Bent’s RV, the Louisiana dealership with two stores outside New Orleans, agreed to a sale to Camping World.
Camping World said the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024. Camping World will double its Louisiana store count to four with the acquisition.
Bent’s RV owner Brian Bent opened the dealership in 2002, three years before Hurricane Katrina devastated the area and six years before the Great Recession slowed RV sales.
Through it all, Bent said he learned to survive.
“Katrina was bad…but was good for us,” Bent said in a March 2021 RV News story. “The hurricane allowed us to jump in and help the local community with our products and services. Both the recession and oil spill really hurt us. Then, you have a pandemic that has helped us again…. Sometimes in tragedy, there is opportunity…because we have a solution to the problem. I had no idea I would face so many obstacles, opportunities and uncertainties when I started this company.”
Bent’s RV has stores in Albany and Boutte, Louisiana.
Camping World Chairman and CEO Marcus Lemonis said the acquisition builds Camping World’s presence around New Orleans as the dealer chain seeks to be the No. 1 dealer by sales in Louisiana.
