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Lazy Days To Lay Off 46 At Tampa RV Operations

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By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 3, 2008

TAMPA - The downturn in the economy continues to take a toll on the recreational vehicle market.

Lazy Days RV Center Inc. will lay off 46 full-time employees from its Tampa operations as part of an across-the-board cost-cutting program, executives said.

This comes after layoffs of 75 employees in July at Lazy Days, which is the world's largest single-site RV dealer by volume and number of brands sold. When layoffs are complete, the company will employ 504 people at its complex off Interstate 4 east of Tampa.

"An RV is a vacation home on wheels, and we typically lead the overall housing market into and out of recessions – and we're part of that housing recession," said Stuart Schaffer, chief marketing officer of Lazy Days.

According to company filings with regulators, Lazy Days' revenue fell to $136.7 million in the quarter ended June 30, from $201.4 million the same period a year ago. Losses deepened as well to $2.3 million in the quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of $400,000 the same quarter a year before.

Sales of new vehicles, for example, decreased from 844 units in the second quarter of 2007 to 613 units in the same quarter of 2008. Sales of used vehicles fell from 857 to 692 units.

That largely matches a 27 percent downturn in RV sales nationally, according to recent market data.

Schaffer said summer typically is the slow season for RV sales, so the company would have to see how the expected winter increase in sales unfolds. Lazy Days plans no more layoffs for now, he said, but if business conditions turn around significantly and in a sustainable way, the company could look at rehiring workers.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins@tampatrib.com.

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