Bigfoot closes it's doors.

[kerry]

Since there have been a couple of pretty well known expedition campers built with Bigfoots, this news may be of interest.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22115529/srt/pa/pging/1/page/2.cfm

 

[mountainpete]

That's sad! They are well known in Western Canada.

 

[dhackney]

TCM interview re: Bigfoot closure

This is the text from an interview conducted by Truck Camper Magazine regarding the Bigfoot shutdown.

I have not been in contact with anyone from Bigfoot, so I don't have any confirmations, second source, fact checking or additional information at this time.


BREAKING NEWS: Bigfoot Industries Closes
POSTED: Wednesday, 19 November 2008 | by Gordon White

This morning we received a tip that Bigfoot Industries had closed after thirty-one years in the RV manufacturing business. We then contacted the Bigfoot Industries switchboard and confirmed the unfortunate news. For further information we called Beau Durkee, Sales Representative for Bigfoot Industries.

TCM: What happened at Bigfoot this morning?

Beau: The major crediting bank for Bigfoot shut the company down. The bank’s decision came as a surprise to Bigfoot. We were willing to ride out this economic storm and absorb some losses, but the bank was not.

TCM: Is the Bigfoot closure permanent?

Beau: Yes. This is a permanent shut down and closure. If the company ever does restart, it would be something completely new.

TCM: Is there any warranty for Bigfoot owners?

Beau: Unfortunately, no. There is no company to back the warranty. If someone has a newer Bigfoot unit and they want some protection, my advice is to purchase extended warranty program from a local dealer.

TCM: Have the Bigfoot dealers been contacted?

Beau: I believe Jim Johnson, CEO and Co-Owner of Bigfoot, is drafting a letter for our dealer base now. I’ve been trying to contact the US dealers that I work with personally.

I spoke with Jim but I didn’t get a lot of specifics. He’s taking this incredibly personally as you might imagine. He’s very emotional about letting go of his employees who are his first concern.

Just this month, Jim invested $150,000 into a new fiberglass mold. The bank really caught Bigfoot off guard. There was certainly no intention to mislead any dealers or consumers who recently bought Bigfoot product. This was as much a surprise to Bigfoot as it was to the public.

TCM: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Beau: Please publish my phone number and invite Bigfoot owners to call me with any questions. My cell number is 661-406-5630 .

TCM: Thank you Beau.

 

[mountainpete]

From Time Colonist (Victoria BC newspaper)

B.C. RV maker Bigfoot goes out of business
Downturn in U.S. was death knell for Armstrong manufacturer
Darron Kloster, Victoria Times Colonist
Published: Friday, November 21, 2008

One of Canada's largest recreational vehicle manufacturers has closed its doors after 31 years, with sources citing the "unprecedented stress" of economic conditions in the United States.

Bigfoot Industries, based in Armstrong, ceased to exist Friday, with a spokesman for the company saying only the company had "officially closed."

The plant in the Okanagan, about 65 kilometres north of Kelowna, made fibreglass-moulded fifth-wheel trailers, holiday trailers and truck campers and had about 200 employees - with about one-third of those already laid off in June.

Arbutus RV and Marine Sales Ltd., which sells Bigfoot lines at five Island locations and is the largest seller of Bigfoot products in Canada, said yesterday it would be working closely with an appointed receiver "in liquidating this unique and quality-built Canadian product."

Arbutus owner Craig Little said Bigfoot sold about 70 per cent of its product in the United States, but the closure of several dealerships because of softening demand amid the economic meltdown forced the Armstrong company to buy back all unsold inventory. With the Canadian dollar slipping far from par with the U.S. greenback, the difference essentially forced the company to close.

Little said Arbutus RV will add several Bigfoot units to its inventory and offer three-year extended warranties on the product.

Bigfoot's closure was the second shock to the North Okanagan region this fall after Lavington Owens-Illinois, a glass container plant, shut its doors and cut 300 jobs in October.

Bigfoot Industries suffered a serious setback in the spring of 1998 when Terry Mayall, who founded the company, and two directors died in a plane crash near Moses Lake in Washington.

 

[dhackney]

Victoria (BC) Times Colonist story

Victoria (BC) Times Colonist story RE: Bigfoot Closure

B.C. RV maker Bigfoot goes out of business
Downturn in U.S. was death knell for Armstrong manufacturer

Darron Kloster
Victoria Times Colonist


Friday, November 21, 2008


One of Canada's largest recreational vehicle manufacturers has closed its doors after 31 years, with sources citing the "unprecedented stress" of economic conditions in the United States.

Bigfoot Industries, based in Armstrong, ceased to exist Friday, with a spokesman for the company saying only the company had "officially closed."

The plant in the Okanagan, about 65 kilometres north of Kelowna, made fibreglass-moulded fifth-wheel trailers, holiday trailers and truck campers and had about 200 employees - with about one-third of those already laid off in June.

Arbutus RV and Marine Sales Ltd., which sells Bigfoot lines at five Island locations and is the largest seller of Bigfoot products in Canada, said yesterday it would be working closely with an appointed receiver "in liquidating this unique and quality-built Canadian product."

Arbutus owner Craig Little said Bigfoot sold about 70 per cent of its product in the United States, but the closure of several dealerships because of softening demand amid the economic meltdown forced the Armstrong company to buy back all unsold inventory. With the Canadian dollar slipping far from par with the U.S. greenback, the difference essentially forced the company to close.

Little said Arbutus RV will add several Bigfoot units to its inventory and offer three-year extended warranties on the product.

Bigfoot's closure was the second shock to the North Okanagan region this fall after Lavington Owens-Illinois, a glass container plant, shut its doors and cut 300 jobs in October.

Bigfoot Industries suffered a serious setback in the spring of 1998 when Terry Mayall, who founded the company, and two directors died in a plane crash near Moses Lake in Washington.

© Victoria Times Colonist 2008


[The reference to buying back unsold inventory is related to the shutdown of the commercial credit markets, including vehicle & RV flooring programs.

"Flooring" is a finance program where a retail vehicle dealer pays a finance charge for the inventory they carry for the period between delivery from the factory and sale to a consumer.

Depending on the industry/segment, e.g., autos, commercial trucks, RVs, etc., flooring terms and programs can vary widely.

If a dealer didn't have a flooring program, they would have to pay full price to the manufacturers for the vehicles on their lot and showrooms (after the typical grace period provided by the manufacturer). If manufacturers didn't have flooring programs available, they would be unable to stock dealers with a wide selection of product.]

 

[pete.wilson]

Hey

Is this a situation where the financing company has called the loan due and since bigfoot couldn't pay were forced to close. It seems hard to concieve they would just walk in and tell them to close the doors. Seems to be more here than whats been reported. I have heard that legally everyone who finances a vehicle or anything can at any point have their loan called due without notice, maybe someone can correct me on what I have heard.

Sucks for the Bigfoot Company and the rest of their loyal employee's.

Pete Wilson

Just goes to show: Banks all want a handout from the federal goverment but don't want to help people below them. We would have been better off bailing out the average american and would have been able to get things going faster than they way it's been handled. Coulda, woulda, shoulda!

 

[Sportsman Matt]

Unfortunately this happened outside the US, where the laws are different.

I wonder who would take over all the machinery and production line now that the bank owns it due to the closing?

With all the RV Manufacturers and Dealers dropping like flies, unless things change, pretty soon the only thing you'll see going down the road is home made motorhomes, trailers, and truck campers because the manufacturers are gone.

 

[Carlyle]

What really sucks is the current Bigfoot owners who can't get parts, service or warranty work from now on. They make a great camper and were one of my considerations when I was purchasing, glad I don't own one now though...

 

[dhackney]

This from a friend who worked there:

Bigfoot struggled for the past few months with a lack of US dealer orders, the lack of consumer credit and in the end a lack of wholesale credit, plus, several US based dealers went out of business forcing BF to repurchase some of their inventory. BF had scaled back heavily already working only 4 days a week and reducing output to align with demand, but in the end the repurchases from the dealers that went out of business did them in, it was too much to carry, and BF declared bankruptcy. It was hard, especially on the production employees that lost their jobs and were forced to look for work in an area that had already 350 other labor type people looking for work due to a Corning Glass Plant closing only weeks earlier, plus the time of year this close to Christmas doesn’t help much either.


The Bigfoot owners group is a good resource for support: http://www.bigfootowners.com/

 

[dhackney]

More info on how flooring works from a friend who works for an OEM:

Based on credit worthiness, a bank will establish a line of credit for a dealer and as long as that line has room, the OEM can ship product to the dealer and the bank will pay the OEM for that product. The bank then charges the dealer interest on the amount floored and performs monthly floor checks of the dealer’s inventory. If product is not there and there is no finance contract pending, the floor checker will demand payment for the product right then. OEM guarantees bank against dealer fraud, and thus has quite a bit of input on how much leeway bank gives our dealers when problems arise.


The OEM will usually pick up flooring charges for the first 90 days or so for new shipments to incent dealers to order product allocation in advance. One motivation for OEMs to discount product (dealer rebates for product already sold to the dealer) is to free up flooring in order to ship more product. Our budgets are met with wholesale invoicing, so dealer inventory levels are closely watched.

 

[I Leak Oil]

Silly me, here I was thinking our bailout money was supposed to free up money to lend, hence creating more consumer spending. I hear more and more about people NOT being able to get loans. Are the banks just keeping the cash to ride this out or what?

My neighbor has a BigFoot truck camper. Nice but certainly more than what he needs. He won't admit to that though!:ylsmoke:
As long as he's happy with it that's what matters. He did tell me what he paid for it one day though....Yikes...
Jason T.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I dunno, I just bought a new car, had zero problems getting credit. I heard it's only those with poor credit ratings who can't get credit. That's how it always should have been.

 

[maXTERRA]

I had no idea so many were already gone!

RV manufacturers out of business :

Alfa Leisure
Alpenlite (division of Western RV)
Ameri-Camp
Bigfoot
Chinook/Trail Wagons
Dolphin (a National brand)
Extreme RV
Fleetwood trailer division (closed for good)
National RV
NuWa Industries (plant closed. Plans to build Hitchhiker 5th Wheels again)
Pilgrim International
Sun Valley Inc.
Sunline Coach
Teton Homes
TravelSupreme
Weekend Warrior
Western RV, Inc

Companies that declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Country Coach (Factory open again but on much smaller scale.)
Fleetwood (Company sold, making motorhomes only)
Monaco (Aquired by Navistar, will start up again on limited scale)
Rexhall (Bankruptcy, still operating)

Other:
--Blue Bird is no longer making motorhomes.
--Coachmen has been acquired by Forest River.
--King of the Road now builds mobile homes, not RVs.
--Towable maker Pacific Coachworks stopped production but has anounced (July, 09) it will begin again.


Many RV related parts suppliers are feeling the pain as well...

 

[Orthohoney]

From the Bigfoot RV website:

Announcement

Big Foot Industries was sold at a Bankruptcy Auction Sale on January 25, 2009. The new owners whom are active in other businesses have decided to put this company back on the market. Here is an excellent opportunity to purchase a great company with a history of having very good products and service. We will be offering for sale the Big Foot name, the trademarks, the web site, build books, the molds, and drawings. There are some of the key employees from the original company living in the area who may be interested in rejoining this company.

Interested parties may contact:
Cliff Davies
Ph: 250 833-8174
E mail: cliffd@mill-tech-ind.com