I'm Jason Eperson. This is RV Miles and it's time for this week's RV and camping news roundup.

We got to begin with camping world. The nation's largest RV dealership chain who just announced

their 2021 year and earnings touting a gross profit margin of 2.5 billion an increase of 44%

over 2020. So yeah, they're not hurting. But it was a different announcement from camping world

that caught my eye. They've apparently entered into a licensing agreement with outdoor retailer

brand Eddie Bauer that will have them bringing the Eddie Bauer name to RVs, both trailers and motor

homes. But made by whom, the press release didn't specify, I sure hope they don't plan to make

them themselves. I don't even know if they can with the kind of agreements that are made between

manufacturers and dealers. They'd have to have a brand partner to build these and from the few

people I've talked with about this, I don't think they've chosen a partner to build these RVs

that are supposed to come out in the third quarter of this year. And they were very thorough to say

quote, the product offering will include several models of toable ultra light travel trailers,

full size travel trailers, and mid profile fifth wheels, and A, B and C motorized units. They

also plan to sell a variety of Eddie Bauer branded items in their stores. I'm guessing you'll see

Eddie Bauer RV bedding and camping chairs. But look, I don't like to inject a lot of opinion into

these newscasts, but this is clearly a half baked idea. First of all, I'm sorry Eddie Bauer fans,

but they are a shell of the company they once were. After a couple of bankruptcies and several

changes in ownership over the last 20 years or so, they're now owned by a company called

Authentic Brands Group, who hawk everything from Brooks Brothers to Elvis, a lot of brand names that

don't have a ton of meaning anymore. And this is at least a third time camping world has partnered

with them. They licensed the Nautica name for things like water skis, wakeboards, and life jackets

at their overtens stores, and the Thomas Phil name for RV furniture. It seems to me like camping world

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