These days campers have everything: full kitchens, baths, living rooms, dining rooms, king-size bedrooms, air conditioners, flat screen televisions, Amish wood decor, carpeted floors and built-in barbecue grills. They’re like houses – except they hook to a hitch and they’re nicer than your actual house.
The pop-up my family had in the 80s wasn’t much for spending time in. The inside looked like the outside of a mosquito net and it tipped over if someone got up too fast.
“They’ve come a long way over the years,” said Andrew Oliver of Oliver’s Campers in Norwich. “People think they’re ‘roughing it’ in a camper. But there’s not much they don’t have anymore.”
At this rate, the 2011 models will come with their own fold-out front lawns and neighbors. And a bent basketball hoop with a missing a backboard hanging over the garage door.
Oliver’s has seen the industry evolve since 1966, when the dealership first opened on the Springvale Road. The business has since moved – first to West Hill in 1972, and then to its current location on Rt. 12 in 1992 – but the mission has always been the same.
“We’re built on customer service,” said owner James Oliver. “That’s a large reason why a good amount of people come from some distance to see us.”
“It’s not just because we’re good-looking guys,” he added with a laugh.
About half of Oliver’s customers are from outside Chenango County, they say. Most come from across the state – from as far west as Rochester, as far north as Watertown and as far south as Long Island. Most of that business is generated at two annual campers shows in Syracuse. From there, word of mouth spreads.
“It’s a sign that you must be doing something right,” Andrew said of out-of-town customers, many of whom come back a second and third time. “You get to know these people, which is nice. They’re not just another face.”
In any business, taking care of the little things is what keeps people coming back. One of those little things is making sure campers – from pop-ups to 40 ft. travel trailers – are shined-up and ready to go when customers come to pick them up. So Oliver’s employee Josh Thomas and I went a few rounds with a used unit set to go out that afternoon.
“It’s pretty simple,” said Thomas. “Make it look better than it did before.”
Sounded easy enough. Josh, however, forgot to mention that we had to bleach the molding, scrape off sticky marks, paint steps, polish decals and wipe, and re-wipe, any and all streak marks off the outside walls. Still, it wasn’t too bad. And it only took us an hour.
“It all depends on how good the previous owner maintained it,” Thomas admitted. “Sometimes it could take a half-hour. Sometimes a couple hours. And don’t forget we still have to do the inside.”
The inside, huh? Me don’t do inside. So I told Josh it had been a pleasure working with him and that it was time to try something else.
