McCluskey’s: 65 years
helps customers ‘hit the road’
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Gary McCluskey was 10 years old when he saw his first load of trailers roll into the driveway of then McCluskey’s Garage & Trailer Sales. Now, the second-generation owner is proudly continuing the tradition started by his father, Lawrence “Mac” McCluskey, as McCluskey’s RV Center is celebrating its 65th anniversary.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
GARY McCLUSKEY, owner of McCluskey’s RV Center on the Houlton Road in Presque Isle, is carrying on the tradition started by his father, Lawrence “Mac” McCluskey 65 years ago. Lawrence started McCluskey’s Garage in 1946, and in 1963 made the transition from an auto repair business to selling campers. McCluskey’s is now northern Maine’s oldest, largest and only full line RV dealer.
“Dad came home from the war like a lot of people and started what was originally an auto repair business and a Flying A gas station in the same location,” said McCluskey. “He started with $20 in his pocket and his name on a bank loan, and it was originally called McCluskey’s Garage. Dad started it in 1946 and did that until October 1963, at which time he and my mother, Elsie, decided to start an RV dealership … back then they were called ‘campers.’
“They had someone in the Bangor area that sold campers and mentioned to them that it would be a good idea to start a camper sales business up there. They had a friend that was a banker and he said he’d help them get started and within two years’ time, they became camper dealers and transitioned completely from an auto repair business to campers only,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Gary McCluskey
McCluskey said back in the ‘60s, you could buy a brand new camper for less than $1,000.
“Most of them didn’t have bathrooms back then,” he said. “They were very small and a great way for a family to travel on vacation with. It was pop-ups, trailers and slide-in truck campers; back then we didn’t have fifth wheels and motor homes. At the time, they were the only ones selling RVs north of Bangor.”
McCluskey knew early on he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“I love every aspect of the business; I love the customers, I love the vehicles … I get just as excited when I see a new trailer today as I did when I was 10 years old,” he said.
McCluskey took over the business in 1981, and his father passed away June 1, 1982.
“He was active in the business until his death,” McCluskey said. “My wife, Carla, is the office manager/co-owner. She came into the business in 1986. That’s when we got married. We became partners in marriage and partners in business at the same time.”
McCluskey’s has always been located at 29 Houlton Road. The original building was a wooden structure put up in 1946 which was a little closer to the road. The current facility was built in 1988 and the business began occupying the space in March 1989.
“It was a lot larger and more modern,” he said. “We went from an old, wood-frame building with just the basic needs to a new, larger building with better service facilities that’s more comfortable.”
Though the McCluskeys have four children, none are actively working in the family business … as of yet.
“They have worked in the business from time to time,” Gary said. “The boys are still in college, so it’s kind of uncertain what they’re going to do. Right now I’m second generation, hoping for third generation.”
As times have changed, so have the RVs’ bells and whistles.
“We’ve evolved from little campers that were 13 feet long that didn’t have bathrooms in them,” said McCluskey, “to campers that are as large as 40 feet long with lavish accessories like fireplaces, slide-out rooms, automatic awnings that you just press a button and they roll out, and even washers, dryers, garbage disposals, flatscreen TVs and home theater systems, and even dishwashers.
“Our mainstream sales are $20,000-$40,000,” he said. “We sell units for as high as $70,000 and units as low as $12,000. We’ve always had payment plans and we do a lot of local financing. We have local banks we do business with; rates are low and terms are good. RVs are becoming very affordable.”
Happy to do business in Presque Isle, McCluskey said The County is “a very nice place to do business.”
“I’ve always said that I have very few customers; I have a whole lot of friends that I do business with. I’m selling to second- and third-generation customers that my Dad sold to as the first generation,” he said. “Times haven’t always been easy. We’ve been through recessions, we’ve seen 21 percent interest rates on loans that we did for customers and even gas rationing in 1979, but we’ve made it through it. The economy in 2008 and 2009 was rough, just like it was for everybody in retail, but things bounced back very nicely for 2010. I think we’re well on the road to recovery.
“I had a customer tell me once that he burnt wood all winter to save money for a down payment so he could buy a new camper,” said McCluskey. “I can’t think of anything that sums up Aroostook County any better than that. People work hard, they like nice things, they take care of things, and they enjoy them.”
Another reason RVs do so well, McCluskey said, is they are so diversified.
“Forty-five or 50 years ago when we started selling campers, you hooked onto a little 13-foot camper with your car, went away for the weekend with your family, and came back home,” he said. “Now, it’s a summer home at the lake because they are so lavish, it’s a winter home in Florida, it’s guest quarters in the back lawn in the summertime when guests come to visit … there are just so many uses for a camper today.
“The nicer they make them, the more uses there are for them,” said McCluskey, who himself enjoys vacationing in a camper. “I have one of my own and we use it as much as we possibly can.”
Recognizing there are a lot of recreational opportunities you can do for yourself, camping is one you can do with the entire family.
“You buy a motorcycle, it’s for you. You buy a snowsled, it’s for you. You buy a four-wheeler, it’s for you, but when you buy a camper, it’s for the whole family,” McCluskey said.
For two months during the winter, McCluskey travels weekly to Indiana to help stock up on new units.
“We go to a national show the week after Thanksgiving and place our orders. Usually around the first of January, the units start coming in,” he said. “We have at least 50-plus units by March and we do our show at The Forum in March which kicks the season off. We started doing that show 10 years ago. We rent the entire Forum and we usually can fit 40-plus units. Prior to that, we always did the Kiwanis Home and Garden Show. By doing the small shows, we could never get enough product in, so we started our own show and feature a lot more product. It’s spring, people have spring fever, and it’s also the time of year when we can get the best deals for our customer so they can get the best discounts, rebates and incentives.”
Now celebrating a 65th anniversary, McCluskey said there are three rules he and his father always followed that helped the business thrive – sell a good product, sell it at a fair price and take care of the customer.
“A customer can buy a camper anywhere,” he said, noting that there have been 12 RV dealers in Aroostook County that have come and gone. “We have survived because we take care of the customer. I don’t think there’s any place in The County where you can buy a camper and get full service whether it’s a screw that needs tightening or major repairs from an accident. We do it all.”
Though not planning to retire anytime soon, McCluskey said he looks forward to one day turning the business over to – hopefully – the third generation of McCluskeys.
“Then I’ll be able to enjoy an RV like my customers do,” he said.
For more information, call McCluskey’s RV Center at 762-1721.
