How a Kentucky Camp Store Became the Country's Biggest RV Dealer

If you have driven a US interstate lately, you have probably passed one: a low-slung building the size of a warehouse, a row of travel trailers glinting out front, and a sign you can read from the fast lane. That is Camping World, and there are more than 200 of them. The company calls itself the world's largest recreational vehicle dealer, and for once the claim is measurable rather than promotional - no other retailer sells, services, and finances RVs at anything close to its scale in North America.

What is less obvious from the highway is that Camping World is not really in the business of selling you a vehicle once. It is in the business of keeping you, the RV owner, inside its ecosystem for as long as you own the thing - and then selling you the next one. The dealership is the front door. The money, and the durability, are in everything that happens after you drive off the lot.

The origin

From a drag strip in Kentucky to the New York Stock Exchange

Camping World started in 1966 as a single store near Beech Bend Park, a drag strip outside Bowling Green, Kentucky, opened by David Garvin. For decades it was a regional parts-and-accessories operation. The turn came through ownership: the business passed to Affinity Group - later renamed Good Sam Enterprises - and in 2011 was combined with the FreedomRoads dealership network into a single company that suddenly had both the storefronts and the memberships under one roof.

In October 2016 the whole thing went public as Camping World Holdings on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CWH, raising roughly $251 million. The years that followed brought a wave of acquisitions - outdoor gear names like Overton's, The House, and Gander Outdoors - stitched into the retail side.

What it actually sells

A vehicle, and then a relationship

On the retail side, Camping World sells new and used RVs of every shape - travel trailers, fifth wheels, motorhomes - across the largest dealer network in the country. It runs service and collision bays for repairs and warranty work, and it stocks more than 10,000 parts and accessories, from hitches and awnings to RV-sized refrigerators, both in stores and online through campingworld.com and RVs.com.

Wrapped around all of that is Good Sam, the membership and services engine that is arguably the more interesting half of the company. A Good Sam membership gets discounts at 2,000-plus campgrounds and on fuel. Layered on top are roadside assistance built specifically for RVs - a network of more than 40,000 tow providers, plus locksmith and mobile-mechanic dispatch - along with insurance, extended service contracts, and financing.

That combination matters because of who the buyer often is: a first-timer who has never towed anything, is nervous about breaking down far from home, and needs the purchase de-risked. Financing, a service plan, a roadside number to call, and a club of people who have done it before - that is what turns an intimidating $100,000 decision into a manageable one.

Who buys

Retirees, families, and full-time nomads

The customer base is broader than the stereotype. It runs from retirees chasing warm weather and full-time nomads who live on the road, to weekend families who use a trailer a dozen times a summer. What they share is that the RV is rarely a one-and-done purchase - owners trade up, trade down, add accessories, and eventually replace. Camping World's job is to be present at each of those moments, which is why the same customer can appear as a sale, a service ticket, an insurance policy, and a membership renewal over the span of a decade. The record 45,000-plus units moved in a single quarter of 2025 is one snapshot of that funnel working.

The aftermarket

10,000 parts and a how-to for each one

The part of the business that rarely makes headlines - accessories and service - is where a lot of the loyalty is built. An RV is a house on wheels, which means it breaks, wears, and gets upgraded constantly: awnings, water heaters, leveling systems, batteries, covers. Camping World stocks more than 10,000 such products and pairs them with service bays and how-to content, so a customer who walks in for a part often leaves having booked an installation. It is unglamorous, repeatable revenue, and it deepens the reason to keep coming back to the same brand rather than a local independent shop.

The business model

Two segments, one flywheel

Camping World reports in two segments, and the split tells you how it thinks. One is Good Sam Services and Plans - the recurring, higher-margin memberships, roadside assistance, insurance, and financing. The other is RV and Outdoor Retail - the vehicles, service, parts, and gear. The retail side is cyclical and swings with the economy. The services side hums along regardless, which is the point: it smooths out the industry's brutal new-unit demand cycles.

The genius is the handoff between them. Every retail sale is a chance to enroll a member; every member is a warm lead for the next vehicle, the next service visit, the next accessory. One transaction becomes a multi-year account.

The numbers back the design. Fiscal 2024 revenue came in around $6.1 billion across 206 locations - a slight dip from the year before, in line with a soft RV market. Then in the second quarter of 2025 the company posted revenue near $2.0 billion, up more than 9 percent year over year, with net income and adjusted EBITDA both up more than 30 percent and a record 45,000-plus units sold in a single quarter. Selling more used inventory and cutting costs did the heavy lifting.

The competition

Bigger than the next few dealers combined

The clearest rival is Blue Compass RV (formerly RV Retailer LLC), which has grown to 100-plus dealerships across more than 30 states. Behind it sit Lazydays, General RV Center, and Bish's RV. On the manufacturing side, the giants are Thor Industries and Winnebago - suppliers, not direct competitors. And for pure camping gear, shoppers can wander to REI or Bass Pro.

What separates Camping World is the stack. A rival dealer might match it on new-unit price. Almost none can match the combination of a national service footprint, a captive membership base, a roadside network, in-house financing, and an e-commerce parts catalog - all pointed at the same customer. Distribution is the moat: the stores sit near highways and campgrounds, not malls, because the customer is often already on a trip when something goes wrong.

The operator

Marcus Lemonis, and what comes next

For years the public face of Camping World has been Marcus Lemonis, its chairman and CEO, better known to television audiences as the host of CNBC's turnaround show "The Profit." His fingerprints are on the acquisitive, services-heavy strategy that defines the company today. In December 2025, Camping World announced a succession plan: Matt Wagner, the president and chief operating officer, will step up to CEO effective January 1, 2026, with Brent Moody becoming chairman. Lemonis stays on as co-founder and special advisor and keeps his ownership stake.

The marketing sits under CMO Brandon Mulhall, based in the greater Chicago area near the company's Lincolnshire, Illinois headquarters. The brand's reach shows up in unexpected places - naming rights on Camping World Stadium in Orlando, sponsorships in bull riding and, historically, a full NASCAR truck series. That is deliberate: the audience watches college football and PBR, so that is where the logo goes.

Where it fits

The outdoors, with an operating system

Step back and Camping World occupies a specific slot in American retail. It is not a manufacturer, not a pure e-commerce play, not a generic outdoor store. It is the consolidator of the RV lifestyle - the place that owns the sale, the service, the parts, the money, and the membership all at once. In a fragmented industry of independent dealers, that end-to-end control is the whole thesis.

The bet for the years ahead is more of the same, refined: lean harder on the recurring services revenue, keep expanding financing through partnerships like Good Sam Powered by Octane, and hold the top spot while the new-unit market rides its cycles. Sixty years after one store opened next to a Kentucky drag strip, the pitch has barely changed. It just got a lot bigger.