INDUSTRY NEWS
August 1999

Holiday RV Superstores Founders Sell Controlling Equity Stake To Florida-Based Investment Group
Hardee McAlhaney Named President and CEO

Holiday RV Superstores, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVEE) reports that founders Newton C. and Joanne M. Kindlund have sold a controlling interest in the company to Atlas Recreational Holdings, Inc., a Florida-based investment group. Terms of the privately negotiated transaction were not disclosed.

The Orlando, FL-based chain of RV and boat dealerships said Atlas Recreational Holdings chairman Michael Riley will serve as chairman of the board of Holiday RV Superstores effective immediately.

Hardee McAlhaney, who has served as the company's chief financial officer for the past 10 years, was elevated to the post of president and chief executive officer. The Kindlunds will continue to work with the company as consultants and will hold a minority interest.

Newton Kindlund said, "This transaction will bring considerable benefits to shareholders, employees, suppliers and customers of Holiday RV Superstores. The strength of the current management team, combined with the strategic and financial resources of Atlas, put Holiday RV Superstores in prime position to become the clear industry leader, in terms of size and quality of service."

McAlhaney, 52, brings considerable experience related to mergers and acquisitions to his new post. Over the past 21 years, he has participated in nearly three dozen acquisitions, including 5 transactions at Holiday RV and during his tenure as chief financial officer of The Athlete's Foot, an Atlanta-based specialty retail chain. He joined Holiday RV Superstores as corporate controller in 1988, and has served as the company's vice president and chief financial officer since 1991.

Next Month's PRVCA's Harrisburg Show Packed with Opportunities

The 31st Annual Pennsylvania RV & Camping Show in Harrisburg, PA, sponsored by the Pennsylvania RV and Camping Association (PRVCA) will offer attendees plenty of educational opportunities, according to PRVCA president, John Roba. It all starts with a special seminar on F & I Sales Training on September 7th, presented by Jan Kelly, CEO of Kelly Enterprises. This seminar is dedicated to increasing dealer profits.

In addition seminars include Handling Propane (September 8) presented by Larry Thatcher of Dick Thatcher & Associates, an authority on propane safety.

The Show opens its doors for Trade Days on Tuesday, September 7th with a large variety of exhibits, seminars, and information. The Show is open to dealers, campground owners, lenders, service/repair companies and the press. Industry credentials are required. Admission is by show badge.

A "Supplier Open House" will be held in the Supplier Showcase in the Large Arena on September 7th. The "Supplier Open House" will be held from 5:00pm to 6:00pm on Tuesday evening.

The PRVCA Annual Meeting "Red Carpet Breakfast" will be held at the Harrisburg Marriott Hotel Ballroom at 7:30am on Wednesday, September 8th. The Keynote Speaker is football legend Fran Tarkenton. As a PRVCA PAC fund raising event, Mr. Tarkenton will autograph twelve footballs to be auctioned to the highest bidders. Signed photographs will be available for $10 each.

Show chairman Larry Mellott said, "With 700,000 square feet of new products, 800 vehicles, timely and important seminars, and the opportunity to network with your peers, it explains why this Show has become a 'must' in the industry."

Heritage Foundation Launches Sixth Annual Fundraiser Raffle

The RV/MH Heritage Foundation has announced the kick off of the sixth annual raffle which benefits the national RV/MH Hall of Fame, Museum and Library.

First prize will be a motorhome or manufactured home of the winners choice, valued at up to $100,000, or $75,000 cash in the drawing to be held December 10, 1999, at the foundation offices. Second prize is $15,000, third prize is $5,000 and 4th and 5th prizes are $1,000 each. A total of 100 prizes will be awarded from a total of 3500 tickets, making the odds of winning a prize 1 in 35.

Individuals may purchase the $100 raffle tickets by credit card at 1-800-378-8694, by fax at 219-293-3466, or at the Foundation offices at 801 Benham Ave, Elkhart, In 46516.

New Study Finds RV Service Techs Enjoy Their Jobs, Satisfied with Training

A new demographic study commissioned by the RVDA-RVIA Technician Certification Governing Board and the RVDA Education Foundation has found that RV service technicians are happy in their career and satisfied with the training they receive.

An overwhelming 84% of responding technicians reported that if they had to make a career choice again they would still choose to become an RV technician. The most common reason cited was the RV industry is a growing field that offers job security (26%) and that RV service work offers a challenging career (21%).

The research also showed that 84% of service technicians surveyed are satisfied with the career training they receive. The majority receive wages during training (90%) and most report that their employer pays for their training when they leave the job site for it (93%). More than half of the respondents leave the workplace for training at least three days per year.

Technicians report that the most effective type of training is hands-on-the-job sessions (67%) followed by classroom training outside the dealership (29%).

The study also portrayed the typical RV service technician to be a 41 year old male who has been an RV service technician for 7.5 years. A majority took shop in school and almost all have a high school education or more. One-fourth have been in the military.

Eighty-four percent of those surveyed work in an RV dealership with 13% working at an independent repair shop. Prior to becoming an RV technician over one-third were in the automotive field and 28% worked in a technical field.

The single most common way that respondents learned about the RV technician career field was from a nearby dealership (30%), followed closely by learning from friends (28% and employment ads (24%). One-fifth got into the field because they own or have owned an RV.

The RV technician demographic study was conducted to provide RVIA and RVDA with insight on how to effectively recruit new technicians into the field and identify the best way to communicate with potential and existing technicians.

The study was conducted by mail survey among 631 RV service technicians by Robert Hitlin Research Associates. The research has a confidence rate of 95% with a 4% margin of error.

RV Products Names Top Service Centers

Recreation Vehicle Products has recognized its Top Service Centers for their continued commitment to excellence in service and repair of Coleman Mach RV Air Conditioners.

RVP Top Service Centers (in alphabetical order), include: Al's RV Center Riverside, CA; Augusta RV, Andover, KS; Bill's RV Appliance, Elkhart, IN; Bill Ward AC, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Central Florida RV Service, Kissimmee, FL; Eagle RV, Houston, TX; Evergreen RV Service, Inc., Seattle, WA; Garrett's AC, Longview, TX; Ground to Crown RV Repair, Arvada, CO; Hart Enterprises, Mobile, AL; Holmes on Wheels, Elkhart, IN; Lodgemobile, Inc., Burbank, CA; and May's RV Service, Irving, TX:

FloJet Moves to New Location

FloJet Corporation, manufacturer of pumps and accessories for the RV and marine market has announced the move of FloJet Corporation's manufacturing facility, along with the headquarters offices to a new southern California location. The move is to a much larger, new building east of Irvine in Foothill Ranch (Lake Forest), California.

The phone numbers are being transferred: so many customers will notice little or no disruption in customer service- FloJet is building subassembly stocks in Irvine to be assembled in Foothill Ranch to ease the transition.

The new address is: FloJet Corporation, 20 Icon, Foothill Ranch, CA 9261

Fleetwood Appoints New Director

Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FLE), says that its board of directors has appointed John T. Montford as a director of the company, replacing Andrew Crean, son of the company's founder, who recently resigned.

Since 1996, Montford has been Chancellor of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. From 1983 until 1996, Montford was a member of the Texas Senate, during which time he served as Chairman of the Senate Finance and State Affairs Committees and Senate President Pro Tempore. Montford has also maintained an active law practice in Lubbock.

Chairman Glenn F. Kummer said, "We are very pleased to have a director of John Montford's caliber on our board. John has an outstanding background and the ability to contribute significantly in the areas of corporate governance and business strategies.''

Automation Strategies Push National RV Toward Greater Efficiency

National RV Inc., a division of National RV Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NVH), continues to expanded its use of technology and automation. Within the last two years, National RV has augmented its production facilities in Perris, CA. to improve efficiency, provide a safer work environment and increase production capabilities.

Recently, National RV added a 14' by 45' custom made CNC router to its list of equipment. In addition to creating more precise sidewall openings while providing faster manufacturing speeds and waste reduction, this machine also creates a safer, more efficient work environment.

The company has also added a second thermal forming machine based on the success and usage of the unit currently in operation. This equipment will be employed to manufacture parts that were previously made of fiberglass and is consistent with National RV's policy to use environmentally-friendly materials in the manufacturing of its products.

RV Centers, Inc., Public Offering Stalled

John Mancinelli, vice chairman of RV Centers, Inc., told RV News in mid-July that the long anticipated pubic offering of RV Centers, Inc., is stalled. RV Centers, Inc., is a roll-up of approximately 14 RV dealers, which would create a nationwide network. Mancinelli said that current market conditions were not favorable for the roll-up at this time and the participating dealers and the management staff are currently exploring their options.

RV Industry Internet News

RV America Tops Netscape's Popularity Index of Web Sites that Offer RV Hosting

According to Netscape's popularity index, RV America On Line^® is the most popular web site among the various RV sites that offer web site hosting. Of all the millions of web sites on the Internet, RV America ranks 11,592. Comparing that position to other hosting companies, RV America is clearly the leader. For example, RVUSA ranks 14,076, TL Enterprises (The Affinity Group) ranks 94,179 and RV Shop ranks a distant last at 167,316 among web hosting services web sites.

The data is created by Alexa Internet. Alexa uses crawling, archiving, categorizing, and data-mining techniques to build the information for millions of web URLs. By looking at high-level trends, Netscape and Alexa can deduce relationships between web sites.

Each month, Alexa recrawls the web and rebuilds the data to pull in new sites and to refine the relationships between the existing sites. The information can be accessed through the "What's Related" button on newer Netscape browsers.

In the following chart, we've included other randomly selected RV web sites to allow the reader to see the relationship between the popularity of the various web sites.

Popularity Index
(Based on Statistics for July 1999)

* Sites offering Web Site Hosting

Dan Holt, CEO of Web Site Management, Inc., said, "These statistics verify our claim that RV America is the best choice for companies looking for a place to host their web sites. It's also validation of the time and money we spend to make sure that our advertisers and the companies we host have the best opportunity to be found on the Internet."

Winnebago Launches $3.6 Million Expansion

Winnebago Industries Inc., is spending $3.6 million to expand the company's motorhome manufacturing facilities in Forest City, IA.

The expansion, to be completed within the next year, is expected to increase Winnebago's motorhome manufacturing capabilities by about 1,000 units annually. The expanded facility will require more than 200 additional employees when at full production.

The company also said it plans to build a 16,000-square-foot addition to its customer service facility.