Parking-lot sales helped Hohl decide on showroom in Reno

The decision of Michael Hohl RV to open a showroom in Reno was more than a half dozen years in the making.

The company opened a showroom and service center at 10450 S. Virginia, the third location for the Carson City-based dealer.

But Bert Landes, the general manager of the Michael Hohl RV, said the company had spent at least six years carefully preparing the ground as it conducted off-site RV sales at parking lots outside shopping centers, hotels and other locations in Reno.

Those off-site sales, he said, helped create a customer base for a Reno showroom and it helped the dealership gauge the interest for a full-blown facility.

"There are people who don't necessarily want to come to Carson City to shop," Landes said.

Driving the dealership's interest in a Reno location, he said, was the market's position as one of the top in the nation for sales of travel trailers.

Sales of travel trailers and the larger fifth-wheel trailers have held up relatively well in the last year, Landes said, even as spikes in gas prices and rising interest rates brought some softening in the market for full-sized recreational vehicles.

The Reno showroom is the third for Michael Hohl RV. Along with its Carson City store, the company operates Findlay RV in Las Vegas.

Ron Bluff is general manager of the Reno showroom, which employs 12 in sales, services and parts departments.

Along with the RV dealership, Michael Hohl's six locations and 200 employees include General Motors, Honda and Subaru automotive dealerships.

The company said it has plans to further expand its operations in Reno.