Newell Factory

[Dorn Hetzel]

Wow, seems like it's been a while, but I guess these things take time...

On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 1:19 PM, Don Bradner <"bluethunder@arcatapet.com"> wrote:

 

As far as we know, the sale from the auction has not been consummated, and because of that those who know (such as Randy) who the winning bidder was are not posting the name publicly.

On 7/31/2009 at 1:10 PM Dorn Hetzel wrote:



>So what did become of all the stuff from the factory in the end? Who

>wound

>up buying it?

>

>Dorn Hetzel

>77FC35

>Hogansville, GA

>

>On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 1:06 PM, Pete Masterson <"aeonix1%40mac.com"> wrote:

>

>>

>>

>> From my conversations with Macy and Dale, it was clear that they were

>> strongly committed to Wanderlodge. The withdrawal of credit is what

>killed

>> them. It takes tremendous working capital to build $million + vehicles

>and

>> even with CCW "doing well" there is only so much internal capital they

>could

>> raise. (I'm sure that CCW has its own steep capital needs -- as WL

>owners we

>> all know just how expensive some of the heavy stuff can be. Multiply

>that by

>> 50 or 100.... and that's what CCW faces.)

>>

>> Their plan was to use the Ft. Valley facility to increase CCW's transit

>bus

>> activities in the east -- and it's certainly clear that losing WL hurts

>that

>> effort.

>>

>> I take Macy at his word that it was the financing -- and really nothing

>> else -- that ended the WL experiment. With the sale of the factory and

>loss

>> of the intellectual property (plans, etc.) it is likely that we've seen

>the

>> last Wanderlodge to be built.

>>

>> Pete Masterson

>> '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42

>> El Sobrante CA

>> "aeonix1%40mac.com"

>>

>>

>>

>> On Jul 30, 2009, at 7:40 PM, David Brady wrote:

>>

>>

>>

>> I agree. I doubt CCW paid much for Wanderlodge. Cerberus

>> was just happy to get rid of it. CCW probably got it mostly for

>> free. But then there were so many other factors: Macy's health,

>> Dale's brother, bank's withdrawing credit, who knows what the

>> final straw was. Dale probably gave Macy X number of months

>> to be profitable. It's sad to think that maybe one or two more

>> RV sales could have done it. In good times that can be done

>> by simply restocking the channels. The 450LXi could have

>> been a great bus.

>>

>> David Brady

>> '02 LXi, NC

>>

>>

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: Gregory OConnor

>> Sent: Jul 30, 2009 10:11 PM

>> To: "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com"

>> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Newell Factory

>>

>> I was surprised ccw dropped the wanderlodge gig. they are always busy

>in

>> Riverside. I wonder who ownes the firesale proceeds. might be a llc

>from

>> socal?

>> I noticed that CCW even restocked their used transit bus yard to max.

>>

>> Macie always signd out as a sales man so you cant complain about his snow

>> job . I would be pissed if they didnt refund the yearly and lifetime

>> memberships to wl owners for the birdsnest. proud owners purchased those

>> rights, I hope they were made whole

>>

>> airial view of busyard

><http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Stepp+Rd,+Murrieta,+Riverside,+California+92563&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.555061,61.347656&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FaXHAAIdzy4E-Q&split=0&t=h&z=16>

>>

>> Gregory O'Connor

>> 94ptca

>>

>>

>> --- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", dmb993@... wrote:

>> >

>> > Thanks for the insight. I was referring to Wanderlodge over the past

>ten

>> years. CCW played only a small part.

>> >

>> > David Brady

>> > '02 LXi NC

>> >

>> > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

>> >

>> > -----Original Message-----

>> > From: "jcmace59" jcmace@...

>> >

>> > Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:41:42

>> > To: "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com"

>> > Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Newell Factory

>> >

>> >

>> > The problem was the Newell had several years of production going which

>> was able to carry them through this downturn. Where else can you go for

>> service for your Newell? Much of their building is done in house, so you

>> have to go back to them for servicing. BB was a "new" company as far as

>> production was concerned. They also outsourced much of the chassis, so us

>> owners could get our parts outside of the factory. They didn't stand a

>> chance given what the economy did, in spite of building a superior coach,

>> imho.

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > --- In "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com", dmb993@ wrote:

>> > >

>> > > Thanks for the info Marty. Baffles me that Wanderlodge couldn't

>compete

>> effectively against them. Newell won the Nascar business. I toured the

>> factory and test drove their '08 coach (new at the time). I wasn't

>> impressed.

>> > >

>> > > David Brady

>> > > '02 LXi NC

>> > >

>> > >

>> > > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

>> > >

>> > > -----Original Message-----

>> > > From: "martingregg598" martingregg598@

>> > >

>> > > Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:59:52

>> > > To: "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com"

>> > > Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Newell Factory

>> > >

>> > >

>> > > Hi all, I had the opportunity to tour the Newell factory yesterday

>> (that makes the 7th factory I have toured) and they are still making a

>few

>> coaches. I was really surprised to see some of the basic components of

>there

>> $1.5 million coach. They do use a rib construction; however the ribs

>being

>> aluminum and the frame being steel means no welding the rib to the

>> substructure, they use these small tabs. How do they attach the aluminum

>> siding to the rib? They use 3M tape, no space age adhesive, no welding,

>no

>> rivets, just the tape, wonder how that hold in a rollover? The floor is

>OBS

>> wood, not marine grade, with 6" or so of foam sandwich between. The lower

>> compartments have a lot of quarter inch plywood in them, not marine

>grade.

>> They do still spray foam for the insulation and alot of the wiring is

>> embedded in the foam. The only part of the factory that was rally busy

>was

>> the repair shop, there must have been 10 new style coaches in for work.

>As

>> for me, I will be sticking with BB even if I have to manually open and

>shut

>> my door.

>> > > Marty Gregg

>> > > 95BMC37

>> > > Kennewick WA

>> > >

>> >

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>