Camping World

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Camping World
Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Founded 1966
Founder David Garvin
Headquarters Bowling Green, Kentucky
Number of locations
 100+
Key people
 Marcus Lemonis, Chairman & CEO
Products RV Parts & Accessories, Camping & Outdoor Supplies
Revenue $1.48 billion
Number of employees
 2000+
Parent Good Sam Enterprises
Slogan We are the world's largest supplier of RV parts, Supplies and Accessories. We have RV Sales, RV Service, and RV Rentals at over 85 locations.
Website www.campingworld.com

Camping World is an American corporation specializing in selling parts and service for recreational vehicles and supplies for camping. The company is based in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and is privately held. Camping World has 100+ retail/service locations throughout the United 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.

History

Ford E-Series RV.

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.[1]

Operations

Under the Freedom Roads brand, the company sells RVs through a network of about three dozen independent dealers.[2] 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, and is the company's only owned-and-operated RV dealership.[3][4]

The company also operates RVs.com.

Auto racing

Camping World has been sponsoring NASCAR's Truck Series since 2009, including the race shown here at Rockingham Speedway.

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.[5]

See also

References

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External links

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