In a local talk-radio news show on Tuesday, April 22, Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis let his feelings vent toward the city of Greenville, North Carolina. Or, more accurately, toward the city council thereof—that he holds the council responsible for Camping World closing a dealership.
It was one of the two RV dealerships that the company owns in Greenville. This was previously unpublished news. Indeed, Lemonis announced to the employees of the dealership only last Friday that the doors were closing that day. It’s just one more act in the low drama of Greenville versus Lemonis.
First news of Camping World closing a dealership came in talk show
In an interview Tuesday on local radio station WTIB, CEO Marcus Lemonis made the closure announcement. We were able to listen to the back-and-forth between Lemonis and “Talk of the Town” host Henry Hinton that aired then. You can watch the interview on youtube.com, here.
The interview began largely in softball-mode as Hinton asked Lemonis about his background, and how he got into the RV business. As some know, Lemonis was born in Lebanon, was orphaned, and later taken in by a Florida family. These experiences deeply affected his life and outlook.
However, as the interview went on, Moderator Hinton began to chip away at Lemonis’ actions in the company dealings with the City of Greenville, as officials have formally begun to fine Camping World for violating both the flag and flag pole size ordinances at the dealership.
Local ordinance overreaching state law
Lemonis says his company views the issue as essentially an overreach of North Carolina law. Hinton asked if Lemonis really felt that North Carolina law trumped the city ordinance. “We believe so,” Lemonis responded, “And that is our interpretation. And I want to be careful not to provide any sort of legal guidance … and I don’t want to ruin the element of reveal.”
North Carolina flag protection laws
RVtravel.com staff did some research on North Carolina law relative to protecting U.S. flag displays. What we could come up with showed that there is, indeed, some protection.
§ 47F-3-121. American and State flags and political sign displays.
Notwithstanding any provision in any declaration of covenants, no restriction on the use of land shall be construed to:
(1) Regulate or prohibit the display of the flag of the United States or North Carolina, of a size no greater than four feet by six feet, which is displayed in accordance with or in a manner consistent with the patriotic customs set forth in 4 U.S.C. §§ 5-10, as amended, governing the display and use of the flag of the United States…
The Camping World flag certainly exceeds the 4 x 6 foot limit. Another pertinent state law is this:
§ 144-7. Display of official governmental flags; public restrictions.
(a) A county, city, consolidated city-county, or unified government shall not prohibit an official governmental flag from being flown or displayed if the official governmental flag is flown or displayed:
(1) In accordance with the patriotic customs set forth in 4 U.S.C. §§ 5-10, as amended; and
(2) Upon private or public property with the consent of either the owner of the property or of any person having lawful control of the property.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, for the purpose of protecting the public health, safety, and welfare, reasonable restrictions on flag size, number of flags, location, and height of flagpoles are not prohibited, provided that such restrictions shall not discriminate against any official governmental flag in any manner.
The city may have arguments regarding “public health, safety, and welfare.”
Lemonis nettled by city council
As the interview progressed, it became clear that Marcus Lemonis is, indeed, nettled by the actions of the city council. Lemonis pointed out that Camping World has big flags and poles set up in nearly all cities where dealerships are located—with the exception of 22 cities where Federal Aviation Administration directives prohibit tall flag poles.
Nevertheless, his views “[don’t] give me permission to violate the [Greensville] ordinance,” Lemonis declared. “We think the ordinance is wrong. I think what’s also wrong: The city council members have been working very actively to disparage my business. And on Friday I had to consolidate one location. We own two dealerships in town, the main one that you were referring to, and another one called Forest River of Greenville. And we had to close that.”
Greenville dealership “uniquely damaged”
What’s behind Camping World closing a dealership? Lemonis declared, “Our business has been unfortunately negatively impacted. Uniquely in Greenville, North Carolina. The rest of our business is fine in North Carolina and in other parts of the country. And it’s been uniquely damaged. And we’ve had people—just as much as we’ve had people in support—we’ve had enough people saying that we don’t follow the rules, we’re bad people, we think we’re special, why do rich people think they can do what they want. And on Friday we had to close one of our locations and consolidate it.
“Now it’s becoming impactful. Now it’s becoming financially impactful to the business because of the comments that the council people have made about me being—using gimmicks and being a con-guy, and doing things. And you know, I’ve been very respectful with them on a personal level and they’ve been the opposite of that. And it’s now affecting people’s livelihoods.”
Would Camping World countersue?
Show host Henry Hinton suggests he’s hearing the sounds of a potential countersuit against the city. Lemonis says he doesn’t think it’s fair that the citizens should be held responsible for the actions of a few (the council).
Nevertheless, Lemonis declared, “It’s made me upset, and it’s made me more entrenched about the flag issue.”
Lemonis says he has no idea how the court might rule on it. “In the end, there is a possibility that we will lose.”
Lemonis wants to galvanize local residents to get involved. He continued, “And I’m here to tell you, again, and everybody else, that while I don’t hold the citizens of Greenville responsible for the impairment of my business—that’s my responsibility to solve—I do hold the citizens of Greenville responsible to communicate with their council members in a way that’s positive, in a way that’s persuasive, in a way that allows us to modify Greenville’s position about the American flag only, and its necessity to be compliant with the FAA.”
The situation in Greenville doesn’t appear to have any quick resolution. The show host worries that if something isn’t done to find some kind of middle ground, local residents could be on the hook for a huge legal bill. Even if the city were to prevail in a case against the RV giant, under North Carolina law, there’s no directive for them to recoup their legal fees.
Show host offers compromise
To that end, Henry Hinton made a suggestion to Marcus Lemonis. Make a generous contribution to a local children’s hospital. In return, the city council cancels all fines that Camping World is liable for in violating the local flag ordinance. And, rewrite the ordinance so that Camping World can continue with its 130-foot flagpole—legally.
Lemonis acknowledged that he’d love to make a donation toward the hospital. But he wouldn’t do so on a quid-pro-quo basis. Digging in his heels, the Camping World CEO declared this: “If we lose, I am not taking it down. If a court orders me to take it down, I’m not taking it down.”
We reached out to Marcus Lemonis for further comments. By deadline, we heard nothing back.
Stay tuned for the next act.
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RVT1206b
Thank you for the update, Russ and Tina! Interesting that Lemonis correctly stated the criticisms of him and Camping World, yet merely dismissed them. That certainly added validity to them. I look forward to seeing if Lemonis follows through on his thinly veiled threat to bled Greenville. I cannot imagine how he has any legal standing, but these are strange times. Have a great day and safe travels!
Marcus Lemonis was probably only going to close the dealership anyway. With the market turbulence it may not be cost efficient to have two RV dealerships in the same area. Camping World and many other businesses are getting too big. Their billionaire owners, like our president think they can do what they want. We are a country of rules and laws that every American must follow no matter how much money they have.
The stock price of Camping World is way down. The flag is just a cover for his need to close the dealership.
Is the wife beating illegal with 2 deportation rulings from 2 seperate judges 3 and 5 years ago, now sent HOME to El Salvador, above the law? How about the 2 judges that were arrested last week? Are they also not above the law? Slippery slope mrpavet. Careful what you ask for.
Happy trails ✌️😎
Had lots of pop ups while trying to read this article?
Go Greenville!
Good for Greenville on their stance for the rule of law. Billionaires think they are the exception. The economy is in bad shape and Marcus is using his stance of closing the dealership on the city council, when in fact, it’s his own greed. All this over the height and size of the American flag. Sounds petty to me and quite childish. You can still have a flag so long as it’s within city ordinance. No one should be surprised on the stance of a billionaire and their childish behavior to have it their way.
AND, he could have put up numerous ‘legal’ flags around the building if his actual argument was “Patriotism” and not an EGO trip!
It’s about time someone stood up to the arrogant wealthy people who think they can do whatever the want regardless of the law.
All of the zoning requirements were signed and approved by both sides.
Now let’s see if he pays taxes on the property he still owns!
In his mind he still won.
A multi-million dollar property sitting empty.
And it’s going to be harder to sell or lease that empty property during the coming recession.
But, he still has to pay the taxes on the property he owns.
If he doesn’t, the city can take ownership.
If only he cared as much about his customers after the sale.
There may be a dispute on the size of the flag vs. city ordinance, but closing a dealership as a result is comical. All he had to do was comply and fight it in court. My guess is the closure is more like Camping World has to close some dealerships to pay their massive fine from lawsuits against the company for faulty business practices. Their fine in the millions I believe is the real reason for the closure, not some ridiculous flag issue. I call this a bold face lie. Any corporate CEO who closes a dealership over a flag ordinance issue is laughable. But with so much fake news out there, this is one for the top of the list.
My guess is that having two dealerships in the same area was not making business sense. He’s just using the flag dispute as an excuse to falsley blame others for the decision.
Lemonis put this flag up for marketing purposes. Period. It’s nothing to do with patriotism or acknowledging the greatness of the country that took him in. He’s a guy who sees people as cash registers to be wrung out, whether employees or the public.
Wonder what CEO Maruus Lemoinis, will use for an excuse for the sudden Closure of the Marion, NC Dealership, and Campground , without warning, to Employees, Customers, or the many Families that are living in campers after losing everything in the raging Flood Waters of Hurricane Helene, who were given 5 days to vacate the property ! That’s more notice than Employees, and Customers received, as their first indication of a closure, was a notice posted on the Door of the Showroom, and Campground Office, Stating the Location was Permanently Closed effective Immediately !
I care so little about what Lemon-is does that I just had to comment … I don’t care.
*no offense Russ and Tina
I detest false patriotism. This is all about money, make no mistake. People who use the symbol of our country in the guise of being patriotic while gleefully lining their pockets are the worst kind of humans.
Why not fly a normal sized flag in accordance with local regulations? Patriotism is not measured by the size of your flag.
Lemonis, you need to stop and smell the stuff you’re shoveling. The RVing people are tired of the deceptive practices your company has been using. You are not above the law. Thank you to the citizens of Greenville!
What he is doing is warning other communities…”Don’t mess with Camping World or we’ll close up shop and go elsewhere…He’s a bully and a scheister…Look at the CW practises and complaints
Most of us wish he’d close up shop and go elsewhere. And leave a vacancy that an honest shop can fill.
Historically, it was immoral and considered improper to use the flag for marketing purposes but one group of people seems to have utterly forgotten decency. I would say the excessive flying of the flag everywhere, including using it for clothing (or RV marketing!), falls along the same lines. When I see people trying to push flags on us (be it in a store or out in the world), that is what I think of them. This guy needs to rethink his entire life, as do the other flag-fetish people.
He just said that he will not follow court orders if he loses his (apparently inevitable) lawsuit against the city.
So he’s going to follow the Trump strategy of using his billions to play rope-a-dope with the legal system, and financially punish the little people who dare oppose him?
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
How much do they want for the rv camping world that went out of business. give me a price