- Camping World
.
Camping World began in 1966 with a small store in
Beech Bend Park , anamusement park outside of Bowling Green which billed itscampground 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, Affinity Group, Inc., 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 ofDisney World , Camping World andBass Pro Shops ," will feature a large Camping World store with RV 250 service bays; a five-story, 650,000square foot (60,000m ²) permanent RV trade show and exhibition area; a "free range" campground with dry-camping sites; a campingmuseum ; and much more.Under the FreedomRoads brand, the sells RV's through a network of about three dozen independent dealers. [ [http://www.freedomroads.com/bus_profile.html FreedomRoads business profile] ] In 2007, the company opened the Camping World RV Sales dealership; formerly known as Stout's RV, it is located on
Interstate 65 south ofIndianapolis, Indiana , and is the company's only owned-and-operated RV dealership. [ [http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services/4334418-1.html "Camping World announces grand opening of Indianapolis store at former Stout's location," May 16, 2007] ] [ [http://www.stoutsrv.com Camping World RV Sales, Indianapolis] ]The company also operates RVs.com. [http://www.rvs.com]
Auto racing
Camping World has major sponsorship involvement with
NASCAR and theIndy Racing League , both for races and teams.Races
* The
NASCAR Nationwide Series ' most prestigious race, the 2008 Camping World 300 presented by Chevrolet, atDaytona International Speedway ; it is run the day before theDaytona 500 . This race was run as theOrbitz 300 in 2007. [cite web |url=http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/07/09/054505.html|publisher=TheAutoChannel.com|title=Camping World Becomes Title Sponsor of Daytona February Busch Race]
* TheCamping World 200 presented by RVs.com , a Nationwide Series race run atNew Hampshire International Speedway . This race will be run atCalifornia Speedway beginning in 2008. [ [http://www.californiaspeedway.com/538356.html California Speedway Announces Fall Race Sponsorship Agreement With Camping World] ]
* TheCamping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix , an IndyCar Racing League race atWatkins Glen International Raceway .Teams
*
Kevin Harvick Incorporated , primarily for the #77 car in the Busch Series and the #2 and #33 teams in theCraftsman Truck Series , withKevin Harvick ,Ron Hornaday ,Clint Bowyer andCale Gale driving in different races.
*Richard Childress Racing , for some races for the #07 driven byClint Bowyer and the #21 driven by multiple drivers.
*Braun Racing , for some races for the #10 team.
*Robby Gordon Motorsports , in a multi-race deal for the #7 car in threeNASCAR Nextel Cup Series and one Busch Series race, and a one-off forMarcos Ambrose at theCenturion Boats at the Glen road race. The race was to have been the Nextel Cup debut for Ambrose, but rain washed out the qualifying session and NASCAR set the field for the race on owner's point standings, locking Ambrose and the #77 Camping World Car out of the race. [ [http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070807/20070807006462.html?.v=1 Camping World (press release): "Camping World to Back Marcos Ambrose In Nextel Cup Debut", August 7, 2007] ] [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/photo?slug=getty-76020460rr018_centurion_boa&prov=getty Yahoo! Sports/Getty Images photo: Marcos Ambrose practices in the #77 Camping World Ford] ] [cite web |url=http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/08/10/jgordon.cup.quals.watkins.glen/index.html |title=Rain (again) washes out qualifying at Watkins Glen |accessdate=2007-08-11 |last=Rodman |first=Dave |publisher=NASCAR.com]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.
ee also
*
Affinity Group Inc.
*Good Sam Club
*Stephen AdamsReferences
External links
* [http://www.campingworld.com CampingWorld.com]
** [http://www.luxuryrv.com LuxuryRV.com]
** [http://www.rvs.com RVs.com]
** [http://www.CampingWorldRacing.com CampingWorldRacing.com]
** [http://www.CWRebates.com CWRebates.com]
** [http://www.rvs.com RVs.com]
** [http://www.CampingWorldRVSales.com CampingWorldRVSales.com]
** [http://www.MotorhomeRV.com MotorhomeRV.com]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.