Friday, July 30, 2010
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| 5/26/2008 9:34:00 PM |
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RV center keeps up with last year's sales
Business not related to gas prices, manager says
Sara Bailey
Putnam News Editor
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| Two of the RVs available at Burdette Camping Center. |
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WINFIELD - With skyrocketing gas prices, most people would presume that the camper and RV selling business would be suffering - but it's not. Well, at least at Burdette Camping Center, it's not.
"We have eight going out today," Stephanie Abbott, general manager, said the afternoon of Thursday, May 22.
She said that Burdette Camping Center sales don't "seem to be related to gas prices."
"People that camp are going to continue to camp," she said.
Abbott said that the numbers are staying the same from last year, and she even went on to say that there hasn't been much difference in the past few years, when gas prices have been continually breaking records. She said the center averages between five and six hundred camper/RV sales per year.
The busy season at Burdette Camping Center is usually the spring and summer months; however, RV and camping shows in January usually get people to start buying.
"It seems like the seasons get longer each year as far as people buying goes," Abbott said.
The center's employees seem to all agree on one thing - that people are still camping, but staying closer to home.
"People are choosing to stay in the area other than taking beach trips," Abbott said. "Our state is a camping friendly state, as far as our mountains and lakes go. I really think people will explore our state.
"I think the most important part of camping is that people are in charge. They're not at the mercy of someone else."
Burdette Camping Center offers different sizes and styles of campers and RVs. And she said that prices can be reasonable.
She said an RV can start at $100 a month, and pop-up campers start at a total price of $6,500.
Campers and RVs also appeal to all groups of people. Abbott said that there is a wide customer base at Burdette Camping Center but that most belong to two groups, either young couples with young children, who are just beginning to camp, or "snow birds," who are usually retired couples who live in their RVs during the winter down in the South.
Abbott is the daughter of Burdette Camping Center owner Scott Burdette. She remembers when her family moved here from Ohio back in the 1970s. Her grandfather had an RV business back in Ohio, and when Scott Burdette came here, he realized there was a need for an RV dealer in the area.
Burdette Camping Center has been in business in Winfield for 32 years, Abbott said. The center used to be located on the other side of the Rt. 34 and Rt. 35 intersection, but has been at its current location on Rt. 35 towards Fraziers Bottom since 1987.
Burdette Camping Center also sells propane and RV/camper accessories.
Abbott said that every Saturday during October, beginning at 10 a.m., the camping center offers sessions on proper RV maintenance and winterization.
"One thing we put a lot of weight on is proper maintenance," Abbott said.
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