By Chuck Woodbury
EDITOR
How patriotic are you? Marcus Lemonis, the CEO of Camping World and the Good Sam Club is very patriotic. At least that’s what he wants you to think.
As you may know by now, for the last year he has flown a huge American flag over his Gander Outdoors store in Statesville, North Carolina. It was so big it violated a local size ordinance. The permitted size was 25 feet by 40 feet. Lemonis’ flag was 40 feet by 80 feet. Lemonis cited his patriotism in continuing to fly the giant flag. “I’ll go to jail before I’ll take it down,” he said to television reporters who covered the story from near and far. He came across as a good guy, a super patriot.
Veterans rallied, demanding the local city council allow him to fly the flag. Last week they caved. Lemonis paid a fine of $14,350 plus $2,000 in court costs and his flag still flies.
Here’s what I think
I think it was one big publicity stunt. Lemonis flies the same big flag at all his stores around the country, and to my knowledge all legally. I know that several times on my road trips I have seen a huge American flag ahead. “Ah, Camping World,” I think. And usually I am right.
So, a question for you: does the size of the flag someone flies determine the degree of his or her patriotism? Could Lemonis have flown a slightly smaller flag, one that was legal, to show his patriotism? Can one be patriotic and not fly a flag at all?
I believe most people who fly an American flag are patriotic and I don’t doubt that Lemonis is, too. But I do not believe that if someone’s flag is bigger than another’s flag then it should be assumed the one with the bigger flag is more patriotic.
The veterans in Statesville were angry with the local city council for denying Lemonis his illegal flag. They are, rightly so, proud of the flag of the country they served to protect.
But keep in mind, the city was only asking to Lemonis to limit the size of his flag like any other citizen. Lemonis could have flown the slightly smaller American flag and played by the rules. Of course, that would provide zero national publicity instead of a whole bunch.
So here’s a question for you: if a law-abiding store up the road from Lemonis’ Gander Outdoors flies a smaller flag, does that mean its owner is less patriotic than Lemonis?
You tell me (and I’m sure you will). And to those of you who read into this that I am somehow bashing veterans, be assured that I hold each and every one of them in the highest regard.
Came across the bookmark today and thought I’d check in but darned if anything’s changed, still kicking CW around and trolls still flogging Lemonis due to their media illiteracy. Ugh. I unsubscribed and abandoned rvtravel.com a few months back as what once was such a good resource for RV news had become a single-issue banner for anti-CW and made Lemonis the butt of angry right wing commenters who seem to be your main demographic now.
As someone who travels extensively in my RV I can’t understand why you would like to have less resources available to you almost anywhere you’re traveling to/from? I’ve used CW for supplies, had them perform scheduled and emergency unscheduled maintenance and have stayed overnight at more than a few of their locations. If you need to replace a failed sewer valve at 10am on a Sunday morning in Chattanooga, TN I can guarantee you will be overjoyed to see that huge flag waving above the interstate. See how many service shops there are that can get you in for a generator oil change/fuel filter replacement with only a few hours wait when you’re passing through Rogers, MN mid-winter.
Do they sell RV’s at the highest possible price, I hope so! I’m a Realtor and you’d be justly upset if I priced and sold your house too low as an “act of kindness” to the buyer, right? Go ahead and find a better deal somewhere else, I didn’t buy my RV from them as I did my due diligence and found an independent brand sold direct from dealer that beats anything CW had to offer. However I’m very glad CW has such a wide, national presence and I’d miss them as a trusted resource who most often has what I need to stay on the road. If your wish for them to fail comes true I doubt that we’ll be better off trying to rely on WalMart for their very limited RV-specific offerings and most other RV dealers carry a tiny fraction of the parts and accessories that CW stores do so be careful of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Thanks again for your previous contributions to RV’ers, good luck with your single-issue audience and keep the rest of us informed if you ever go back to the old format.
To Kevin Smith. We have a slightly different opinion on Camping World than you. Keep in mind we have been publishing for 20 years, and it’s only been recently we’ve had more negative to say than positive about the company. I’m not going to go into another conversation about this, as I have already written so much. But, alas, we are far from a “single issue publication,” and, also, our readership has never increased faster than in the last year. So I’m not inclined to go back to the “old format.” I don’t know what that means, actually, because if we have changed it has been gradual through the years based on how the industry and RVers have changed.
We try our best to be objective. Most of the time when we write anything that would be perceived as negative or highly opinionated, the article is labeled “Opinion.”
I appreciate your comments, but really must strongly disagree with you about calling our readers a “single-issue audience,” in the way you suggest. That said, however, it’s true that we are focused on one single topic — “RVing.”
And by the way, to correct you, Camping World is not known for selling RVs at the highest prices, as you say, but the lowest prices. It’s other aspects of how the company conducts its business that we at times find objectionable and not in the best interest of buyers.
About our readers being “right wing commentators . . . who seem to be your main demographic now.” Well, there is no doubt that far more of our readers are Republicans than Democrats, but I suspect that true of the entire universe of American RVers. I just wish we could all just talk about issues without fighting.
We try our best, Kevin, and are very aware that we cannot please everyone. It’s impossible, especially in today’s hot-tempered world.
Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts in a respectful manner.
Marcus believes he is above the law and regulations! His arrogance to be willing to go to jail for his flag ( because he can afford it) shows he doesn’t care about rules!
🙁
social media stated that he didn’t want Trump supporters business…I have asked everyone of the Camping world employees that called or sent me an e-mail…none will answer that question….so I am not a fan..
No one is above the law. The permitted size was 25 feet by 40 feet. Lemonis’ flag was 40 feet by 80 feet. Bullying the town to make an exception for his “mine is bigger than yours” flag just points out his short-comings.
I agree with you Chuck, it definitely was a publicity stunt. Just like a couple of large car dealerships in our local area, they fly the large oversized flag, to identify their Car Dealership location. Mater of fact, if you call them for directions, they tell you they are on X street, and look for the large American Flag. What a bunch of Huey. I fly the American Flag on the front of my home, do I need to have it over sized?? No definitely NOT. I just want to show my love for my County, and not the love for my EGO!!!!!
Chuck, I think your animosity towards Marcus and Camping World is leading you to feel like you have to be the anti-Marcus on everything and anything. Personally, quite frankly, I forgot about this “issue” a long time ago. I get that it probably was part for publicity, but does it matter in the grand scheme of things? Now that it’s resolved (apparently), it’s like you want to keep it alive for whatever reason.
My recommendation – don’t let your personal feelings towards CW and Marcus impact your judgement.
Mike
Let us see a picture of his house. If it has an equally large flag, then I would think he may be patriotic but if only at his place of business, it’s for advertising purposes.
I think that’s a good point, Jim. Thanks! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
It was a publicity stunt. Whatever else Lemonis is, he isn’t stupid. Whether or not he anticipated it going in, he immediately realized he had a great PR opportunity when Statesville called him out for violating their ordinance. There’s a saying about patriotism being the last refuge of scoundrels. IMO, Lemonis took advantage of people’s love of their country and flag, and used it for his own advantage.
Chuck, I agree with you. He used this as a publicity stunt. The city had an ordinance that all other businesses followed. When he applied for his permit, he agreed to their ordinance, but ignored it and flew a flag twice the size. From what I read, the ordinance limited the size of the flag if it was to be flown within a specified distance of the highway for safety reasons, which he was within. An oversized flag does not mean he is more patriot than someone flying a smaller flag. I’m not saying that he is not patriotic, I’m just saying I believe he did it to gain attention. This makes me dislike him even more than I did before. Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t think you’ll find too many more people more patriotic than me. I fly a flag 24/7, respect very much and thank our servicemen/women tremendously.
Towns and cities have ordinances for reasons. In this case it was the size of a flag. Marcus Lemonis did not follow the cities rules. He is also a powerful CEO and like most in his position does not like to be challenged and has the money to fight and win. In my opinion I think part of this was a publicity stunt.
I dont care what size flag Makus Lemonaidus flies as long as it does not interfere with his neighbors enjoyment of their property.
(and yes I spelled his name wrong on purpose)
Chuck, you are out of line on this one
Pete Morris, why am I out of line? Please tell me why, otherwise your comment doesn’t mean much.
read the other comments, I rest my case
The intent of your article and its tone had nothing to do with the overall subject. It was just another way for you to take a pot shot at your nemesis.
Chipper 146. You write that it had nothing to do with the topic. Read it again. It had everything to do with the topic. Then please tell me why it has nothing to do with the topic.
Chuck, I am afraid I have to agree with Leo on this one. It was a poll with not enough answer options. It was also geared to elicit a biased response. No one should base their Patriotism on the size, or quantity of flags displayed. Although I have heard so many negative things about CW, that I would most likely never purchase an RV there, I think we should give Marcus the benefit of the doubt on this one. Even if it were partially a publicity stunt, it was done for a cause I can clearly get behind. Being an Editor, I am sure you know that there are a lot of people here that value your opinions and knowledge when it comes to RV’ing. As one of those people, I implore you to put your obvious dislike for Lemonis aside and stick to what you do best: discussing RV’ing! On this one, I give him a huge “Two thumbs up”!
I am reposting this. If you feel there is something offensive in it, please leave me your explanation.
Ed
Ed and Robin D., Lemonis has EVERYTHING to do with RVing, and in my opinion it’s far from positive. I have nothing personal against Lemonis but I strongly object to the way he conducts his business. And the fact that he has let the Good Sam Club go to waste puts a real sour taste in my mouth.
Chuck, I understand your feelings on that particular issue. But this was a totally different issue and as you can plainly see, no one agreed with your position. It is hard to deduce that you have nothing personal against him after reading your countless posts about him.
So Chuck, what does the American Flag have to do with anything?
Where did my comment go? Explanation please?
It’s there Ed and/or Robin. Sometimes for reasons I don’t fully understand, a comment will get automatically put into a file where we need to manually approve it. Typically there is a word in there that might be used by spammers or other bad guys. For example if a guy named Dick were to leave a comment about the great chicken breasts he had a restaurant named “Hot Babes Barbecue,” the filters would put that in the queue for moderation. Heck my comment here might end up there.
Your poll question is so biased it was not even worth answering. Your headline “wins his illegal flag battle”, is equally biased. Obviously if the city granted him a special license then by definition it is not illegal. Next time when preparing a poll or headline put your hatred of CW aside and revert back to your journalism training.
I didn’t see that as biased, the flag was illegal until the city council made an exception for the location of the store. Away from that specific location it would still be illegal. I don’t like CW either but I’ll defend his right to fly whatever size American flag he wants. I believed it was a publicity stunt from the beginning but as long as it’s an American flag I’m going to back his right to display it, now a foreign flag NO!
Not hatred, Leo. And I labeled it “Opinion.” You are welcome to contribute that way as long as you put your name on the article. Journalism training teaches you to always identify something that is your opinion as such and not as “news” if that is what it is. I do not hate Camping World, but I am no fan of its CEO’s business practices. Read my story again and try to see my point.