Sagging economy forces Johnson County RV dealer to close

By Joseph S. Pete, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer

A New Whiteland recreational vehicle dealership has closed, a victim of rising gas prices and a sinking economy.

Lee's Country RV owner Roger Lee closed facilities in New Whiteland and Muncie and consolidated business at the corporate headquarters in Batesville.

The New Whiteland dealership sold Coachmen and Starcraft travel trailers and recreational vehicles and RV parts, such as pumps, water heaters and furnaces.

The credit crunch made it hard for potential customers to secure financing, Lee said. In addition, demand for RVs dropped when gas prices rose this summer, he said.

"Gas (prices) hurt RV sales everywhere," he said. "People were spending their money just to fill up their tanks, so they weren't buying RVs."

Sales also started dropping at the New Whiteland location immediately after the June flood, which he believes played a role in the store's performance. Summer traditionally is peak season for RV sales.

Lee signed a deal to make the two-year-old New Whiteland dealership a Monaco of Indianapolis dealer just a month before Monaco stopped all Indiana production, citing plunging demand.

Then the economic meltdown started to spread.

Many RV customers are retirees who have time to travel the country and who largely depend on their investments for income, Lee said.

When the stock market plunged, many no longer had the income to spend on new or replacement RVs.

Plus, they didn't feel comfortable making such a large purchase during a time of economic uncertainty, Lee said. Customers are less likely to trade in older models than they were just last year, he said.

Lee's Country RV is selling its 8-acre site at 1097 U.S. 31 North, which has 17,000-square-foot and 9,000-square-foot buildings.

Town officials plan to tour the location to see if there would be any potential use for the town, New Whiteland Clerk-Treasurer Maribeth Alspach said.

Town government could consolidate services there if the property were donated, she said.

Mostly, officials want to know if they can do anything to keep the property from sitting vacant for an extended period, she said.

Lee said he's optimistic about the future of the Batesville location because he expects sales to pick up as soon as the economy rebounds.