Lemonis doubles down on long-term view for Camping World, says No. 1 asset is loyalty club
Lemonis says loyalty club #1 asset, doubles down on long-term view for Camping World Lemonis says loyalty club #1 asset, doubles down on long-term view for Camping World
11 Hours Ago | 01:20
Camping World Holdings Chairman and CEO Marcus Lemonis issued a vote of confidence in his RV and camping accessory retailer when he bought a chunk of its stock on Friday.
"I set up the bid and I ended up only with 25,000 shares. I was kind of disappointed," Lemonis, also host of CNBC's "The Profit," admitted to fellow CNBC host Jim Cramer in a "Mad Money" interview on Monday.
While shares of Camping World have been relatively stagnant since Lemonis last appeared on the show in June, the CEO appeared confident that his company would achieve its longer-term goals.
In particular, Lemonis said that Camping World's 2017 acquisition of outdoor products retailer Gander Mountain would help bolster the Good Sam program, which he said in the past makes his company "the category-killer" in its space.
"Our No. 1 asset are our customers that sit in our Good Sam file," he said of Camping World's loyalty program. "That's the most important part of our business. But in order to grow that file and to grow the annuity part of our business, which is Good Sam, we have to really grow our platform."
The Good Sam Club, an online database that comprises roughly $100 million of Camping World's EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, provides Camping World customers roadside assistance and warranties on the company's RVs, as well as savings on other products.
"As I looked at where this company needed to go, doubling the size of the dealership footprint was really the only option, and Gander Outdoors was really the spark that really takes us there," he said.
That longer-term outlook is what makes Lemonis especially confident in his company's future, particularly considering the yet-untapped parts of the camping and outdoor retail market.
"What we're ultimately, Jim, trying to do is find the millennial, the millennial who doesn't want to go in their father's … motor home," the CEO said. "They want to go in a smaller unit, a lighter unit. They want to pull it with their Prius. And we've made a concerted effort, through Gander, to enter that market."
Shares of Camping World Holdings surged 6.78 percent on Monday on news of Lemonis' buyback. The stock closed at $21.26 percent a share.
