County's last big RV dealership closing

<p>Hansel RV Center in Petaluma is closing after 35 years in business, the latest victim of an economic slump that has consumers shunning big-ticket toys. </p><p>The dealership, which employs 18 people, hopes to liquidate its inventory of trailers and luxury motor homes by the end of the month, said Henry Hansel, owner of the Hansel Auto Group, the county’s largest car dealer.</p><p>“It’s just been a very, very challenging market and we just sort of came to the conclusion that it’s going to be quite some time before the market returns to a level where it can be profitable,” Hansel said Wednesday. </p><p>During the boom times of the late 1990s through mid-2000s when home values surged and credit flowed freely, the dealership at the north end of Petaluma was selling 60 to 70 RVs a month, Hansel said. </p><p>But as the housing market tanked and gas prices rose, consumers dramatically pulled back on their spending. </p><p>“The high-dollar discretionary items such as RVs really took a big hit,” Hansel said. </p><p>Hansel RV Center hung in longer than most of its competition. </p><p>Dan Gamel RV Center in Santa Rosa shuttered in February 2008 and Santa Rosa RV Center followed suit over the summer. Both cited gas prices and the recession for their woes. </p><p>Now Hansel is the last of the large RV dealers in the county to call it quits. It decided to focus its energies on its network of seven car dealerships, he said.</p><p>“My hope was kind of that being the last guys standing, so to speak, maybe that would propel us through this,” Hansel said. </p><p>But that hasn’t happened. Even with the recession ending nationwide, there are few signs that consumers’ appetites for $200,000 motor homes are going to return anytime soon.</p><p>“It could be a very long time,” Hansel said. </p><p>The only buyers in the market right now are longtime RV owners who are trading up to their third or fourth RV, Hansel said. </p><p>Earlier in the decade, the market expanded dramatically because people, often families with kids, were buying an RV for the first time. Financing with 20-year loans often made the eye-popping sticker prices seem manageable to many, when viewed on a monthly basis, Hansel said.</p><p>But as the economy has faltered, defaults on those loans have been high and the auction market flooded with repossessed vehicles. This has put significant pricing pressure on the new RV market, Hansel said. </p><p>The closure puts Henry Hansel in unusual position. He’s been in expansion mode for decades, often acquiring dealerships that are in transition or have run into financial trouble. </p><p>“I’ve never actually sold anything, I’ve only ever bought stuff,” Hansel said. </p><p>Hansel RV Center has started a liquidation sale to clear out its inventory of about 35 vehicles, ranging from used trailers for $20,000 up to new ultra luxury motor coaches for more than $200,000. </p><p>Hansel hopes to be able to offer jobs to all 18 employees at other dealerships, but can’t promise it. Some service jobs will certainly be kept. Service of RVs will move to Hansel’s Ford dealership in Santa Rosa early next year, he said. </p><p>Signs are pointing to 2010 being a stronger one for the car business, but recovery for the RV side looks farther off, he said.</p><p>“My crystal ball says it will return someday, but I don’t think to a level of profitability for two or three years,” he said. </p><p>Ann Mulderick, office manger at Bria Recreation on Yulupa Avenue, said she’s sad to see a competitor go. The market for the smaller, more fuel-efficient RVs Bria sells is down as well, but “tolerable,” she said. </p><p>“We’re just stubborn,” she said. “We want there to be an industry when all this is over with.”</p>