St. Pete Times Article - High Rollers Only

January 23, 2004

Lazydays® RV center has built an opulent clubhouse for customers. Anyone could get in, but only certain folks do.
By HELEN HUNTLEY, Times Personal Finance Editor

SEFFNER - The Tampa Bay area's newest exclusive clubhouse is decorated in British West Indies style. It features antique elm floors, maple paneling and a granite bar. Formally clad waiters serve free breakfast, lunch and cocktails.

Lazydays® RV SuperCenter® is taking the pampering of its best customers to a new level. The huge recreational vehicle dealership east of Tampa just opened a swanky clubhouse for members of its CrownClub®.

The catch? You can't buy a CrownClub® membership. The only way to join is to buy a luxury RV priced at $250,000 or more. A new RV comes with a three-year membership (a used model will get you two years). It can be renewed only by buying another RV.

"People who buy these RVs on average trade every year and a half, so that's not an issue," said Stewart Schaffer, chief marketing officer. The club has grown to about 4,000 members since it was started in 2001. Other benefits include member events and first-class check-in for RV service.

Early reviews of the new clubhouse are enthusiastic.

"It's awesome," said Ed Miner, 59, a retired auto workers union representative who lives in Sebastian. Miner and his wife, Toni, are at Lazydays® this week having their 42-foot Monaco Dynasty serviced.

"If we didn't have a high-line coach, this would make me want to go buy one," he said. Miner said they'll be ready to buy another RV when membership renewal time comes around, if not before. Their Dynasty is the third RV they have purchased from Lazydays.

The clubhouse is part of a $2.25-million upgrade of Lazydays' sales and service area for luxury RVs. "It all fits with trying to make Lazydays® the preferred RV destination and not just a dealership," Schaffer said.

Lazydays' 150-acre site off Interstate 4 includes an RV park with swimming pool, tennis and shuffleboard courts and room for 300 RVs. It attracts visitors from all over the country, as well as local residents who come out for special events.

Schaffer said 12 to 15 percent of Lazydays® RV buyers are in the CrownClub® category. If you've got $280,000 or so to spend on an RV, you can get a new 40-foot Monaco Windsor with a leather sofa, satellite TV, washer-dryer, cherry cabinets and three slide-out sections that expand the living space when the RV is parked.

Last year the company had $750-million in sales and sold 8,842 RVs.

- Helen Huntley can be reached at huntley@sptimes.com or 727-893-8230. # # #

For More Information:

Stewart Schaffer, Chief Marketing Officer
Lazydays® RV Center
813.246.4999 ext. 4263
sschaffer@lazydays.com