ALTMANS Winnebago has closed, and so does a chapter in American living

I was surprised a few weeks ago when I heard from Joe Altman that his family-owned Winnebago dealership near Los Angeles was closing. Altmans' Winnebago had been around a long, long time with several generations working there and it had a rich history of repeat customers.

I reported on Altmans when I did Best Buys stories on KCAL about summer vacation deals.

But Altmans fell victim to the recession, to rising fuel prices, to inflation, and to unemployment and mostly to changing lifestyles. RVing just isn't what it used to be.

When I was a kid some 40+ years ago families craved having an RV and it was a status symbol. Not now.

RVing also lost to airline deregulation that drove prices down (yes airfares are still low) and RVing also lost to gasoline price inflation, as well as to a shortage of vacation time and plain old "family time." Yes, there is less family time now, isn't there?

So, I am sorry to see Altmans has finally closed its doors because a chapter in our culture and history has also closed.

You can see some of the recent reports I did about Altmans here: http://alanbestbuys.com/id123.html

As you watch the videos remember that in the past 20 years American life has undergone dramatic changes. We don't have enough time to spend a week together or a week away from work; kids and parents have different vacation schedules; cruise ship prices have fallen so much that cruising is now within reach of just about every middle class family; high gas prices have made us think twice about hitting the road; and many families can't afford their first home and can't even consider buying a second home with wheels.