Retailer finds success with camper vans

For brothers Kurt and Craig Campbell, third-generation dealers in the Seattle area, nostalgia and identifying a gap in the market created a profitable component of their group's business.

The pair co-owns Campbell Auto Group, made up of Campbell Volkswagen of Edmonds, Campbell Nissan of Edmonds and Campbell Nissan of Everett.

In 2015, the group launched Caravan Outfitter. As the name implies, the retailer takes passenger and cargo vans and outfits them with creature comforts for customers looking to experience the outdoors via an all-in-one camper van.

In the 1950s, Volkswagen popularized such a setup with its Westfalia models, which were notable for their pop-up roofs.

"My brother and I grew up as Volkswagen dealers," Kurt Campbell said. "At one time, we were one of the larger Westfalia dealers in the country for Volkswagen. That product went away and we saw that that niche needed to be filled."

The brothers hired engineers and spent two years prototyping a camper based off the Nissan NV200 cargo van. The goal was to create a two-person van that had room for a bed, some kitchen space and a dining area, priced at about $40,000.

Sales of Caravan Outfitter's first van, named the Free Bird, began in 2017.

The two-seat Free Bird comes with a bed that is 76 inches long and 54 inches wide, which can be quickly configured into a dining area, a table and a kitchen box in the rear, filled with a camping stove, a small refrigerator and storage space.

Last year, Caravan Outfitter expanded its lineup with the Backroad, which is based on the larger five-seat Mercedes-Benz Metris. The Backroad comes with a pop-up top with a 78-inch-long bed, while the second row of seats can be folded down for a full-size bed.

Campbell acquires the new Metris vans through a local Mercedes dealership, noting that he gets special pricing.

The group has a separate warehouse northwest of its Everett Nissan store, where it builds out the vans. Campbell says the team of eight employees uses an assembly line approach, which allows it to build a monthly output of up to10 Free Bird and six Backroad vans.

To make the build-out process easier, each Free Bird or Backroad van is identical, except for the exterior or interior colors. Customers can add optional equipment such as a wraparound awning, roof rack, cargo box, tow hitch and bike carrier, among other options, during the ordering process.

The average Free Bird sells for around $41,000, while the average Backroad sells for about $73,000, Campbell said.

"I think we're offering the customer a great value," Campbell said. "And we're making money in the process."

Six salespeople at the Volkswagen and Nissan stores are certified to sell the outfitted models. Campbell — which sold 2,200 new and used vehicles in 2020 — will build 70 Free Birds and 25 Backroads in 2021. All of the Backroad vans are presold.

"We can't make enough of these," he said.

Caravan Outfitter's business has taken off since sales began in 2017.

Campbell said they've sold around 170 outfitted vehicles so far. On its website, the company has a map that highlights buyers' locations. While most sales have been to customers on the West Coast, Caravan Outfitter has also found buyers in the South, Midwest and Northeast.

"The customers are the funnest customers we've ever experienced because they're really excited to get the product," Campbell said. "It's not a utility vehicle for them. It's something that's kind of fulfilling a dream."

Caravan Outfitter made some changes this year, with more to come. It has added two offerings: the Nissan Frontier-based Outpost pickup, which has a pop-up tent in the bed of the truck and other off-road goodies, and the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based Pop-Top. As with the Backroad, the Sprinter Pop-Top has a pop-up top with a bed inside.

Nissan's decision to exit the commercial-van business means Campbell's supply of NV200s is gone. But arrangements have been made with Ford Motor Co. and a local dealership to acquire Transit Connect and Transit vans.

Caravan Outfitter also opened a sales and rental facility across the street from the group's Volkswagen and Nissan stores in Edmonds. Campbell anticipates its first rentals will begin this month with a fleet of six Free Birds, with Outpost rentals to follow in June.

"It seemed like the natural progression was to now offer people the ability to rent as well as purchase," he said. "For a lot of people this is a big investment, and maybe they want to rent it for a few days first or people from out of town come in and they want something affordable to go to the campgrounds with."