AWesdorp
Member
Hello everyone from the good old Heartland campus in beautiful, balmy Elkhart Indiana. Balmy if 24 degrees = balmy, that is. But hey, the sun is out and all is well.
We're quickly wrapping up another successful "show season", attending shows across all of North America and assisting dealers in selling and representing Landmark. I've been to Seattle, Fort Worth, Austin, Tampa and more this winter and it has been great to interact and meet many current and future Landmark owners. Thanks to those of you I met for your greetings and comments. I'm truly enjoying GM'ing Landmark and the interaction with customers is one of my favorite parts of the gig.
I'd say that the highlights of show season this winter have been the newer 3 floor plans Charleston, Madison and Orlando. The Newport is our consistent seller and the Syracuse/Arlington both fit more niche markets for shorter/work camper customers, respectively. Neither had much representation in shows unfortunately because dealers typically take the best sellers/most marketable coaches into shows.
That said, on April 1, we will be discontinuing the Ashland and Key West floor plans. In order for us to keep crafting new units, we must make room on the engineers drawing board, so to speak. Being in the same plant as Bighorn and Big Country, we are all limited in the # of floor plans we're able to offer at one time. It does, however, make me excited to start working on the next awesome Landmark floor plan (Suggestions Welcome!).
Dealers will be able to accept Ashland and Key West orders for the rest of March; those orders will be built, painted and shipped in April/May.
On the new product ideas front, we are constantly Researching and Developing. I've met with multiple vendors this winter to see what they have up their sleeves and there are multiple more meetings in the coming weeks. These are great meetings for idea generation, cosmetic look and feel ideas for the exterior and interior, and some things as simple different exterior lights, outlets, switches, etc., but all good things. Please believe me here---our purchasing department is one of the best in the industry; they do a fantastic job of getting us the best price for the materials we pick out. I'm convinced that Heartland delivers a great product at a great price to great customers. I'm convinced that Plant 2 is the best plant for luxury fivers in Northern Indiana. We don't employ robots, we do make mistakes from time to time, but I'm also convinced that we have an outstanding warranty/parts/service department, from the top down.
All said, it's been a fun winter. I'm ready for grass to green up and sales to uptick, but I'm also thrilled with where Landmark is at today.
Thanks to you all for your loyalty past and present. Thank you for your business. For you potential owners, we want you and we'll build you a darn good, and darn good looking fifth wheel.
Have a great hump day everyone and let me know if I can help, email/call at any time,
Andy Wesdorp
andy.wesdorp@heartlandrvs.com
574-206-2178
We're quickly wrapping up another successful "show season", attending shows across all of North America and assisting dealers in selling and representing Landmark. I've been to Seattle, Fort Worth, Austin, Tampa and more this winter and it has been great to interact and meet many current and future Landmark owners. Thanks to those of you I met for your greetings and comments. I'm truly enjoying GM'ing Landmark and the interaction with customers is one of my favorite parts of the gig.
I'd say that the highlights of show season this winter have been the newer 3 floor plans Charleston, Madison and Orlando. The Newport is our consistent seller and the Syracuse/Arlington both fit more niche markets for shorter/work camper customers, respectively. Neither had much representation in shows unfortunately because dealers typically take the best sellers/most marketable coaches into shows.
That said, on April 1, we will be discontinuing the Ashland and Key West floor plans. In order for us to keep crafting new units, we must make room on the engineers drawing board, so to speak. Being in the same plant as Bighorn and Big Country, we are all limited in the # of floor plans we're able to offer at one time. It does, however, make me excited to start working on the next awesome Landmark floor plan (Suggestions Welcome!).
Dealers will be able to accept Ashland and Key West orders for the rest of March; those orders will be built, painted and shipped in April/May.
On the new product ideas front, we are constantly Researching and Developing. I've met with multiple vendors this winter to see what they have up their sleeves and there are multiple more meetings in the coming weeks. These are great meetings for idea generation, cosmetic look and feel ideas for the exterior and interior, and some things as simple different exterior lights, outlets, switches, etc., but all good things. Please believe me here---our purchasing department is one of the best in the industry; they do a fantastic job of getting us the best price for the materials we pick out. I'm convinced that Heartland delivers a great product at a great price to great customers. I'm convinced that Plant 2 is the best plant for luxury fivers in Northern Indiana. We don't employ robots, we do make mistakes from time to time, but I'm also convinced that we have an outstanding warranty/parts/service department, from the top down.
All said, it's been a fun winter. I'm ready for grass to green up and sales to uptick, but I'm also thrilled with where Landmark is at today.
Thanks to you all for your loyalty past and present. Thank you for your business. For you potential owners, we want you and we'll build you a darn good, and darn good looking fifth wheel.
Have a great hump day everyone and let me know if I can help, email/call at any time,
Andy Wesdorp
andy.wesdorp@heartlandrvs.com
574-206-2178