliance on eight fulfillment and distribution centers for our retail, e-commerce and catalog businesses; risks associated with selling goods manufactured abroad; our dependence on our relationships with third party providers of services, protection plans, products and resources and a disruption of these relationships or of these providers’ operations; whether third party lending institutions and insurance companies will continue to provide financing for RV purchases; our ability to retain senior executives and attract and retain other qualified employees; our ability to meet our labor needs; risks associated with leasing substantial amounts of space, including our inability to maintain the leases for our retail locations or locate alternative sites for our stores in our target markets and on terms that are acceptable to us; our dealerships’ susceptibility to termination, non-renewal or renegotiation of dealer agreements if state dealer laws are repealed or weakened; our failure to comply with certain environmental regulations; a failure in our e-commerce operations, security breaches and cybersecurity risks; our inability to enforce our intellectual property rights and accusations of our infringement on the intellectual property rights of third parties; disruptions to our information technology systems or breaches of our network security; realization of anticipated benefits and cost savings related to recent acquisitions; potential litigation relating to products we sell as a result of recent acquisitions, including firearms and ammunition; and whether we are able to realize any tax benefits that may arise from our organizational structure and any redemptions or exchanges of CWGS, LLC common units for cash or stock.
These and other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as updated by our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2019, and our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change, except as required under applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.