Possible Heartland dealer shakeup in Texas?

Yesterday, we went to the Southwest RV Supershow in Dallas. Usually, we can count on seeing Heartland products on display from ExploreUSA, a volume dealer with multiple locations along the I-35 corridor.

Typically, they have a Landmark, BigHorn, Big Country, Cyclone, and Gateway. And recently, BigHorn Traveler.

This year, there was no Big Country, and no Landmark! Very odd, we thought, and disappointing.

We ran into our Salesman, who is the Sales Manager at the Mesquite Store. I asked him, "Why the lack of Heartlands?"

The answer was disappointing. Apparently, Heartland and the owner of ExploreUSA are having issues. There's a good possibility that ExploreUSA may not carry Big Country or Landmark in the near future.

This may be related to Camping World buying up some smaller dealerships in DFW and other parts of Texas... We know that CW sells Landmark and a Big Country in other Texas markets.

All speculation at this point, but it will be interesting to watch what happens. If you're considering ordering a Landmark or Big Country from ExploreUSA, you might want to verify this can still happen!!



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Not good! Personally, the only reason I go to Camping Worst is if I'm needing something and can't find it anywhere else, and they are the last option. If it came down to not being able to buy a new rig, except at Camping Worst, then I'd probably keep the current one until it was falling apart & unsafe, peddle or junk it, and retire from Rving.

We walked away from a deal on a full body paint Cyclone at ExploreUSA after driving 2 days to get there. They were very anxious for us to sign the papers when we walked in but when pressed for a delivery date they couldn't confirm one. As we deciphered their "ifs" and "maybes" it was going to be at least 2 if not 3 weeks!
We were disappointed to not get full body paint (we wanted a discontinued model so not an option to order one) but made the deal on another at RV Outlet in Virginia before we were out of Texas!
What surprised us the most was that ExploreUSA didn't even call to try to save the deal.

We found a new dealer in Navasota, T & S RV's, that sells Landmark and Big Horn. Anyone interested can check them out.

jayc said:

We found a new dealer in Navasota, T & S RV's, that sells Landmark and Big Horn. Anyone interested can check them out.

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I follow them on Facebook. Really nice guys.


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jassson007 said:

I follow them on Facebook. Really nice guys.


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Me too, Andy. They seem to like happy customers. That's always a good sign!


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Fun Town is the new Big Country dealer.

Ted_Dee said:

Fun Town is the new Big Country dealer.

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Ah! Ok, yes the salesman mentioned something about them too. They have a copy-cat line to the Big Country from Cruiser called a Southfork, and he was mentioning this. I guess now they have Big. Country, too.




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T&S is the way to go on bighorn or landmark- its where I bought mine and they could not be better people and worked hard with me to get the things I wanted done on my special order- not to mention saved me $$$$$$$$$- explorer only wants to sell the units they have and pay for their new dealerships off your back. They think that they are the only people selling them and that people wont travel a bit to save $$. they like the impulse buyers and first time buyers-

Hi all - I touched base with Coley Brady, VP of Sales on this matter today. Here's what I learned:
- Our arrangement with Explore USA to sell Landmark and Big Country will remain through October
- Explore USA will continue to sell Bighorn
- Going forward, in this region, Funtown will sell Landmark Big Country

jbeletti said:

Hi all - I touched base with Coley Brady, VP of Sales on this matter today. Here's what I learned:
- Our arrangement with Explore USA to sell Landmark and Big Country will remain through October
- Explore USA will continue to sell Bighorn
- Going forward, in this region, Funtown will sell Landmark Big Country

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Thanks Jim, I'm sad to see these brands leave ExploreUSA just because they are a volume seller here in Texas, and carried a large array of Heartland products.

But hopefully Funtown can become a strong Heartland champion for us!

They did not attend the Dallas show.




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We are in the market for a 5th wheel and are considering the Landmark series so we took a trip out to T & S in Navasota TX to look at a couple of models they had and Tim was great and answered all our questions we found it well worth the 2+ hr drive it was a nice little road trip.

Several of us recently bought trailers from T & S and found as you did, great pricing and proactive service on problems.

Ditto on the positive comments regarding T&S Enterprises in Navasota, TX.

NWILSON said:

We walked away from a deal on a full body paint Cyclone at ExploreUSA after driving 2 days to get there. They were very anxious for us to sign the papers when we walked in but when pressed for a delivery date they couldn't confirm one. As we deciphered their "ifs" and "maybes" it was going to be at least 2 if not 3 weeks!
We were disappointed to not get full body paint (we wanted a discontinued model so not an option to order one) but made the deal on another at RV Outlet in Virginia before we were out of Texas!
What surprised us the most was that ExploreUSA didn't even call to try to save the deal.

Click to expand...

I went to the Mesquite Explore USA in the spring of 2014 to buy a Cyclone, the few they had on the lot were last years models with the old style low back couches... a deal breaker for DW. The back and forth and wait to order a new model year turned into a huge ordeal. Then they offered me 40% off sticker on a Toyhauler that was on the lot... and that’s why I’m an S.O.B.


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