Another small fiberglass manufacturer bites the dust!

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

pardon me while I barf.

Yeah, I think the operative phrase (from the middle of the paragraph, 3rd sentence) should have been " Above all, they identify with emerging generations' Pocketbooks!"

[J&B Mitt]

Originally Posted by Effie

And another one.
https://www.cortescampers.com/

Is this Paul Spivak. CEO of ‘Cortes Campers’ and ‘The US Lighting Group’ the same Paul Spivak, CEO of The US Lighting Group that was recently indicted for securities fraud, and is out on a $600,000 bond?

https://www.marketwatch.com/investin...?guid=15027333

[YakRV]

Originally Posted by J&B Mitt

Is this Paul Spivak. CEO of ‘Cortes Campers’ and ‘The US Lighting Group’ the same Paul Spivak, CEO of The US Lighting Group that was recently indicted for securities fraud, and is out on a $600,000 bond?

https://www.marketwatch.com/investin...?guid=15027333

It appears so, yes. We knew the guy was “off” when we found the Cortes Campers website very soon after they launched and there were videos of him mocking Rodney Lomax of Oliver Travel Trailers. He seemed drunk - - and they actually posted the videos to their website! They were pulled down after a while, but what kind of company or owner does that?

[rotorbudd]

"but what kind of company or owner does that?"
A drunk one

[J&B Mitt]

Originally Posted by J&B Mitt

Is this Paul Spivak. CEO of ‘Cortes Campers’ and ‘The US Lighting Group’ the same Paul Spivak, CEO of The US Lighting Group that was recently indicted for securities fraud, and is out on a $600,000 bond?

https://www.marketwatch.com/investin...?guid=15027333

Wait! Does this say: if you send $10,000 he'll let you try to sell his Cortes Campers from your home? You'll have an exclusive territory?

What could go wrong?

https://www.cortescampers.com/dealer-inquiries

[Mike G]

Do they have any bridges for sale?

[oldwave]

Well as woody Guthrie said
Some men rob you with a 6 gun, others with a fountain pen.

[Vermilye]

I posted this at Fiberglass RV, but for those that don't read it:
I find this hard to believe, but dealers in 2 states have put in 1.15 million dollars worth of purchase orders for Cortes Campers. Is it actually April 1st?

[EscapeBoulder]

Happy Camper came to the Quartszite fiberglass rally - was it three years ago - with a demo trailer. I looked through the trailer and while their cube system was interesting, I felt they didn't present any truly compelling reason to move to a Happy Camper from any other fiberglass camper. Why apparently they couldn't make it thru normal "organic" growth of course only they would know.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by EscapeBoulder

Happy Camper came to the Quartszite fiberglass rally - was it three years ago - with a demo trailer. I looked through the trailer and while their cube system was interesting, I felt they didn't present any truly compelling reason to move to a Happy Camper from any other fiberglass camper. Why apparently they couldn't make it thru normal "organic" growth of course only they would know.

yeah, lack of a proper water system and holding tanks alone made those a 'meh' in my book, they are essentially all electric, the optional sink module just holds a couple gallons, and the optional stove module is just a 2 lb bottle propane camp stove.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by EscapeBoulder

Happy Camper came to the Quartszite fiberglass rally - was it three years ago - with a demo trailer. I looked through the trailer and while their cube system was interesting, I felt they didn't present any truly compelling reason to move to a Happy Camper from any other fiberglass camper. Why apparently they couldn't make it thru normal "organic" growth of course only they would know.

That was my view. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it.

However it's a crazy world and somewhere there's always someone who loves something others think is oddball.

Ron

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I posted this at Fiberglass RV, but for those that don't read it:
I find this hard to believe, but dealers in 2 states have put in 1.15 million dollars worth of purchase orders for Cortes Campers. Is it actually April 1st?

Those are likely no-deposit no-commitment orders, which don't mean much of anything.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I posted this at Fiberglass RV, but for those that don't read it:
I find this hard to believe, but dealers in 2 states have put in 1.15 million dollars worth of purchase orders for Cortes Campers. Is it actually April 1st?

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Those are likely no-deposit no-commitment orders, which don't mean much of anything.

And likely all in MSRP dollars to yield the best 'press hyperbole'. That works out to just 24 of the 17' units between two dealers per the MSRP price on their website.

Nothing to get excited about IMO.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I note neither of the named dealers has Cortes amongst the brands on their websites, nor is there any mention of this deal on Cortes' own webpile, although they DO list some dealers including these

[oldwave]

Last I read the company was under investigation by I think the SEC.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Last I read the company was under investigation by I think the SEC.

Yeah, Spivak appears to do what's called a "pump and dump" scheme. Basically he conspires with a select group of shareholders to artificially pump up the value of his company's stock using bogus news, reports, press releases and so forth that make the company look really good. Then once the stock hits a certain amount, he and his cohorts dump it and make off with the profit.

He seems to use a similar method in a way regarding his camper "business". Try to get alot of hype and buzz and interest going with articles and press releases in various industry publications - without ever having actually produced a single new trailer, having no factory, no assembly line and no workers.

Interestingly, this last summer the FBI and the federal prosecutor tried to keep Spivak in jail under no bond. The federal judge ruled he wasn't a flight risk and allowed him to bail out.

Doesn't that just make you wanna go plunk down a stack of money for a Cortes camper? [emoji1787][emoji1787]

[JeffreyG]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Those are likely no-deposit no-commitment orders, which don't mean much of anything.

Absolutely.

This is the current model for getting rich. In my industry it was Nikola, the natural gas, no....electric, no......hydrogen powered class 8 semi from a startup.

It's pretty straightforward.....you put $50,000 into website design and $5 into product development. Hype, hype, hype.....and take 'orders' that don't commit anyone to anything. Hype the huge numbers of orders. 'It must be real, look at all these orders from real, serious customers like UPS and Schneider Freight."

Investors these days have piles of cash and can't think of anything to do with it. So they buy hype. The CEO pays himself in stock, pumps the stock with hype, and if he's smart winds up sipping a drink on a beach in a country with no extradition treaties.

Most of these CEOs never seem to know when to get out though......so they wind up at club fed instead. Act fast and you can share a cell with Elizabeth Holmes or Trevor Milton.

[cpaharley2008]

I remember the infamous "Enron" debacle right before retiring....I think they are still trying to unravel those partnerships.....