Airstream brings its iconic 'Silver Bullets' to Milwaukie
MILWAUKIE, Ore. - There is no name that is better known in the RV industry than Airstream and now the iconic legend is putting down roots in Milwaukie.
Airstream Adventures Northwest quietly opened on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard about a month and a half ago and the shiny 'Silver Bullets' on the lot are already attracting attention from passersby.
"I just can't get over the response of people coming in," said co-owner Ted Davis. "Young, old - it doesn't matter. And this is just from being on 99 - we haven't even gotten the word out yet."
Airstream trailers have a way of bringing back the nostalgia of a bygone era and it's no surprise that people driving by would want to stop and see one for themselves.
"Sometimes people come in because they are seeing a piece of history and they feel like they just want to touch an Airstream," said Davis. "And it's so iconic. And then for others, it's the benchmark for adventure."
For Airstream, opening up a dealership in our market was a no-brainer.
"If you look at the values of this community - outdoors, adventure, active, an appreciation for design as well - you just checked off all the factors for Airstream," said Airstream President and CEO Bob Wheeler, who was in town this week to showcase the new dealership.
Airstream is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest (the West Coast is the company's strongest region) but Wheeler said they realized early on that the Portland area was a place where they could thrive.
"We have a great dealer in Eugene and one in Seattle but Portland in particular is under-served for us," said Wheeler. "The Airstream thing just resonates here in a way that it doesn't necessarily do everywhere else."
And for Davis, who splits his time between the Airstream dealership and a nearby car dealership, it was a chance to connect with customers on a deeper level.
"It's just wonderful," he said. "The people come in here and this is about a lifestyle and about memories they want to create and adventures they want to go on. When you get to engage with people on that level, it's so much fun."
Is This Really a Good Time to Open a Dealership?
The RV industry has definitely seen its share of heartache in the past few years and Airstream did not escape the sour economy.
"We spent two years kind of backpedaling, along with everybody else," Wheeler said. "It's a big, discretionary purchase. You don't need one and it's kind of the first thing people elect not to buy."
At its worst point, Airstream lost half its employees in four rounds of layoffs but Wheeler said things have turned around and the company is on the upswing again. They've even been able to rehire a big part of their workforce that had been laid off.
"It's interesting because nobody's leaving the lifestyle," Wheeler said. "The decision is just you're deferring that purchase, you're putting it off. You're not getting out of the lifestyle altogether. Now we're starting to see those people who have been sitting on their wallets for two years coming back to the market."
"We know we've taken a pretty big risk opening up an RV franchise during what is still a recessionary period," said Davis. "We feel that we are certainly at the bottom but are starting to move up. There has been a repositioning in the RV business and a repositioning of values."
Airstream Then and Now
Airstream, which is the oldest manufacturer of recreational vehicles in the world, was founded in 1931 by Willy Byam, whose successful article 'How to Build a Trailer for One Hundred Dollars' led him to start his own company. He is said to have created the unique trailer in response to his wife's refusal to go camping without a kitchen.
Airstream was a hit from the get go and within five years after it was founded, nearly 400 companies tried to cash in the craze. Out of all of those, only Airstream remains today.
Despite its popularity over the decades, the company has had some dark times.
"It's not always been successful," said Wheeler. "There was a period in the 80s or 90s when the product had gotten stale. The decors were not moving forward and weren't cutting edge. A lot of people still loved the exterior but they would walk inside and say 'oh, that looks like my grandma's kitchen.' "
Today, the Airstream's popularity is soaring once again and Wheeler said it's thanks to the company's focus on design aesthetic and the launch of the Airstream International in 2001. The new trailer was designed with the help of an architect and furniture designer out of San Francisco. Wheeler said suddenly new life had been breathed into the Airstream's decor and customers responded.
"As soon as it hit the market, for all those people who loved the outside but hated the inside, that was it," said Wheeler. "And it just took off. And that became 40 percent of our sales very quickly."
It also changed how Airstream did business.
"The success of that model changed Airstream in a very fundamental way," said Wheeler. "Our understanding of what an Airstream was or could be was completely changed. And our dealers who would say 'Classic Airstream is all I want and all I know' were like 'bring it on.' They could see the possibilities."
Airstream was founded on three tenets - design, quality and innovation - and Wheeler said they still hold true to those core values today.
"Cutting edge design - we try to push the envelope within our industry and out," he said. "Product quality is paramount and that ties in with the durability of the product and the fact they they last so long. And innovation - new features, new functions. How do we make this thing that is the ultimate expression of 'form follows function' and make it that much better. How do we make it relevant for today's consumers."
The one thing they are focusing on right now is lightweight design.
"There's been a big push in the last year or 18 months to produce lighter weight products," said Wheeler. "That is really no surprise because the vehicles coming out of Detroit are smaller and more fuel efficient and they can tow less. So that's a phenomenon, obviously, that we have to be keenly aware of and be able to respond to."
Coming up with a lightweight design is a challenge, though, especially when consumers these days want things like flat screen TVs and other extras in their trailers - all of which add extra weight.
"There's a middle ground we are trying to shoot for and we know that is a real movement that has to be addressed," said Wheeler.
How Much Do Airstreams Cost?
Airstreams run between $35,000 and $110,000 and while that might sound expensive, Wheeler said you have to remember that Airstreams are designed to last.
"We make a product that doesn't last a lifetime - it lasts several lifetimes," said Wheeler. "We take a lot of pride in that."
"These products are not disposable," said Davis. "They're not meant to last five or ten years, they're meant to last you a lifetime or more than that. They're actually designed to last generations."
"If your interests are outdoor and adventure and you appreciate iconic design, quality and durability, come look inside one," said Wheeler. "Don't just look at the outside."
Used ones can cost you less, of course, but they are hard to come by.
"Typically if one of our dealers takes a used Airstream trailer in trade, they might have it four or five days," said Wheeler. "They go that quick. Usually, we'll have a waiting list of people who have said 'I can't buy a new one right now but if you get a used one in...' They come in and we start going down that list."
And the older an Airstream gets, the more valuable it can become.
"They're kind of like classic cars," said Wheeler. "After 25 years, they start to appreciate. And our residual values are higher than anyone in the industry - bar none. Just go on eBay and you'll see."
Celebrities Love Their Airstreams
A number of celebrities have taken quite a liking to Airstream trailers. The company's A-list clients include the likes of Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Sandra Bullock and many others.
Wheeler said he enjoys working with celebrities and Airstream has good relationships with them but he wanted to stress that the company isn't all about catering to the rich and famous.
"Airstreams are for everybody," he said. "They're not just for the celebrity set."
And Wheeler said when it comes down to it, celebrities are just Airstream owners like everyone else.
"It's funny - they're not movie stars, they're just Airstream owners when they come around," he explained. "They're like 'oh, I want to show you this thing on my trailer - I changed this one thing. Hey - you really ought to think about redesigning this part. Here are my ideas for it.' They're as passionate as anybody who walks off the street and buys one."
Fun Facts about Airstream
- Airstream founder Wallace Merle "Wally" Byam was born on July 4, 1896.
- It was Byam's popular article, "How to Build a Trailer for One Hundred Dollars," that started him down the Airstream path. He sold 15,000 copies of the article for $1 each in 1927 and then officially started Airstream in 1931.
- Airstream is the most commonly recognized aluminum travel trailer in the world.
- The aluminum-skinned Airstream is based on an airplane fuselage, with rounded corners to help increase gas mileage. Its aerodynamics cut drag by 20 percent vs. square "white box" trailers.
- It takes about 2,940 man hours to build the average Airstream.
- Airstream was the first trailer to have a holding tank, a ladder frame and a pressurized water system. It was also the first fully self-contained travel trailer.
- Before leaving the production floor, every Airstream spends 40 minutes under 100 pounds of water pressure in a special booth to ensure that it's water tight.
- By the 75th anniversary of Airstream in 2006, 65 percent of all Airstreams ever built were still rolling down the highways.
- A 1960 Airstream Bambi Travel Trailer is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for excellence in style and design.
- An Airstream International trailer makes regular appearances on ABC's 'Grey's Anatomy,' where it serves as a home for Patrick Dempsey (a.k.a. Mr. McDreamy).
- Airstreams are featured in Season 4 of the popular show 'Heroes.'
- In season three of his hit reality show, 'The Apprentice,' Donald Trump challenged contestants to create mobile business ventures using an Airstream.
- Airstreams have been featured in numerous films including 'Charlie's Angels,' 'Raising Arizona,' 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape,' 'Independence Day,' 'Mars Attacks!,' 'American Odyssey,' and 'The Hills Have Eyes.'
- A customized 1957 Airstream is prominently displayed at MTV's headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif.
- Mark Harmon uses a 1972 Airstream trailer that he restored himself as a dressing room on the set of NCIS.
- Producer/Director Tim Burton owns a 1936 Airstream with a Batman theme.
- In 1955, the United States military used an Airstream in atomic bomb testing in the Nevada desert.
- President John F. Kennedy had a mobile Airstream office which he used during a visit to White Sands, New Mexico, where the Army demonstrated its latest weaponry for the President and his staff.
- In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson's daughter, Lynda Byrd, toured America in a caravan of Airstreams to help publicize the nation's beauty in the 'See America First' campaign.
- In 1969, Neil Armstrong and members of the Apollo 11 were quarantined for three weeks in a specially built Airstream after returning from the first voyage to the moon, until it could be determined that there was little likelihood that they were carriers of 'lunar pathogens.' President Richard Nixon visited them while they were quarantined.
- For decades, NASA has used a fleet of Airstreams to transport astronauts to launch pads.
- There are many coffee shops and restaurants run out of Airstreams across the country. In Seattle, there is a restaurant called Skillet that is actually a roving Airstream Trailer that is parked in a different place every day.
- In 2009, the world's only penthouse trailer park was built atop the luxurious Grand Daddy Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. Seven Airstream trailers are surrounded by tiny gardens, an outdoor movie theatre and the alluring outline of Table Mountain.
Video: Airstreams at the Grand Daddy Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa