Roy Robinson RV earns award

MARYSVILLE — “While other businesses are letting employees go, we’re hiring more,” said Gary Morris, RV sales manager of the Roy Robinson RV Center in Marysville.

Roy Robinson has other good news for their dealership to report this season, including the fact that the dealer was named one of RV Business magazine’s top 50 dealers in North America for the second year in a row.

It was the second year for the program and the first year that Canadian dealers were included in 2009, resulting in a 40 percent increase in applicants from 2008, according to RV Business Publisher Sherman Goldenberg. Roy Robinson was nonetheless one of only two RV dealerships in the state of Washington to make it into the top 50.

Morris attributes Roy Robinson’s success to a number of factors, including its financial liquidity and its brisk turnover of stock, to the point that almost all of its 2009 inventory was sold before the year had ended. He also credited the Monaco trailer line with attracting a wide range of buyers, since the Monaco line includes both higher-end and entry-level trailers, the latter tailored toward budget-minded buyers.

“The value of the American dollar has brought in a lot more Canadian buyers as well,” Morris said.

Although large RV dealers such as Fleetwood have declared bankruptcy, Morris noted that Winnebago has rehired 300 employees for its plant, which he sees as a positive sign for the dealers that have survived.

“We probably lost about 25 percent of our former buyers due to the economy, but the age demographic of RV buyers is growing at such an accelerated rate that it offset our losses, so our number of customers didn’t really shrink,” Morris said. “The RV lifestyle isn’t going by the wayside. Buyers aren’t as exuberant, but they’re still buying. We’ve had our best December in sales in 15 years.”

Roy Robinson has also been appointed the Costco motor home dealer for Washington, Oregon and all of Canada.

“Costco has had several dealers over the years, who simply didn’t keep up with their standards,” Morris said. “We take good care of our customers here, with almost instant follow-up, because when your customers contact you, they want a response yesterday.”

Contact Marysville Globe Reporter Kirk Boxleitner at kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com or 360-659-1300 Ext. 5052.

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