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Talk of the bay

RV center building retooled with 'spalike resort' theme

By JEFF HARRINGTON
Published March 7, 2005

Lazydays RV SuperCenter wasn't satisfied being the largest single-site RV dealership in the world.

Now the sprawling Seffner business is billing itself as the largest RV "destination resort" worldwide after completing a $3-million renovation and expansion.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the RV dealership will hold a grand reopening celebration to unveil its expanded, 87,000-square-foot main building retooled in a "spalike resort theme," professional designer Michelle Jennings Wiebe said.

Among the features: a service pavilion; a 170-seat learning center for customer seminars and employee training; an Italian-style cafe; 160 renovated sales offices; and an airy customer lounge that includes a concierge, a Starbucks coffee bar and flat-screen TVs.

"What I liked best about it is not one particular feature. . . . I just like the feel I get when I walk through the building," Lazydays founder and chief executive Don Wallace said.

Before, the cavernous building could be intimidating. "Now it feels like a soft, warm place, and that's exactly what I wanted to end up with."

Wallace, et al., began planning the makeover 18 months ago; construction took seven months.

Last year, New York private equity firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. bought majority control of Lazydays for $206-million in cash. But Wallace, who retained a 10 percent stake in the company, insists he has no plans to retire from the family business any time soon.

The team at Lazydays makes it fun to go to work, the 56-year-old entrepreneur said. Besides, he added, "My little boy needs to see his dad get up and go to work every day."

[Last modified March 4, 2005, 19:32:02]