july2017

156 157 AT A GLANCE LONGVIEWRV SUPERCENTERS WHAT: A family-owned and operated RV dealership WHERE: Windsor Locks, Connecticut WEBSITE: www.longviewrv.com Florida –Leesburg and Kissimmee in 2001, and Tampa, in 2004. The company was growing rapidly, and times were good, but things turned sour during the Great Reces- sion. In order to survive, Frank Roberts, com- pany President and son of Fran and Shirley, says, “We had to work harder than everyone else. But the good thing is, our customer service is so much better than everyone else’s, and the loyalty from our customers is what made us keep going when things turned down.” Customer loyalty, notwithstanding, the economic downturn hit the RV industry particularly hard, and downsizing and con- solidation also helped Long View RV Su- perstores weather the storm. In 2009, the LONG VIEW RV SUPERSTORES Northampton property was sold and its inventory consolidated at the larger Connecticut facility. Then, the Florida properties were sold, outright. Today, two outlets remain–Windsor Locks and Canaan. But since that time, the RV sector has rebounded and so has Long View. “The industry is on track for 490,000 units; last year was a record with 435,000,” says Roberts. “There’s a real bottleneck right now in production and the dealers getting enough invento- ry. There’s a greater demand right now than what is coming out of the factories.” Long View’s rebound can be inferred by last summer’s complete renovation of the Connecticut dealership. “New service department, new parts department, new sales department, new everything at the Windsor Locks location,” Roberts reports. Through it all, Long View RV Superstores is still known as “New England’s Largest and Oldest Fami-