A while back, I got a lot of criticism for my story about the perception of RV parks as being a haven for less desirable tenants, but here’s further proof of that perception. Apparently, Tom Hanks’ son, Chet, has been living in an RV as he works on his career in Nashville.
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, he was asked what it was like, and he responded that he loved it. He stated that he was the youngest person in the park by 30-40 years.
Chet stated, “You think ‘Oh, you’re going to live in a trailer park. It might be a little sketchy. It might be a little dangerous.’ It’s all just retirees.”
As I wrote in the article about the perception of RV parks, I still feel we can all do more to help let the world know that RV parks aren’t sketchy places. Changing the reputation of RV parks to one that’s more positive can help those hoping to build new parks by overcoming a less favorable reputation.
This time, the RV dealership got hosed
We’ve all come across circumstances where RV dealerships have taken advantage of customers. In a role reversal, a Wayne County, Michigan, woman is accused of embezzling more than $2 million from General RV.
State prosecutors allege that Susan O’Hara used client information and General RV’s computer systems to issue checks under an assumed identity and then cash them.
O’Hara was sentenced to 30 months to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $2,147,858.55 in restitution to General RV Center. She pleaded guilty to three counts of embezzlement and one count of forgery, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Lippert and Patrick are not joining forces
If you haven’t already heard, the proposed merger between LCI Industries (Lippert) and Patrick Industries is off. While the negotiations had arrived at who was going to be responsible after the merger, apparently, it just didn’t work out.
If you heard a gigantic whooshing sound coming from the general Elkhart, Indiana, area, it was a collective sigh of relief by just about everybody else in the RV industry. While none of the several dozen people I reached out to within the RV industry would go on the record, there wasn’t one person who was positive about the merger.
Meanwhile, Patrick Industry’s CEO, Andy Nemeth, said that the company’s acquisition plans will continue.
“We are definitely active in the market right now,” Nemeth said, “cultivating deals, regardless of an LCI transaction or not. We feel really good about our continued position to be on offense in this market—to be able to take advantage of opportunities that are out there.”
Patrick Industries acquired RecPro in the fall of 2024, specifically to reach the aftermarket, and has subsequently added hundreds of products to the company’s offerings.
The company is also looking to make strides in composite roofing and flooring products.
More on Lippert
While RV sales remain sluggish, things are looking good for Lippert. In an earnings call with President Jason Lippert, the company reported a 27% increase in net income for the first quarter of 2026.
“Achieving this balance has taken time, discipline and continuous refinement of both our teams and our strategy,” said Lippert. “Our European operations deliver the strongest quarterly results we have seen since building that platform. Our transportation business continues to perform very well as we integrate Freedman Seating and Trans/Air Climate Control systems. Altogether, our diversified performance meaningfully contributed to LCI achieving an 11.5% EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] margin in our Q1 in what we call a pretty turbulent quarter. For the first quarter of 2026, revenue grew 4% year-over-year to $1.1 billion. We expanded profit margins by nearly 100 basis points and grew adjusted diluted EPS [earnings per share] by a robust 18%.”
Consolidated net sales increased 4.3% to $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up from $1.0 billion in the same period of 2025. The $44.9 million increase was primarily driven by a $29.3 million increase in the OEM [original equipment manufacturer] Segment, reflecting sales price increases to cover higher material costs, sales from acquired businesses during the year ($46.8 million in the first quarter) and an increase in North American RV sales driven by recent innovations and a higher mix of premium fifth-wheel units, partially offset by a decrease in North American travel trailer and fifth-wheel shipments.
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RVT1260b
If only Jason Lippert would quote declining warranty costs through innovative durability enhancements but no. His focus is not on quality, customer loyalty or product reliability but instead, growing the balance sheet….sigh.
This is becoming one of my favorite parts of an already great publication. Good job Tony!
Well thank you for brightening my whole day and bringing a big smile to my face! I’m grateful to be able to serve you.
The Lippert/Patrick merger was facing stiff concerns from the Gov’t as well. About time someone in Gubermint took the decline of competition in the industry seriously.
https://www.lee.senate.gov/2026/4/lee-questions-rv-company-merger-on-antitrust-concerns-to-protect-american-travelers
Here’s a video made by Chet Hanks about living in his trailer. Warning, some words have been beeped out, but if you move on to 1:55 minutes, he starts to show you around his trailer and the view! No wonder he likes it there…
https://youtu.be/tC4wFw722bY?si=ZcEA4VlGw-z-by3G