SKPs- Escapees RV Club sold to Harvest Hosts

[Kirk W]

You won’t get a Harvest Host membership unless you buy one. The transition site link in the announcement answers some of your questions. 

[lappir]

4 hours ago, ms60ocb said:

Thanks Kirk for letting the people that don't use Social Media. Your notice that the Facebook users was given the notice but the Forum people ignored. I wonder how other stuff the Carr Family has over looked in this transition.

After reading the Transition link, there a lot information missing in this matter.

Clay Not looking forward to being a resident of Travis county

 

 

If you just use the forum without being a "Member" you most likely didn't get an email from them with the announcement. I got one sometime yesterday, but haven't been on Facebook since. 

I'm sure it will take some time for all of this to sort out. Best source of real information will be with the people you deal with for your mail services, or if you stay in the Escapee's parks, I'd home the staff would have information regarding your stay. 

I was a member early on, let it lapse, but renewed it recently. Not sure what I will do going forward. I too was looking for a reason to go to Maine in 2026. 

 

Rod

[Lou Schneider]

On 7/18/2024 at 7:37 AM, Tumbleweed said:

How will this affect lifetime members?

Will we now have a Harvest Host lifetime membership?

What about the magazine?

Will you need to be a Harvest Host membership to be a co-op park member?

I agree, the announcement wasn't real clear.  I'm not affiliated with Escapees in any way other than being a 25+ year lifetime member and having a lot lease (membership) in one of the co-op parks.  So take this accordingly.

Escapees hasn't officially commented anywhere except on the web page referenced above and on Facebook.  For the benefit of people not on Facebook, this is how I interpret the changes.

The problem is the Petersons and Carrs have always been less than clear that Escapees is actually several companies owned by them.  There's the core company as well as other companies to handle things like the Mail Service and Escapees (Rainbow) Parks.

It appears Harvest Hosts is buying the core company which is the Escapees brand, the membership roster and events they put on like Escapade, Annual Bash, Convergences and Hangouts, RV University, etc.

Other parts of the Escapees umbrella including the Mail Service and the Escapees (Rainbow) Parks remain under the Carr's ownership.

CARE is an independent 501c(3) non-profit run by it's own board of directors so nothing should change.

The co-op parks are likewise independent entities owned and run by people who have invested in the co-op that owns each park (the buy-in fee purchases a share in the co-op and this gives you a lifetime lease on a lot).  Escapees (the Petersons) contributed expertise and promotional assistance while the co-ops were being formed so there is language in each park's bylaws requiring Escapees membership to stay at the park or join the co-op.

As far as whether the co-op parks continue to be affiliated with Escapees, I don't see anything changing immediately but in the long term it depends on what Harvest Hosts does.  If they merge Escapees and Harvest Hosts so anyone in Harvest Hosts (not just Escapees members) can stay at or join a co-op park each co-op will have to decide how they want to proceed.

There are several replies in the Facebook threads by Escapees, Inc (no mention of who is actually posting) that say Harvest Hosts will honor Escapees Lifetime Memberships.  No mention of the magazine's future yet.

Edited Friday at 03:53 PM by Lou Schneider

[Danfreda1]

5 hours ago, ms60ocb said:

Thanks Kirk for letting the people that don't use Social Media. Your notice that the Facebook users was given the notice but the Forum people ignored. I wonder how other stuff the Carr Family has over looked in this transition.

After reading the Transition link, there a lot information missing in this matter.

Clay Not looking forward to being a resident of Travis county

 

 

Escapees sent an email yesterday. I would guess they sent it to all members who have an email. 

[ms60ocb]

1 hour ago, Danfreda1 said:

Escapees sent an email yesterday. I would guess they sent it to all members who have an email. 

I did receive that email and from what the title stated, I thought, Rates are going up and didn't read. I apologize for the prior statement as to not being notified,  I didn't hear the train coming.

Anyway when does this before effective. My big question how does affect our legal status as residents of Polk County,Texas. Is there any Escapees name change required. Presently both Mail Service and Membership is under Escapees.com.

Clay 10 year Member 9 years a legal resident of 114 Rainbow Dr

[Lou Schneider]

11 minutes ago, ms60ocb said:

I did receive that email and from what the title stated, I thought, Rates are going up and didn't read. I apologize for the prior statement as to not being notified,  I didn't hear the train coming.

Anyway when does this before effective. My big question how does affect our legal status as residents of Polk County,Texas. Is there any Escapees name change required. Presently both Mail Service and Membership is under Escapees.com.

Clay 10 year Member 9 years a legal resident of 114 Rainbow Dr

From what I understand, Polk County residence is established by the mail service being part of a physical RV park.  Both of these remain under the Carr's ownership and control so there should be no change.  What they sold is the Escapees brand, membership rolls and events put on by the core company like Escapades, Annual Bash, etc.

Edited July 18 by Lou Schneider

[Greg112]

Well much as we may want what attracted us to an organization not to change I guess that's unrealistic. We've seen major changes in demographics (Xcapers)  and modes of social interaction (potlucks to Facebook) since Escapees was founded. Looks like dollars and cents activities (mail service / parks) are being separated from those involving membership/ people (education and gatherings of various types ranging from Chapters to Escapades). Be interesting to see how this model develops compared to others out there. Anyone remember Good Sam Club back in the day? 

[ms60ocb]

I asked Kelly Brown, General Manager, Escapees RV Club (clubbusiness@escapees.com) about effective date this Transition and the response was; "The name changes and effective date is information that was not made available to me."

Clay

[Lou Schneider]

 

Same for the co-op parks - the first notice was the same email everyone else got.

1 hour ago, ms60ocb said:

I asked Kelly Brown, General Manager, Escapees RV Club (clubbusiness@escapees.com) about effective date this Transition and the response was; "The name changes and effective date is information that was not made available to me."

Clay

Edited July 19 by Lou Schneider

[Dutch_12078]

The two parties might have an "agreement in principle" at this point, and are still working out the finer details.

[DanZemke]

3 hours ago, ms60ocb said:

 "The name changes and effective date is information that was not made available to me.

That doesn't surprise me.  There are probably a lot of things that still need to be be worked out. For example market tests for subsets of the overall plan if any, who's going to report to who, what are the goals of the new magazine (if there is one), exact terms and conditions of contract(s)  ...

What if, for example, Harvest Hosts is also negotiating to take over FMCA's events, education and website? Or similar for Social Knowledge LLC (RV LIFE)?

It's a huge change for the Carr Family and probably many others.  Patience please.

P.S. I know this is just a longer version of what Dutch posted, but I composed it before seeing his.

Edited July 19 by DanZemke
clarity

[Steven@146]

The educational and event planning parts of Escapee's was sold off to Harvest Hosts. Membership, Education, Escapades and Escapee's Events.
Escapee's maintains ownership over Mail Service, Escapee's RV Parks, and the Care Center. The Escapee's Co-Ops are separate individual entities. Xscapers still part of Escapee's.
Management and operations of Escapees RV Club’s membership, support services, educational programs, and events will be transitioning to the Harvest Hosts family. From what I read in the release.

I am sure there will be a lot of speculation as to where this is going. Escapee's club is the largest and oldest still privately owned club (Carr Family) having nearly 200,000 members since inception and stretches out into international communities having members in Canada and Australia as an example. Paraphrasing from the release letter. Also the release said other organizations/companies have expressed interest in buying, merging with Escapee's, maybe the Carr family hand picked HH while there is a choice.  Joel Holland CEO of Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome is or transitioned into a Fulltime RVer after retirement and is an Escapee's member from a long time back so he is or was one of us, according to the letter.

We can't expect things to stay the same forever so I guess with the explosion in the RV segment, there is money to be made and so the sharks are swimming about looking for things to gobble up so some can build /expand their empire? Another ownership to be the big dog on the block bigger than Thousand Trails or KOA, Camping World, FMCA etc or the like? A lot of RV Dealerships are getting gobbled up under a few owners. Ends up just like the big 3 in RV manufacturing.

Maybe the Carr family with Escapees did the right thing going in with HH. Time will tell.As long as they provide a good product that fits our needs and doesn't get over priced, we'll stick with them and see where this goes.
 

Edited July 19 by Steven@146

[sandsys]

5 hours ago, Steven@146 said:

Escapee's maintains ownership over Mail Service, Escapee's RV Parks, and the Care Center.

As I understand it, the Care Center was already an independent organization simply associated with the Escapees.

Linda

[kb0zke]

Like everyone else, I saw the Harvest Host stuff at Escapade, but didn't think too much about it. There weren't many competing entities there (one RV dealer, one vendor selling cameras, etc.). It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

[Larry Burkett]

I fee that if the Carr family was wanting to move on, at least they didn't sell to someone like Marcus Lemonus and one of his groups. And with the CEO of HH being a member of Escapees, is a step in the right direction. Now lets hope tat they step up and make what they just bought better.

[Kirk W]

CARE was separated from the Escapee organization in order to get approval as a 501(c)3 organization about 20 years ago. That includes the deed to the real estate and complete separation from the Escapee organizations. I don’t recall what year it was but Kay was still active at the time and was a member of the CARE board. The 501(c)3 status is from the IRS and has very rigid requirements. It is what makes our donations to CARE income tax deductible. When that was announced there was a lot of information made available to anyone interested. 

[Steven@146]

The Care facility is a separate entity but was mentioned probably to quell speculation on what was going to happen with the change in ownership of some parts of Escapee's.

After working in the corporate world for 25 years I've seen and been involved in mergers and acquisitions. In my mind, any of these mergers or acquisitions, clear concise roll out of information to all parties involved is the key to a successful transition and generates fewer questions, less panic and speculation. You can't drip, drip out information. Like the Escapee's Co-Ops maybe should have been informed early what was going to happen.

The problem is with large organizations, informing everyone touched by it all a once is problematic. Especially when only some parts of an organization are changing. The organization is just too big to get everyone informed or sometimes things get overlooked.

As a member of Escapee's we finally got an email about it. We're not concerned about it, might be for the better. 

Edited July 20 by Steven@146

[bruce t]

I'll ask the "dumb" question. Who is Harvest Host and what's their background/reputation?

I've been off the road awhile and I quess I've lost touch somewhat. But there seems to be doom and gloom with the move. Maybe, just maybe, it is a great move.

Times change. I joined SKPs around 1996. It's simply not realistic for things not to change. Just because it changes doesn't mean it's "bad". In 1996 where was the internet? Forums? This is just another evolution of the RV community and lifestyle.

 

[Ray,IN]

One blog explaining Harvest Hosts company from a members viewpoint:   https://uprootedtraveler.com/harvest-hosts-review/

[ms60ocb]

1 hour ago, bruce t said:

I'll ask the "dumb" question.

The only dumb question is the one that didn't get asked. Here is another

https://weareharvesthosts.wordpress.com/

Clay

 

[bruce t]

Thanks for the links. In many ways similar to what we have in Australia. In Australia I was responsible for setting up the RVFT. (RV Freindly Town). Where towns actually provided similar facilities and rules  although mostly based on 48 hours or more. There are now 100s of RVFT participants. 

These schemes have proven very popular. On the surface Harvest Host looks like a positive for RVers. 

[LindaH]

On 7/18/2024 at 7:37 AM, Tumbleweed said:

Will you need to be a Harvest Host membership to be a co-op park member?

On 7/18/2024 at 7:40 AM, Tumbleweed said:

What about the Care facility?

Go to the FAQ page. Most of your questions are answered there.

[Danfreda1]

Has anyone seen harvest host post anything about them buying part of Escapees? We keep getting their emails but no mention of it. 

[DanZemke]

1 hour ago, Danfreda1 said:

Has anyone seen harvest host post anything about them buying part of Escapees?

Yes, but I did not see any new information in it.

https://www.harvesthosts.com/blog/harvest-hosts-acquires-escapees-rv-club

[kb0zke]

I just got an email from HH explaining a bit about the acquisition. They made a point of saying that it is an "acquisition" not a "merger." Sounds like very little will change, at least at first.