Punching the Clock: Roughing it

These days campers have everything: full kitchens, baths, living rooms, dining rooms, king-size bedrooms, air conditioners, flat screen televisions, Amish wood decor, carpeted floors and built-in barbecue grills. They’re like houses – except they hook to a hitch and they’re nicer than your actual house.

The pop-up my family had in the 80s wasn’t much for spending time in. The inside looked like the outside of a mosquito net and it tipped over if someone got up too fast.

“They’ve come a long way over the years,” said Andrew Oliver of Oliver’s Campers in Norwich. “People think they’re ‘roughing it’ in a camper. But there’s not much they don’t have anymore.”

At this rate, the 2011 models will come with their own fold-out front lawns and neighbors. And a bent basketball hoop with a missing a backboard hanging over the garage door.

Oliver’s has seen the industry evolve since 1966, when the dealership first opened on the Springvale Road. The business has since moved – first to West Hill in 1972, and then to its current location on Rt. 12 in 1992 – but the mission has always been the same.

“We’re built on customer service,” said owner James Oliver. “That’s a large reason why a good amount of people come from some distance to see us.”

“It’s not just because we’re good-looking guys,” he added with a laugh.

About half of Oliver’s customers are from outside Chenango County, they say. Most come from across the state – from as far west as Rochester, as far north as Watertown and as far south as Long Island. Most of that business is generated at two annual campers shows in Syracuse. From there, word of mouth spreads.

“It’s a sign that you must be doing something right,” Andrew said of out-of-town customers, many of whom come back a second and third time. “You get to know these people, which is nice. They’re not just another face.”