More buying, less browsing at RV show

FORT WAYNE - Thousands of people headed to the Memorial Coliseum this weekend to daydream of camping and driving a new RV. But this year more people seemed ready to make the dream a reality.

Laura Kurtz is a salesperson for Sullivan RV in Decatur, Indiana . She said this year sales at the Annual Fort Wayne RV and Camping Show were better than they have been in a long time.

“They are definitely buying,” she said of the crowd on Sunday. “We sold several here at the show that started Thursday.”

Michael Richardson from Waterloo, Indiana, was just one of those people ready to upgrade his current pop-up camper. He said the prices we’re some of the best he’s ever seen.

“Last year or the year before we saw some of them (campers) up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and these are down below a hundred thousand,” he said.

Jason Leupp, from Archbold, Ohio, agreed with Richardson. He and his family were getting ready to replace their old camper, too.

“Prices are excellent,” he said. “I mean they're slashing $6,000 to $7,000 dollars off pretty quick. So it definitely gets you thinking.”

Kurtz said she had sold around 10 units in the four day period, which is better than sales last year. She said she’s glad people are taking advantage of the low prices.

Leupp said the camper would actually help his family save money and give them a chance to spend time together.

“We find with three kids this is a little cheaper than going to a hotel,” Leupp explained. “You get to spend sometime together and we like to go to the race track, so it's kind of nice.”

Kurtz said while the weekend snow storm stopped some browsers from coming out to the Coliseum, it made it easier for the serious buyers to get around and find what they wanted.