Between taking on more builds, growing our business, moving, and yes of course, Covid-19, we truly tried to make the most out of this crazy year. We always strive to give our all to our customers to provide the best vans, and that was especially true this year as more and more people sought after the van life. This year full of isolation and social distancing allowed the van community to grow, and we are so thankful to those of you who have entrusted us with your builds for your support and your business throughout this year.
Now, let’s take a look at where 2020 has taken us and where we hope to go in the next year and those to come!
Van Build Highlights
Riptide
The idea behind this build is to continue to add features that are popular on customers’ wish lists so they can see these products installed to confirm that they want these features in their own vans. In the new year we’ll be hauling Riptide to shows and expos so people from all over the country can check it out!
We Build Vans:
As a shop we can do everything from full build outs to one day installs, and this year has brought in a ton of both! Full build outs like Van Wilder and Breezy were awesome to put together and even more fun to keep up with once they hit the road. Both of these vans had complete interiors with galley kitchen units, Dometic coolers, custom beds, and power units to keep everything running perfectly. Externally, they had everything needed to be adventure ready with front bumpers, lighting, solar, and extra storage! As far as smaller builds go, we spent the year helping DIY-ers with the hard stuff as well as adding a little flare to their builds. We’ve done suspension, windows, power units, roof racks, solar, lighting, and the list goes on. You name it, we’ve helped customers put it in or on their van!
Exciting Builds:
Generally speaking we’re known for building awesome adventure vans, but we branched out this year with a few builds. We helped put together an awesome tailgate ready van complete with couches, coolers, Satellite TVs, a Victron Energy power system to keep everything running, and everything else you would need to be game day ready.
We also created Clearwater, an awesome travel van with a bathroom in the back. The customers wanted something to travel with that they wouldn’t have to worry about stopping their trip just to find a rest area, which has been especially helpful due to Covid!
Big Steps, Small Business
New Building, Same FVG
This year has blessed us with many new customers and more support than we can keep up with! In order to keep up with the growing workload, we had to grow ourselves! We decided to move out of our first shop, that barely fit two vans inside, to a new building that has ample office space, a showroom for all your favorite products, and a huge workshop that can house five vans at once for us to work on! This bigger space has allowed us to grow into better van builders who are even faster, more organized and more capable to serve you.
Bigger Building, Bigger Staff
Our team has grown immensely since January. We began the year with three guys working on vans and now we are up to 12 awesome people! We have to brag on them a little bit, they’ve done an amazing job this year and will only get better!
Chad and Grant, our fearless leaders.
Chris, (big) Nick, (little) Nick, Jeramiah, Michael, and Steven (Luscious), the best van builders we know.
Lisa and Chirstin, who always make sure we’re running smoothly.
Caleb (Kabob) and Averie, literal marketing geniuses.
Diverse pRODUCTS
This year has blessed us with an insane amount of online sales (big thanks to all you van lovers)! Our inventory has grown and the brands we carry have increased! On top of that, we now have a beautiful showroom that we strive to keep stocked with Van Compass, Owl Vans, Diode Dynamics, Blue Ridge Overland Gear, Victron Energy, Freedomvango products and more! We have loved seeing customers come in who would have usually purchased their stuff online. It has been an amazing way to connect with people and be able to show them more about vans and the best ways to outfit their dream rigs!
on to the next
Like everyone else, we are ready for 2021. This year has been incredible in many ways and we are excited to continue to serve our customers, help people learn more about building, and welcome more into the ever growing van life community. We cannot thank you all enough for helping us grow and we hope you stay with us for whatever the future brings.
If You’re looking to hit the road in 2021, give us a call, we’re so excited to welcome you to the Van Life!
