HITTING THE ROAD
A growing number of Baltimore-area residents are purchasing luxury RVs amid coronavirus concerns
Bob and Debbie Pavlik’s second home has an outdoor kitchen that includes a refrigerator, a freezer, a grill, along with a television, solar panels, central air conditioning and heating, and a washer and dryer— all on wheels.
The Pavliks’ home away from their Millersville home is a 42-foot-long Cherokee Arctic Wolf 3660 Suite, a fifth-wheel trailer. They haul it behind their Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD pickup truck to destinations such as Cape Charles, Virginia; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Cocoa Beach, Florida.
The couple says the
camper — which they bought two weeks ago for more than $60,000 — is just as comfortable as their single-family home and offers them flexibility.
“We call it ‘The Mobile Mansion,’ ” Debbie Pavlik, a 56-year-old Realtor, quipped.
A growing number of Baltimore-area residents are purchasing recreational
vehicles as coronavirusrelated concerns have driven people to RV dealerships across the country.
Shipment data for June 2020 showed that more than 40,462 units were shipped nationally, which is a 10.8% increase from June 2019, according to Monika Geraci, spokeswoman for the RV Industry Association.
Jordan Jones, general sales manager at Chesaco in Joppa, says RV sales locally lately have been “crazy.”
“People will literally come in and say, ‘Hey, this is the one I want to buy. Can I pick it up in three days?’ ” he said.
Thomas Kerfoot, president of Bay RV in Joppa, who sold the RV to the
Pavliks, said his usual onlot inventory of 100 trailers has dwindled to about 20. And getting re-stocked may take a while.
Even sales of higher-end models have been brisk.
“People are now buying anything from $12,000 brand-new travel trailers up to half-a-million-dollar motorhomes,” Jones said.
Joel Wrightson, a 65year-old Essex resident who repairs wheelchairs and hospital beds, recently ordered a 35-foot-long Arctic Wolf fifth-wheel that sleeps six.
It will have theater seating, a 55-inch screen television, an electric fireplace, and a residential-sized refrigerator.