Arizona Campers and Trailers: One Hot Desert Dealership

Jim Bridges, Owner of Arizona Campers and Trailers, tells us about his truck camping adventures and the surprising path to his owner's chair in Phoenix. ... ... ... ...













Arizona Campers and Trailers originally opened its doors forty-four years ago under the name Michigan Trailer Sales.  When Jim Bridges, Owner of Arizona Campers and Trailers, purchased the dealership in 2003, the public had spent thirty-seven years scratching its head about the Michigan dealership in Phoenix, Arizona.  Clearly the dealership had been successful, but the name had confused customers for decades.

A name change is not something any business takes lightly.  Six years after taking the helm, Jim decided it was finally the right time to make the change.  Immediately the Michigan Trailers sign came down and the Arizona Campers and Trailers sign went up.  Kyle Bridges, Jim’s son and Sales Manager, told us that he still receives emails and phone calls from Michigan residents looking for campers, but less and less every day.  What a difference a name can make.

Today, Arizona Campers and Trailers remains a family owned and operated dealership.  They offer new and used truck campers, fifth wheels, and travel trailers.  They also offer camper shells, service, parts, and a fully-stocked RV store.  Their eight member team follows Jim’s no pressure, customers come first philosophy and attitude.  In short, Arizona Campers and Trailers is now a fine tuned dealership.

Of course that’s not the whole story.  The story really begins when Jim went looking for a job and discovered an opportunity for much more.  To learn more about his dealership and the interesting turn of events that led him to the owner’s chair, here’s Jim.

TCM: When did you become involved with the RV industry?

Jim: A year after I moved to Phoenix in 1977, a friend with a small RV dealership asked me to join him.  At the time I had very little knowledge of RVs and I didn’t initially do well selling them.  After a few months of mediocre sales results, the owner of the dealership moved me into service. 

I had hands on experience with the heat and air conditioner business as well as construction.  With my experience, the owner thought I would do well in service.  Working in service also gave me the opportunity to learn more about the RV products.

A year later he moved me back into sales and opened up a satellite location.  He sold motorhomes and towables at the original location and truck campers and shells at the new location.  I went to run the new dealership with the camper shells and truck campers for him.

TCM: Were you enjoying the business by this point?

Jim: I have always enjoyed the business.  I enjoy meeting people and things went really well.  The owner of the dealership ended up getting rid of the motorhomes and towables after about a year and went strictly with camper shells and truck campers.  I ended up with that dealership for twenty-five years.

TCM: That’s a good run.  Did you have a unique approach with customers as you were selling truck campers and shells?

Jim: I’ve never been a hard sales type of salesman.  I always try to relate to the customer.  A speaker at a camper shell industry seminar once said, “Samson killed a thousand Philistines with a jaw bone of an ass.  Many sales have been killed in much the same way”.  That resonated with me and I decided that I needed to be a much better listener than a talker.

TCM: When did you get your first truck camper?

Jim: Truth be told, I’ve never actually owned one.  As the manager of a dealership, I’ve always had one available to me.  My family has been on several coast-to-coast truck camping trips.  We’ve gone from California to Florida and from Arizona to Florida and plenty of places in between.  All of our long distance RVing trips have been in truck campers.

TCM: Why did you choose to take a truck camper cross-country?

Jim: Truck campers are nice because they’re so versatile.  They allow us more freedom to go where we want to go and stay where we want to stay.  For example, we can park in the driveway of a friend or relative with a truck camper.  You can’t always do that in a travel trailer or motorhome.  We never extensively plan our trips.  Truck campers allowed us to be more impulsive.  We would plan where we were going, but we would leave the rest open.  Truck campers just fit our lifestyle better and made things easier.

I often tell customers that when I take a trip, I take a truck camper.  That’s what my family prefers and it’s what my truck is set up for.

TCM: Tell us about the history of Arizona Campers and Trailers.

Jim: The owner of the dealership before me wanted me to come work for him with the idea that I would buy the business.  Before purchasing the dealership, I worked here as the General Manager.  That gave me the opportunity to watch the operations, meet the employees, look over the books, and experience the challenges the dealership was facing.  That was in 2003.

The previous owner and I had very different management styles.  After I acquired the dealership it took about three years to turn things around and get things going the way I wanted.

TCM: What kinds of things did you change?

Jim: When I started here, the dealership had commissioned sales.  That was a sore spot with me as I believed non-commissioned salaried sales people were more customer friendly.  In my experience, salaried sales people are about helping the customer and commissioned sales people are out for themselves.  I wanted my dealership to be customer oriented and a change to a salaried sales team was very important to making that happen.

Another change I made was with the team.  It took about three years to find the right people for our dealership team.  After our children were grown, my wife joined me to handle the books.  It took us a few years to learn how to best run the books, but now we’re on track.  Now that we’ve managed to wade through the economic downturn with our heads up.  Things are going very well.

TCM: What made you want to run your own dealership?

Jim: After managing a dealership for twenty-five years, I found myself out of work.  That was when I decided that I would like to have more control over my future.  I never sought out being the boss or owner, but I’ve never shied away from it either.  I take the bull by the horns and get things done.  I’ve been that way with everything I’ve ever done.  As a result, I’ve always ended up as the boss or manager.

Owning the dealership also meant I could have my family work with me if they choose.  Today my wife and son work with me.  I’m really blessed to be in that position.  God had a hand in it and I have my faith in him.

TCM: How does your team help someone to find the right truck camper for them?

Jim: I like to find out what the customer has in mind.  I’ll ask him/her, “If you had a truck camper, what do you envision yourself doing with it?”  Do they want to drive to a campground and socialize, or do they want to get off the beaten path?  Are they going to visit National Parks?  Do they want to go hunting or fishing?  We try to help them figure out what they want out of their RVing experience and then match them to the right camper.

TCM: How many truck campers do you keep in inventory?

Jim: We try to keep fifteen to twenty new truck campers in inventory.  Our used inventory fluctuates.  We have about ten used campers in inventory now, but we were completely sold out at one point in March.

TCM: As a dealership, are there specific aftermarket suspension enhancement products that you recommend to new truck camper owners?

Jim: There are a lot of suspension enhancement products on the market.  Unfortunately, there’s not a perfect answer that meets everyone’s needs.  For most customers we recommend airbags and Torklift Stable Loads.

TCM: As a Phoenix, Arizona dealership, can you give some advice on how to protect an RV from the harsh Arizona summer sun?

Jim: Ideally you would keep your camper out of the sun in a covered facility when you’re not using it.  If you’re not able to store it a covered facility, it gets challenging.  I don’t recommend RV covers because they won’t last more than a year or so with our strong sun, even the best ones.  Your best bet is to protect the camper interior by covering the windows from inside the camper.  You should also wax a filon or fiberglass camper at least once a year.  I also recommend inspecting the side and exterior seals as they will dry out, shrink, and crack under the harsh sun and dry heat.  And finally, I recommend using a universal-type spray paint on anything plastic on the camper exterior.  Exposed plastic will quickly yellow plastics and make them brittle and cracked.

TCM: Wow.  It sounds like you’re really best keeping a camper out of the sun under a building cover.  When did your son Kyle join the dealership?

Jim: Kyle was going to school and majoring in computer science.  He started school in Florida and then returned home to finish his degree here in Arizona.  While he was going to school in Arizona, he worked for several companies in their computer department.  Initially, these companies were able to schedule his hours around his classes, but later he got into conflicts.

When he had two semesters left, I suggested that he come to work for me.  He could work the hours he wanted.  The first day on the job I handed him a shovel and a wheel barrow and told him to chop down weeds.  He didn’t blink an eye and chopped weeds all day.

TCM: So much for computer science!

Jim: Well, that’s how I knew we could work together.  When he finished his degree I figured he would go work for Microsoft in Seattle or something.  He really surprised me when he said he would rather work here with me than start new with another company.  I was thrilled that he wanted to stay.

TCM: What is your vision for Arizona Campers and Trailers moving into the future?

Jim: I don’t see a lot into the future.  I try to deal with what’s in front of me day by day and handle things as they come.  The only plans I have are to grow the business by developing relationships with my customers and suppliers.  I also want Arizona Campers and Trailers to be a good place for people to shop and a good place for our employees to work.  I want my employees to have a good living.  Some day I’d like to see Kyle take over and keep the boat afloat.

TCM: Is there anything we didn’t ask you that you would like to add to your interview?

Jim: I’ve learned in life to give people more than they pay for whenever possible.  I’ve also learned the importance of being a good listener.  That’s why we have two ears and one mouth.  What you hear is at least as important as what you say.  That might be what makes us different from other dealerships.

I should also mention that we have camper shells, utility trailers, fifth wheels, travel trailers, and truck campers.  We have a very capable service department and fully stocked RV store.  I don’t think there’s another RV dealership in Arizona with the breadth we offer.  Come see us.


To learn more about Arizona Campers and Trailers, visit their website at www.azcampers.com.