Newell Factory

[Don Bradner]

There was a first name mentioned and somebody jumped on the guy who mentioned
it... Didn't mean anything to me in terms of a recognizable person.

On 7/31/2009 at 5:39 PM Rick Davis wrote:

>Hey Don,
>I don't believe the winning bidders name is a secret. I don't remember
>what the name was, but seems like I remember reading about it with the
>name mentioned on the WOG forum.
>Rick Davis
>'93 WLSA
>in Houston
>
>
>
>________________________________
>From: Don Bradner
>To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
>Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 12:19:25 PM
>Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Newell Factory
>
>
>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 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@mac. 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@ yahoogroups. 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@ yahoogroups. 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@ yahoogroups. 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@ yahoogroups. 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@ yahoogroups. 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
>>> > >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>