Jordan Beck | Daily Press Hilltop RV Superstore President Steve Swanson, left, and Vice-President Dan Swanson — Steve’s brother — are pictured with a Forest River Salem RV in their business’ indoor showroom.

ESCANABA — Recreational vehicle dealership Hilltop RV Superstore has been operating in the area for decades. However, President Steve Swanson said its business model has gone through some major changes over the years.

The business was started by Ken and Theresa Swanson — Steve’s father and mother — in 1972. It began as “Hilltop Camper Mfg.,” and it was originally a manufacturer of truck campers.

Hilltop went on to expand the range of products it manufactured. In the late ’70s, the company began manufacturing solar heating panels; in the early ’80s, it started working on aluminum truss wire satellite TV antennas.

Hilltop also began selling RVs after taking on the Coachmen product line in the late ’70s. A decade later, the company was representing six brands; at that time, a decision was made for Hilltop to stop manufacturing and focus on retail.

As time went on, Hilltop introduced many other products and services to its retail operation, including boat sales, parts and services; firearms; and hunting and fishing accessories. In 1995, the company changed direction once again — it abandoned its other product lines in favor of dealing exclusively with products and services directly related to the RV industry.

“We’ve just focused … completely on that,” Steve said.

The change ended up paying off. Today, Steve said Hilltop is the fifth- or sixth-largest RV dealer in Michigan.

While some years at Hilltop have been more successful than others, and though the business has had some struggles over the years, Steve said Hilltop has never had a year where it actually lost money.

“We’ve never had a down year — ever,” he said.

Currently, Hilltop sells both new and used RVs from 16 brands. The business also offers a variety of services for RV owners, such as troubleshooting, maintenance, and winterization/summerization of fresh water systems.

Additionally, Hilltop does larger-scale work on RVs, like roof replacements, fiberglass repairs, metal siding replacements, and slide floor replacements.

In the past, business at Hilltop was tied closely to the time of year. Steve said this is no longer the case.

“The seasonality’s been taken out of our business,” he said.

Part of this is thanks to the services provided by Hilltop, but the business also continues selling RVs during the U.P.’s colder months.

“We still sell to what we call ‘snowbirds,'” Steve said.

In addition to people who travel south for the winter, Hilltop sells RVs to union contractors following their unions to jobs in the fall and early winter months.

In 2006, another Hilltop location opened in Ishpeming.

“We do parts, service and RV sales in both stores,” Steve said.

At the Escanaba location, Hilltop recently introduced what Steve described as a “million-dollar” service facility. The new facility, which can house approximately 12 RVs, opened in September 2017.

“It’s kind of state-of-the-art for our industry,” he said.

Looking ahead, Steve said Hilltop will largely continue to do what it has been doing.

“We have a philosophy — as long as we keep servicing our customers well, we’ll be in business as long as we want to,” he said.

The business plans to keep up with its customers’ needs, as well.

“We will grow with the industry,” Steve said.

To learn more about Hilltop, visit www.hilltoprv.com.