Business View Magazine September 2018

242 243 LONG VIEW RV SUPERSTORES Superstores LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL F ran and Shirley Roberts opened their original Long View RV SuperStore in 1959, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, not far from the Long View observation tower on the town’s Mohawk Trail. The tower, with its three- state view from the top, supplied the company’s name and is still part of its logo, almost 60 years later. In 1984, the business was moved to a five- acre site in Northampton, MA, and, in 1993, the acquisition of a prime location in Windsor Locks, CT brought with it the need for a new name that would better suit the company that now had two major facilities. So, Long View RV SuperStores (plural) was born. In 2000, Long View opened a sales outlet in Ca- naan, NY; followed by the establishment of three AT A GLANCE LONG VIEW RV SUPERSTORES WHAT: A family-owned and operated RV dealership WHERE: Windsor Locks, Connecticut WEBSITE: www.longviewrv.com locations in 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 Recession. In order to survive, Frank Roberts, company President and son of Fran and Shirley, says, “We had to work harder than everyone else. But the good thing is, our customer ser-