Jeff Swenson, show manager at the 27th annual Tacoma RV Sale, sits inside an office in a back corridor of the Tacoma Dome.

It’s opening day, Wednesday, and it’s raining, really raining.

“We like rain to bring people in, but we don’t know if we like that much rain,” Swenson says.

The crowds – the largest number of buyers, the families, the recreational vehicle retirees and vacationers, the bulk of an expected 6,000 guests – aren’t expected until Saturday. On Wednesday morning, only a handful of attendees wander the aisles.

It’s a different show than in years past. It’s smaller, with fewer dealers renting space to display their towables and vehicles. It’s smaller too because O’Loughlin Trade Shows, the event’s organizer, has not rented the Dome Exhibition Hall as it did in previous years.

And, for the first time, organizers have allowed dealers to show used RVs.

“There’s a lot of 2008 inventory in the market,” Swenson says. “Dealers have dropped their prices, they’re offering rebates and incentives. They call it ‘bailout prices.’ Everybody’s sitting on ’07s and ’08s, so they don’t reorder new inventory. They’re just trying to get rid of it so the factories can start producing again.”

Instead of motorized RVs, dealers are offering more “towables,” Swenson says. These are the less expensive, and these days the more salable products.

“You need to have a higher credit score, a higher down payment,” he says. “Not as many people qualify for loans as there used to be.”

In a bleak economy, when it really rains, business changes.

“We talk to people who are renting their RVs, consigning them to have the dealers sell them. People have large payments, or they are upside-down,” Swenson says.

The annual Dome sale “is smaller than it’s been,” he says. “Some dealers decided not to do the show. Some have gone out of business. Some dropped locations. In the last four months, 12 dealers are out of business in Oregon and Washington. This is a new era, a new economy.”

He says he’s heard that towable sales were down 17 percent in 2008. Sales of motorized RVs were down 40 percent.

There’s also a sunnier side to all of this.

“I think the educated consumer can come and work with a dealer and get the RV of their dreams,” Swenson says. “There’s never been a better deal. Some of the prices are so good, you might look back at it as an investment. Something you couldn’t afford two years ago – you can get it for a lot less.”

DEALERS

Thomas Chelone and Bob Fennell are general sales managers at Poulsbo RV, the state’s largest RV dealer and an occupant of maybe 25 percent of the floor at the annual Dome sale.

“People trade up every year,” says Chelone.

“We’re seeing a lot of people coming in who use these as a home,” says Fennell.

“Interest rates are down,” says Chelone.

“Every dealer wants used RVs,” says Fennell.

“Business is good,” says Chelone. “A lot of smaller dealers are going away, and we’re picking up that business.”

“Our market share is going up,” says Fennell. “It’s one-third better than it was two years ago.”

Poulsbo RV operates six stores, and recently closed its home store in Poulsbo.

“It just wasn’t smart business” to keep it, says Chelone.

He says he expects the big seller at the show will be the latest Rainier, a Dutchmen-made Poulsbo exclusive, which has recently been redesigned and upgraded.

“We even bettered it more,” he says.

Another vehicle, a 2008 Fleetwood Tioga, is on sale at $69,742. It’s pre-owned.

“We show the MSRP. There’s a 60-day guarantee,” says Fennell.

Chelone is a member of the state Motor Home RV Association.

“We know it’s tough times,” he says. “Is it tough for us? No.”

Across the way, Brannon Birrer finishes a deal. He bought Sumner RV one year and one week ago. He’d been in the manufactured home business in Oregon.

“My timing was impeccable,” he says after speaking with the client.

Sales at the dealership are up from what they have been in years past, he says.

“We freshened the store and the inventory, hired a few salespeople.”

Sumner sells the Northwood and R-Vision lines.

“My overhead is low. We don’t have 20 salespeople.”

Most of his customers, he says, 70 percent, are buying higher-end inventory, and most, 70 percent, are paying cash.

“People aren’t financing as much. That’s the clientele we have. If you carried the lower lines, you might have a lot of people who need financing.”

He has recently bought manufacturers’ inventory from Olympic RV in Sequim, which closed.

BUYERS

Randy Nelson and his wife, Jo, came to Tacoma from Kent on Wednesday. They own a 37-foot RV, which they drove for 13,000 miles last year.

“I spent $5,000 on diesel in January and February,” Randy says.

At the sale, he says, “We’re just looking. I see some lower prices. That’s tempting. I tell the wife we shouldn’t look at new stuff. It’s like sniffing cocaine.”

Bob and Judy Fishbaugh came from Spanaway.

“We’re looking for a new fifth-wheel,” Bob says. “About 33 feet.”

“We have a 2007,” says Judy. “We’ll probably trade it in.”

“I’m the bargainer,” says Bob. “She’s the wanter.”

“Go camping, have fun,” says Jo.

C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535

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