A former Hitch RV dealership in Berlin, New Jersey, celebrated its grand opening over the weekend as Forest River RV New Jersey by Camping World.
After a soft opening in June, Forest River RV New Jersey General Manager Tom Wimberg said the traditional ribbon-cutting Friday morning was about generating community awareness.
“We wanted to do a big event to bring people out,” he said. “The night before the ribbon-cutting, I was hoping we would get 20 people through the door on Friday because it has been quiet here. Then we had over 60 registered families on Friday and close to 100 on Saturday.”
The dealership teamed with WIP Sports Radio to provide its broadcast crews with a Forest River Sandpiper 399 destination trailer during the Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp.
“We also did a grassroots camper sale down at one of the local campgrounds to get started, because our real mission here is to pick up some market share for Camping World,” Wimberg said. “Cape May County is the southern end of the Jersey Shore, and it is just campground after campground when you drive up and down Route 9. We want to pick up those customers who cannot afford a million-dollar shore house.”
The dealership is planning another campground event in Ocean City, New Jersey, in late September.
Forest River RV New Jersey is among three former Hitch RV dealerships sold to Camping World in February.
Camping World CEO and chairman Marcus Lemonis said at the time, “These locations are another example of widening our acquisition funnel by identifying targets that allow for conversion to manufacturer-exclusive locations.”
Wimberg said the Berlin location is the first Forest River-exclusive dealer in New Jersey.
