Airstream's Covid-19 sales boom pushed it in a new direction - Business Insider

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Airstream's CEO explains how the coronavirus pandemic sparked an unexpected sales boom — and convinced him to pursue work-from-anywhere innovations

was expecting a good but not great 2020.

Consumers aren't comfortable flying or staying at hotels — but they're enthusiastic about hitching up an Airstream trailer and hitting the road for socially-distanced adventures.Airstream CEO Bob Wheeler wants to be clear that he's in no way happy about the Covid-19 crisis. He is, however, happy that none of his factory employees have tested positive for the virus. And it turns out that the pandemic has led to a business boom for Airstream, the likes of which Wheeler has never seen.

"We had anticipated in April that we'd be off by 70% year-over-year for retail sales in the US," he said. "But we were only off 30%. Then in May we broke our all-time record for a month, dating back to 1980, when we started to keep track." "Right now, we're behind market demand significantly," Wheeler said of the company's efforts to play catch-up, following its restart. They simply can't make trailers fast enough. Airstreams are hand-built, and even if they ramp up hiring, it takes months to train new employees.

The pandemic's effect on sales has also led Airstream — which had been busy developing new products — to focus on meeting demand for its existing portfolio. "Dealers don't want different," Wheeler said. Wheeler said two trends have come into sharper focus during the pandemic: working from home and and remote learning.

 

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HazelHassan work from anywhere in an Airstream for bums like us 😁😁😁

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