Dick Grymonprez: It’s A Great Time To Be In The Park Model RV Business!

For Skyline Champions’ Director of Park Model Sales, success in the smallest segment of the RV industry has always been about timing.

“Today, there are less than 5,000 park model RV units shipped per year, compared with around 600,000 other types of RVs,” says Dick Grymonprez. “But there’s a growing demand for park models, so the future looks very bright!”

In fact, currently, there is a one-year backlog on orders of park model RVs at all 12 of the company’s plants that are manufacturing park model RVs. Even with the untimely confluence of supply chain issues and skyrocketing gas and shipping costs that have increased the pricing over the past year, market demand has not diminished.

In his 40 years in the business, Grymonprez (pronounced /GRY mon prey/) has never seen backlogs like this in every state at the same time. “They’re all crying for product despite inflation being the highest it has ever been. We need to increase production at our facilities, but we also can’t outgrow our supply chain.”

A native of central Michigan, Grymonprez’s father was in the mobile home (now known as “manufactured housing”) business. And while he didn’t initially plan to go into the manufactured housing business, he was recruited out of college to work for Redman Homes in Indiana. When a transfer opportunity arose and he was asked where in the country he’d like to live, Grymonprez, who was then young, single, and an avid golfer, said without hesitation, “the South.”

Moving to Texas, he succeeded in being able to play golf year-round and in finding the woman to whom he has now been married for 39 years. The couple have two grown daughters.

“We all love the water,” said Grymonprez, who owns a pontoon boat, two paddleboards, a kayak, and a Sea-Doo. From his home office, where he has worked remote since 2012, he can watch the waves on Lake Athens gently lap the shore.

Grymonprez worked for Redman, which was acquired by Champion, until 2004, when he joined a group of investors to purchase from Champion the manufactured housing plant in Athens that had been closed for a year. The transaction came with a noncompete clause that prevented them from producing houses for two years, so they pivoted to manufacturing park model RVs.

In 2012, Champion bought the plant back and Grymonprez joined the company as their National Director of Park Model Sales. (“I joke that I have now worked for Champion twice and they have never hired me!” he said.)

His mission to grow the business was stymied by a lack of production capacity, so he set about identifying Champion manufactured housing plants around the country that either had low or seasonal business and could add park models to their output. He increased the number of plants building park models to 12. Soon, plants in Chandler, Arizona and Corona, California will have production lines fully dedicated to park model RVs.

Park model RV production in the original facility in Athens was moved to a plant in Mansfield, TX in 2017, although the units continued to be sold under the Athens Park brand name.

In 2018, Champion Enterprises, parent company of Champion Home Builders, merged with Skyline Corporation, maker of “Shore Park” park model RVs. Today, Shore Park and Athens Park are the biggest brands in the park model RV business, producing about 1,500 units per year. They’re available across the U.S. through a network of retailers, communities, and campgrounds.

While Grymonprez used to travel often to the manufacturing plants to oversee the development of new floor plans, his focus today is on simplifying the design of the units so they can be made more quicky to fill the backlog of orders.

“We’ve found that it’s easier to build wider units, rather than the typical 12-foot wide, because we can get more people working inside at the same time,” he said. “Also, we used to have more bay windows and roof transitions, but simple, more square designs work better. Customers don’t notice the difference; they’d rather have an outdoor porch than an inside bay, anyway.”

In fact, 80% of the units ordered today feature porches (some with outdoor wood-burning fireplaces) and 70-75% have lofts. The latter, while too low for an adult to stand up in, can add more than 200 square feet of indoor space, either for storage or for mattresses to accommodate guests.

As to the popularity of the various aesthetics of the units, Grymonprez says that depends on the part of the country. “In some areas, people want park models that look like rustic cabins; in other areas, they want their units to look more like beach cottages.”

 Grymonprez still spends time on the road making sure the company and its park models are represented at all the national and large state and regional RV Shows. And he’s back to exploring production expansion opportunities.

“We’re looking at opening new plants around the country that will produce only park models,” he said, hinting that a new acquisition in the eastern part of the US will hopefully be happening soon.

The timing of the expansion coincides with a dramatic rise in interest in park models from campground owners.

“Almost any consultant to the campground industry will tell owners that they should reserve 10%-20% of their RV spaces for “hospitality rentals” today,” said Grymonprez. “They typically start out with 10%, then realize how profitable the rental business is, so they add more.”

Park models, which are better insulated than typical RVs, are nevertheless, most popular in areas where campgrounds remain open year-round. Grymonprez’s outreach these days is almost exclusively to campgrounds and resorts, like KOA, Sun Communities, and Equity Lifestyles, who purchase multiple units.

“These companies and franchisees have found that there are economies of scale as they grow their park model business,” he says, referring to linen and housekeeping services. Over the past year, he has stayed in over 10 campgrounds that feature the Athens Park and Shore Park models, and one of his favorites, Carolina Pines in Myrtle Beach, has 130 units.

“When I visited there last July, all of the units were booked through the end of the year,” he said. “A lot of people want to experience camping but don’t own an RV, or they have friends at a campground whom they want to visit. For a similar price, they would rather stay in a cabin than in a hotel.”

When he’s not expanding, selling, and representing park models, Grymonprez is advocating for them as an almost decade-long member of the RV Industry Association Board of Directors. Formerly the president of the Recreational Park Trailer Industry Association (RPTIA) until they joined forces with the RV Industry Association around 8 years ago, Dick was appointed one of the two Park Model RV seats on the RV Industry Association Board of Directors. He has since been re-elected 3 times.

“It seems whenever I open my mouth in a meeting, I get elected to a board!” said Grymonprez, who, while laughing at the memory, takes pride in having never missed a meeting or an RVs Move America Week in all the years he has served. “The work the RV Industry Association does is important, and I think the Association, and the whole RV industry, should be very proud of themselves.”

His time on the Board will end next year, however, and retirement is looming in the not-too-distant future as well. While he looks forward to golfing more and he may take up fishing, Grymonprez, 64, is grateful for having had a fun career, surrounded by good people.

“Even though park model RVs are a small part of Champion’s business and of the RV industry, I’ve always felt like I’ve been supported 100%,” he said. “I’ve got the best job in the world.”

While Grymonprez wants to be sure that his division is in good shape before he retires, he is confident that market demand will remain high. “It’s a great time to be in the park model business!”