Hundreds of automobiles zoom through the New York State Thruway. The highway bridges Albany to Syracuse and provides passage to Rochester and Buffalo. New Englanders can travel west to Ohio and Indiana on the turnpike.
Among the bustle of cars, a new Wilkins RV location will be built in March at 1625 Route 318 Waterloo, New York, 13165, halfway between Rochester and Syracuse.
The new store will replace the New York dealer’s Victor location, which was acquired in 2017.
Wilkins RV President Brian Wilkins said the company began planning a renovation at the Victor store in 2019. The site only had 8 acres of space to work on and a road difficult to haul RVs in and out of. Roads and wetlands surround the area, making it difficult to build on, among additional restrictions.
Because of the restrictions, Wilkins sought other options.
When the Waterloo location became available, Wilkins pursued more information. He said although the location’s distance from Rochester was a concern, the location near the thruway and the development possibilities drew the company in.
“That did concern us,” Wilkins said of the distance from Rochester, “but we just felt that the advantages outweigh the negatives.”
The 35-acre site provides Syracuse market access in addition to Wilkins’ Rochester consumers. Wilkins said the 60-mile radius around the Waterloo location revealed a higher population of potential buyers.
Wilkins said he hopes to see the store double business in the next three to five years.
The new building will be Wilkins’ first expansion since 2022. After adding three dealerships between 2021 and 2022, bringing the dealer’s total count to seven locations, Wilkins stepped back as the economy shifted.
“Maybe we are opening the doors just as interest rates are starting to fall,” Wilkins said, “and maybe just as the markets are starting to revive a little bit.”
Wilkins will lease the Victor property once the transition is closed.
