Rex Willett, Vice-President of Northstar Campers
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Rex Willett of Northstar Campers is something of a living icon in the
truck camping industry. Everyone in this business seems to know him
personally. His name often comes up in our conversations with other
truck camper manufacturers. They'll say, "I just talked to Rex
yesterday. He's into everything." So who is this Rex Willett and what's
his story? TCM set out to get the real deal on Rex - and how.
TCM: What are your earliest memories that involve RVs?
Rex: I would say when I was five or four years old running
around my father, grandfather, and uncle's inventory. We would play in
between their pickup toppers. They would build twenty a day and make a
sea of fifty to eighty pickup toppers. We would also play in the room
with the cushions and hide and jump around. I'm the youngest of six
kids and we're all only eight years apart. I took lots of abuse. We've
lived on the same corner since 1955. I look out on these grounds and
see all sorts of memories. I feel just as comfortable sitting here as I
do at home. It's wonderful, but there is a price to pay. It's all we
talk about as a family. Inevitably, our conversations always turn to
RVs.
TCM: Tell us about the history of Northstar Campers.
Rex: My grandfather started Texson. Northstar was our main
competition. Pat Barner was the owner of Northsar. I liked Pat and he
liked me. I was working the Minneapolis show about at about 22 or 23
years old thinking I was doing well having sold three pop-up campers. I
walked over to Pat and told him that I thought it was a good show and
that I had already sold three campers. I asked him how many he had sold
and he said 34 and then he opened a file with checks neatly paper
clipped to the orders. So I said, "How are you kicking my butt so big?"
And he explained that we didn't have screen doors. That was like
getting smacked right in the nose. He was 60 or 62 years old and
already had my brother and I pegged to buy Northstar. We weren't all
that financially strong after making it through the beginning of the
1980's. It took every stitch of what we owned. We really laid it on the
line. We didn't change anything. We copied Northstar exactly. Then we
went to each Northstar dealer and told them that we had bought the
company. It really spring-boarded us into another zone. The best thing
we did was keep the same prices and camper design. For awhile we dual
marketed both Texson and Northstar campers. They were absolutely
identical, but people thought the Northstar was twice the truck camper
that the Texson was. And I was sick of everybody asking us if Texson
was built in Texas so we became Northstar only.
TCM: Was there ever a time when you thought you might not want to follow in your father's footsteps?
Rex: Yeah. I was the type of personality that didn't have a clue
about what I wanted to do. I was going with the flow. Back in 1979 and
1980 the economy was extremely rough. I took the Navy test, but I
didn't want to be on a nuclear submarine.
TCM: What might you be doing now if you weren't building truck campers?
Rex: Probably a florist. I love flowers. What a great job! You
walk in and they smell fantastic and you get to create things. And you
sell year round to funerals and weddings and for Valentine's day. I
always try to have fresh cut flowers in my house and mixed bouquets.
I've always been interested in that. I think I would always be involved
in selling or some kind of business in that aspect. I thought several
times about a florist shop, but I bet they're just as competitive as
any other business.
TCM: Do you feel like you're running your family's business or is this now Rex's Northstar Campers?
Rex: It's always family. It's a 100% partnership with my
brother, Rorry, and my Dad. My Dad is 73 years old and I don't think
there's another person that's been in the truck camping business as
long as he has. He works here three months a year. We like to bring him
to the National shows because he knows so many people. The comment I
hear often is that my Dad's a peach. I have not a clue where they get
that word. He's just so docile and honest. This is a family thing.
Grandmother Tex's wife is still alive at 93 and lives just three blocks
from here. It's really between Rorry and myself. He has just as much
sweat in this company. And we're a good balance. I'm more flamboyant
and jumping on things. He's constant and more of a bean counter. We
have grown an average of eight to fourteen percent every single year. I
don't know how much bigger we want to get. Not everybody can have a
Northstar.
TCM: Why of all places is Northstar in Iowa? With the high cost
of shipping, wouldn't it make more sense to be closer to one of the
coasts?
Rex: It's so inexpensive here. And we're fairly centrally
located about 1200 miles from the east coast and 1800 to 1900 miles
from the west coast. We wouldn't move. This is our home. And we have a
responsibility to the employees. I grew up with a lot of these guys. I
would put our truck camper crew up against anybody's. The knowledge and
experience between these thirty people would blow you away. I have one
employee that's been here for forty years. Many have been here ten to
twenty years. That's experience. And you get to know them and their
families and see their kids grow up. We like Iowa. There's not a lot of
people here and it's a great place to raise a family. And we're the
most gullible people on earth. We'll believe anything, once.
TCM: Why do your truck campers have cassette toilets? Is it a design preference?
Rex: Absolutely. It's a function preference. Other truck campers
companies are starting to offer cassette toilets. If you look at the
big diesel pusher motor homes in Europe, they all have cassette
toilets. With a cassette toilet you don't have to worry about freezing
in the winter, you just fill with antifreeze. And you don't have to
worry about filling up. You just wheel it up and dump it. It's just as
fast, it's just different. Besides, 25% of our business is overseas and
they demand cassette toilets. Our brochure and web site also give a
good explanation as to why we decide to use cassette toilets.
TCM: Your hard side truck campers uniquely feature two small windows in the front of the over cab. Why do you do that?
Rex: Rorry and I were at an RV show in Germany in 1987 and saw
those windows. Almost every European motor home or caravan has them.
They have a built in roller shade and screen, they open so you can pass
things in and out, and they have excellent visibility and no
condensation. They don't radiate cold. We were the first American
company to offer these insulated windows. We've had them in our campers
for twenty years now. Once you have these windows in your camper,
there's no going back, period. We haven't built a camper without them
since 1987. And they're $1,000 more than standard windows. Other
companies are finally giving in. It's a huge compliment now that other
companies are starting to use cassette toilets and our windows.
TCM: There's a perception in the marketplace that Rex is into everything. Talk to us about that.
Rex: That's the thing I love about it. I'm into everything and I
can be because it's my life and I have the time to do it. I'm into the
things that are important to the growth of the industry as a whole, and
my company as a whole. My family is in this for the long term. We live,
eat, and sweat truck campers. I was conceived in a cab over of a truck
camper. In my dreams that's what I'm dreaming about. I've had
epiphanies at night and sat straight up and said, "That's it!" My
brother does the same thing. It's all consuming. We have 100% passion
for it.
TCM: Tell us about your involvement with NATCOA.
Rex: I love NATCOA, I really do. I saw it and thought it was a
fantastic idea. I jumped on it
immediately. I'm really into the
interaction with the public and teaching the knowledge of the do's and
don'ts. And I'm not afraid to answer any question. NATCOA has by far
the best forum. You get people like Beau Durkee, Bob Mehrer, and the
Wards from Hallmark who have been into truck camping a long, long time
and understand the ins and outs of them. We can correct things and set
the record straight. There are a lot of other forums but they can get
more Disney Land than accurate. You need to have a source where you can
get the correct answers and hang around with people who are true truck
camping enthusiasts. That’s what sets NATCOA above the rest. With
NATCOA, manufacturers can promote, defend, teach, and solve problems.
That’s the real beauty and spirit of NATCOA.
TCM: And the Truck Camper Show?
Rex: You could call me the Chairman of the Truck Camper Show. It
was my original idea, something I’ve always wanted to do. Big markets
used to have one show in the early spring and late fall. Now there’s
five or six. Manufacturers and dealers cannot afford the time, effort,
or money to get product to every show. Which ones should they go to?
Every manufacturer and dealer fights this battle. So I thought it was
time to have our own show. I mentioned the idea to Paul Beddows of
NATCOA and the idea just ignited. I stared calling on the relationships
I had built over decades. Some of these people are Presidents and I
stood by them at shows when they were salesmen. I’ve eaten at some of
their houses, shared rental cars, and picked them up at airports. Now I
work on the Truck Camper Show ten to twenty hours a week.
TCM: You're well known for selling your truck campers internationally. How did you get into that? Has it worked out?
Rex: It’s been very successful. I’m going to blame our
international business on a person called Kentucky. His real name is
William Rhule. In 1986, I was standing in Louisville and Kentucky
walked up to our display with a woman speaking with an accent. He lived
in Stolkholm, Sweden and was importing another camper he wasn't happy
with. I had never thought about exporting but Kentucky got us exporting
our campers to Sweden. He’s a really interesting character. He’s an old
biker, knew Elvis, and a real colorful personality to say the least.
Now our export business is a solid 25% of our business and growing. We
ship campers all over the world including Africa, New Zealand,
Australia, England, Germany, Norway, and Iceland.
TCM: Where do you see the truck camping industry in ten years?
Rex: The number of truck campers sold over all will go up as the
price of gas goes up and pushes more people into more fuel efficient
vehicles like diesel trucks. Of course it’s a very precarious time for
us. The explosion of the Chinese economy, sometimes growing at over 11%
of month, will have a profound influence on the American RV market. If
we send a camper to China, the duty, custom, and tariff fees total 33%.
If Chinese campers come into the United States, the tariff is 2.5%.
Chinese travel trailers have already showed up at Louisville. Here in
America we can’t fathom the impact that they are going to have on RVs.
Last year my brother went to an Australian RV show and there were no
Chinese campers. This year there were nine brands. It’s starting. The
RV business as a whole is totally oblivious to what’s going to happen.
They can put two or three travel trailers or two or three truck campers
in a container and ship them from China for about four thousand
dollars. It’s a recipe for disaster. This will either force
manufacturers to partner with the Chinese or raise tariffs. What the
Chinese want to do is completely pick our mind of our knowledge and
take the RV industry, an American icon, away from us. So many American
families have gone through tough times and they can take it all away
from us in two to three years. And they can build quality.
TCM: That's certainly something we should all keep an eye on.
What can we expect to see from Northstar in the future? What's the
vision moving forward?
Rex: Our vision is to stay fresh. Keep redoing bathrooms and
wallpaper so the campers don’t get dated. We want to be in this
business for a long time. We want to continue to be a leader in
innovation and style and a good value for our customers. You can talk
to almost anyone who went RVing as a kid and they have fond memories of
their camping days. It’s just good for the soul.
For more information about Northstar Campers, visit
www.northstarcampers.com . For more information about NATCOA, visit
www.natcoa.com . For more information about the Truck Camper Show, visit
www.truckcampershow.com .
If you liked this article, check out:
Northstar Campers Part 1: Strength Through Diversity
Rory and Rex Willett have moved Northstar beyond the domestic RV market to become a world-wide player.
Northstar Campers Part 2: Two Lines Running
We take a walk down Northstar's production lines with Rex Willett and
ask the big questions. Like, do you have to build a camper upside down
to pass Australian building codes?
Rory Willett: President of R.C. Willett / Northstar
Meet Rory Willett, President of R.C. Willet Co. / Northstar. His
journey has been full of surprise twists, challenging decisions, and
remarkable opportunities.
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