Good article on New Owners of FWC

billharr

billharr

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At the owners rally last October I had a long conversation with Tom Hanagan (previous owner) and his side of the story was pretty much the same. Not that it wouldn't be but I came away from that conversation feeling good about the future of FWC.

This article reinforces that.
 
"baby boomer generation (76 million just in the United States"

"You can still to get into nature, get off the paved road, away from campgrounds, and into the middle of nowhere."

" The company has been growing over the last five years. It looked like a phenomenal opportunity to improve upon what the current owner had built and take it to the next level"

It would seem to be a self defeating arrangement. Almost makes me think when all of us boomers are gone it will be a very lonely place. I'm making plans to be the last one standing.
 
Thanks for sharing the article from "Truck Camping Magazine" Bill

. When I spoke with Tom at the SoCal rally in last October, he assured me that he and Celeste cared about the employees and customers wanting to make sure Four Wheel stayed in business for the long term. I think we will see more of Tom at the rallies because he likes attending them .
 
Boy the new factory sure is a lot different .
In Sept of 09 we went to FWC to check them out.We went there first then to ATC,what a difference in size.
While at FWC Stan gave us the tour ,they were still in the "small" factory.
It was a great experience to see it then and see it now.
I can see how they will push out a lot of campers a year,wow.
Just hope as they grow the quality doesn't suffer.
Thanks for the link.
Frank
 
Really suspect. In terms of vision and talent, the guys at main land overland have the right mindset and skills for improving the product.

This scares me:

" ... If we could produce twice as many units, everyone would be sold. We’ve got to ramp up our production to meet demand."

The bottom line is the main goal of the equity firm is to increase profits.
 
It's poor profits or losses that eventually weed out the bad businesses. That's why propping up bad businesses is a bad idea. Reputation/good customer service, good value, and high quality of product lead to better profits. The process just takes time to weed out the bad ones such that I might buy from one of the bad ones before it gets weeded out. To fill that gap, information from current customers on a business, good or bad, shared with potential customers via social media like WTW helps speed it up.

Paul
 
I've seen a lot of companies partner with different brands (eg FWC and Woolrich) over the years and most of the time, its the beginning of the road to mediocrity. Woolrich is a great brand but the increased cost to buy one of their branded campers brings little in return. For 1/100th the cost, any of us could deck our campers out with Woolrich or Patagonia and get the same aesthetic.

The bigger focus should be on maintaining quality and innovation, even at the expense of volume. Go to any of the RV shows and look at the quality of higher volume camper manufacturers -- its always a trade off.
 
In my 30 years in accounting/finance it has been my experience that when a private equity firm buys a company it's usually the end of it. Private equity firms are seeking a return on their investment. They typically do not run companies for the long haul. As soon as these guys can cut costs, staffing, etc and speed up production they'll sell FWC to another company who will in turn absorb them into their product line and pffft.....FWC is gone. Then again, I could be wrong. We'll see.
 
hey_rls said:
In my 30 years in accounting/finance it has been my experience that when a private equity firm buys a company it's usually the end of it. Private equity firms are seeking a return on their investment. They typically do not run companies for the long haul. As soon as these guys can cut costs, staffing, etc and speed up production they'll sell FWC to another company who will in turn absorb them into their product line and pffft.....FWC is gone. Then again, I could be wrong. We'll see.
Click to expand...
We can only hope that isn't the case here,but we only have their word.
It would be a shame for a great old and pioneer company to come to that end.
Frank
 
Interesting that they want to double production and reduce "busy" work. Speaking to Marty at ATC, he would love to double production but says finding skilled craftsmen is very hard to do. My impression on this is that while having a 5 month backlog isn't ideal, he doesn't want to risk compromising the quality of their builds in any way. I really hope that FWC will continue to build a great product and value long time employee's like Chicali who is a wealth of information.
 
Mark G said:
The purpose of a company is to return a profit to it's owners. Period. Business 101.
Click to expand...
Its more so for the equity firm and they have to do in a shorter amount time. They want to increase the value quickly and sell it to another buyer. Very different from Tom.
 
hey_rls said:
In my 30 years in accounting/finance it has been my experience that when a private equity firm buys a company it's usually the end of it. Private equity firms are seeking a return on their investment. They typically do not run companies for the long haul. As soon as these guys can cut costs, staffing, etc and speed up production they'll sell FWC to another company who will in turn absorb them into their product line and pffft.....FWC is gone. Then again, I could be wrong. We'll see.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I just read your post after my post. I agree 100%.
 
We visited the 4WC factory last weekend. The new CEO answered the door early Saturday morning and showed us around while the salesman was busy. He struck me as sincere about maintaining quality while improving operations. The Saturday crew on the factory floor was very comfortable with him. He showed us the new solar panels they are working with and his excitement about that upcoming improvement was obvious.

Not all equity firms are pump and dump. There's no way to forecast whether they will sell it to a bigger firm in coming years, and whether the quality will suffer if they do. But for now I think the company is in good hands. We ordered a Grandby wired for solar but without the panels. We'll order the new ones separately when they are released.
 
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