New RV dealer moves into Redmond Blue Dog RV opens second Oregon location on U.S. Highway 97 By Joseph Ditzler / The Bulletin / @josefditzler Published May 13, 2015 at 05:33PM / Updated May 13, 2015 at 06:24PM Blue Dog RV is moving into a tough neighborhood, competitively speaking. The Post Falls, Idaho-based chain of recreational vehicle sales-and-service centers bought 3 acres on U.S. Highway 97 in Redmond adjacent to the new location of Larry’s RV and across the highway and slightly south of Big Country RV. Blue Dog RV co-owner John Asplund said the site was just the luck of the draw. After looking around Bend and Redmond, the site along the highway was the best available, he said. The business, the second Blue Dog RV in Oregon, will cater to its niche clientele, he said. “The Bend-Redmond market is a good fit for us,” Asplund said Tuesday. “Our niche is basically travel trailers and towable trailers and inexpensive motor homes. We try to keep our costs down and our risks low. It’s nothing tricky.” Blue Dog RV’s parent company, Grace Delight of Oregon LLC, purchased the lot at 2950 S. U.S. Highway 97 for $1.2 million from WRC Inc. in April, said Ron Ross, a commercial real estate broker. Ross, of Compass Commercial Real Estate Services, Bend, represented Grace Delight. Asplund, with his wife, Rebecca Asplund, own another Blue Dog location in Portland, two in Washington and three in Idaho, according to the company website. “I think, technically, we’re open right now,” he said, referring to the Redmond location. “We’re kind of getting ready to open; we have 30 rigs right now. Someone could buy an RV.” The first Blue Dog RV, named for the Asplunds’ Chinese crested hairless dog, Gigi, opened eight years ago, he said. “When she was little, she was literally blue,” he said. The couple went all in at the start, even though the economy was on the verge of a standstill and would take its toll on the RV industry. They sold their house to raise starting capital, he said. “We pretty much burned ship when we started,” Asplund said. “So, we didn’t have much choice but to succeed.” — Reporter: 541-617-7815, [email protected]
