Long before Marcus Lemonis eyed the new Steeple Bay development, where his Camping World and Gander Outdoors will open this summer, a Kansas company considered the south Wichita property for its newest RV store.
“We wanted to be in the Wichita market for several years,” says Harper Camperland general manager Dan Lear.
His family owns the business, which has stores in Harper and Great Bend.
Instead of the third store landing in Wichita, it’s going to Park City.
“We were pretty impressed with Park City,” Lear says. “They were pretty welcoming to us.”
The store, which will open this summer around the same time as Camping World, will be on 10 acres at the southwest corner of I-135 and 85th Street.
Lear says the interstate frontage is attractive, but he also likes that it’s a fairly quiet area otherwise.
“Our customers will be able to get in and out of there real easy.”
The 40-year-old business sells a variety of RVs, and Lear says it’s the only Jayco dealer in the state. Jayco is one of the largest RV manufacturers, and the family has sold Jaycos the entire time it has been in business.
Lear says Harper Camperland already has lots of Wichita customers and will be able to serve them better with the the new store, which will sell RVs and accessories and service the vehicles.
The store will hire about 20 employees initially.
Lear says there’s “a huge focus on customer service” and that’s why he wasn’t deterred when he learned about Camping World.
He says he’s looking to “capitalize on their weaknesses.”
“Actually, it made us more excited,” Lear says.
“We’re very excited to get down there and get opened.”