Downturn Makes for Some Happy Campers

Come weekends, Dan Messer’s customers at the Lake Casitas park store are as thick as bears in garbage, snapping up sun block lotion, beer, munchies and even an occasional tent. Ventura County’s most popular camping spot is attracting its share of lodgers this summer. The number of campsites rented in May, June and July is up about 23% from the same three months last year.

For Messer, who runs the Lake Casitas store, that has translated into a 10% to 15% increase in business so far this year. “We’re definitely seeing more people out here, that’s for sure,” Messer said. “I think the economy has something to do with business being up. People can’t afford to go away for a week or two.”

Hard economic times seem to be sending travelers out into the great outdoors in search of cheaper vacations. National parks, for example, have seen a 4% increase in visitors this year. Reservations for popular camping sites go as fast as tickets to big name rock concerts.

That is turning sellers of camping and related goods, owners of campgrounds and other businesses around outdoor recreation sites into, well, happy campers.

Take Recreational Equipment Inc., which sells camping equipment in its 35 REI stores in California and 17 other states as well as through mail order.

The Kent, Wash.-based company had a good 1991, with sales jumping nearly 12% to a record $258.7 million. Although the retailer doesn’t release monthly sales results, a company spokesman said 1992 is looking even better.

“This year, we’re off to one of our best starts in the past decade,” spokesman Michael Collins said.

“We’re seeing more people returning to the outdoors, especially families,” he said. “There seems to be a perception, and I think an accurate one, that recreation is a high-value activity. You can outfit your family for less than you would spend on airline tickets and hotel rooms.”

Collins noted that large tents, suitable for family use, are selling well. What’s more, a recent survey of REI customers found that those with children were more likely to have gone camping in the last two years than were childless customers.

“The camping industry is on a roll right now,” said David Gorin, executive vice president of the National Campground Owners Assn. “It’s the right way to vacation for this time in our history.”

People are taking shorter but more frequent vacations and are looking for things to do with their families that don’t cost a lot, he said. Many campgrounds even have all the necessary equipment available for rental so that occasional campers can avoid the heavy initial investment, Gorin said.

Jansport, which makes everything from $3 waist packs to $250 backpacks, posted a 30% growth in sales last year and sales are up again this year, said Jim Thomsen, Southern California sales representative for the Everett, Wash.-based company.

“It’s going incredibly,” Thomsen said. “I live in Mammoth Lakes and I talk to so many people and they’re out camping. It’s a neat family thing to do.”

Even camping’s biggest ticket items--recreational vehicles--have gotten a boost. Sales of RVs were up 11% for the first six months of the year and shipments to dealers were up 41%, said Bill Baker, spokesman for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Assn.

“The people are realizing it’s a viable vacation option now,” Baker said. “Also, people are gaining a little bit of confidence in the economy and maybe are going out and buying RVs that they put off buying a year ago.”

Not everyone is enjoying the camping boom. Some disgruntled travelers, frustrated in trying to get reservations or with the crowded conditions, liken modern camping to pitching your tent in a parking lot.

And not every business is participating in the boom.

Orangeland Recreation Vehicle Park in Orange County is seeing few vacationers this year. In the past, summer campers trekking to Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and the beach joined the park’s more permanent residents who rent on a monthly basis, said owner Cindy Wimbish. But campers may be discouraged by the cost of attending those theme parks.

“It hasn’t been a real good summer for us,” Wimbish said. “I think it’s the economy . . . (and) the rise in the price of fuel.

“It’s very expensive to have a vacation in Southern California,” she said.

At Lin’s Tackle Box in Big Bear Lake, “things right now are a little on the slow side” because of earthquake jitters, said owner Lin Crawford. But for the last few years the bait and fishing gear business has enjoyed 10% to 15% annual sales increases, which Crawford attributes in part to renewed interest from campers.

“There are a lot of people that are camping out and fishing now,” Crawford said. “Those two seem to go hand in hand.”