The Crown Jewel of the RV Industry Is Shining Even Brighter
February 21, 2005
Lazydays® RV Grand Re-Opening Takes Customer Service to the Next Level
Tampa, Fla. – People bustle about while sipping Starbucks coffee. Some relax in the plush seating areas watching flat screen televisions. Others take advantage of personal concierge services at their fingertips. Sounds like a lobby at a world-class luxury resort, right? No, it’s actually the customer lounge of the world’s largest single-site recreational vehicle (“RV”) dealership…Lazydays.
Raising the bar on customer service is a longstanding tradition of Lazydays® RV, the world’s largest single-site RV dealer. With the company mission of “Making Customers for Life”, Lazydays® hosts their dealership Grand Re-Opening March 8 - 9, 2005, the culmination of spectacular renovations and dealership expansion that takes personalized service to even greater heights. The newly renovated and expanded areas represent over a $3 million dollar investment in destination amenities that will serve all Lazydays® RV customers and guests.
“The project expanded the main dealership building to 86,625 sq. ft. and includes 8,600 sq. ft. of new construction and 50,400 sq. ft. of renovated or remodeled space. Approximately 19,400 sq. ft. of the project represents expansion and improvement of the customer service area in addition to a complete redecoration of The Café and sales department totaling approximately 39,600 sq. ft.,” said Dan Padley, Project Manager for Lazydays. According to Padley, when the project was completed a total of 59,000 sq. ft. of the dealership’s main building was either expanded, remodeled or redecorated from one end to the other. The project began in June of 2004 and was completed in February 2005.
For photographs of the dealership expansion, renovations and redecorating, visit:
http://extranet.schifinolee.com/lazy032_grand_reopen/index.html
THE BEST OF THE BEST. Lazydays® RV sets itself apart with their latest amenity improvements and additions as a truly one-of-a-kind destination for the RV community. Not only is it the first RV dealership in the country to serve Starbucks coffee on-site, it is the first dealership to provide professional fulltime concierge services to its customers. These improvements are in line with our company mission to be #1 in customer service. Renovations and improvements include:
• A Service Pavilion with a 6,600 sq. ft. luxuriously appointed customer lounge
• Customer lounge includes: professional concierge station, Starbucks coffee bar, flat screen TV’s, and 10 uniquely styled seating areas
• Learning Center with 170 seats for customer seminars and employee training.
• New offices for over 45 customer service personnel responsible for service and delivery operations
• New offices for five full-time manufacturer representatives
• New executive board room that seats 22
• 160 newly renovated sales offices in the sales department
• Lazydays® Café to replace Festival Hall which serves 300,000 meals to customers and guests per year
To assist with this major renovation and expansion project, Lazydays® enlisted the expertise of Studio M Interior Design, Inc., a professional design firm in downtown Tampa. For the past 13 years, Michelle Jennings Wiebe has been the owner of Studio M and worked on a variety of large projects. In fact, she was the principal designer for Lazydays’ CrownClub® addition completed last March.
“The goal of the new service area was to achieve the look and feel of a high-end destination hotel or resort, not your typical RV waiting area,” said Wiebe. With a spa-like resort theme, she and Lisa Clark, co-designer on the project, utilized an eclectic mix of colors, furniture and artwork to exude an airy, bright, natural and relaxing atmosphere. The new service area has light, maple wood flooring with vinyl finish throughout, grass-cloth wall coverings for texture, woven, rattan furniture with traditional woods and contemporary light fixtures with silver, pewter accents for a sleek, clean feel.
“Lazydays® is all about providing an enjoyable experience for their guests while they are there. We created different vignettes throughout the waiting area with each section serving a different purpose or activity for the guests,” explained Wiebe. Throughout the 6,600-sq. ft. customer lounge, there are specific areas designed for watching television, reading, connecting to your laptops in “laptop chairs,” tables for gaming and even a small bistro area near the Starbucks coffee bar.
Today, Lazydays® has RV customers from all 50 states, Mexico and Canada. Approximately 55.9% of their customers are repeat and referral customers. Why does over half of their customer base keep coming back to Lazydays? The reason is simple: the staff and sales team at Lazydays® continue to treat every customer as if they’re visiting a world class destination resort and knows that it is all about making their “experience” memorable. Recently, the RV SuperCenter® reported sales of over $795 million for 2004.
Almost one year to the date, Lazydays® introduced the luxurious CrownClub®, the only club of its kind in North America to provide exclusive services and an array of amenities to owners of luxury RVs costing in excess of $250,000. Now, with that same commitment to excellence, Lazydays® continues to exceed all expectations with their latest expansion and renovation. This level of amenities and service cannot be experienced at just any RV dealership in the world – certainly, not one equipped with Starbucks coffee, a professional concierge, and its sleek, plush interior design.
ABOUT LAZYDAYS: Lazydays® RV SuperCenter®, founded in 1976, is the largest single site RV dealership in the world. Located on 140 acres outside Tampa, Florida, Lazydays® has an 86,600 sq. ft. main building, 273 service bays, 300 RV campsites and more than 1,200 RVs on display. The property also has a 40,000 sq. ft. Camping World store, a Cracker Barrel Restaurant and a Flying J RV Travel Plaza. Lazydays® sales exceeded $795 million in 2004 and this National RV destination will host more than one million visitors and serve more than 300,000 meals this year alone. For more information on Lazydays: http://www.lazydays.com or call Stewart Schaffer at 813-246-4333.
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For Media Information:
Katherine Han
813 258 5858, ext. 27
katherine@schifinolee.com |
