RV Dealership Builds First Illinois Location in Huntley

 Huntley Auto Mall is getting a new occupant. Michigan-based General RV plans to build a 33,280 square foot showroom surrounded by 150 parking spaces to display its RVs.

General RV is building its first Illinois location on 8.28 acres situated along Route 47, north of Interstate 90.

"It's a very nice sized commercial entity, I think it will be great for Huntley….but also for the whole region," said Margo Griffin, the village's business development coordinator.

The company expects to be open for business by the spring, said Wade Stufft, vice president of operations.

General RV sells  a wide variety of RV including luxury ones.

Buisnessman Abe Baidas founded the company in 1962, inspired by a family road trip, according to the company's Web site. The Baidas family is listed among the 100 Most Influential People in the history of the RV industry, the site states.

Huntley officials recently granted a Special Use Permit to the company after hammering out a few concerns about aesthetics due to the large number of parking spaces. General RV, however, agreed to add more landscaping than the original plan called for to make the blacktop areas look less severe.

Additionally, the company will put up a 6-foot high, board-on-board fence extending north and east, along the property's border with Prime Outlets mall, village officials said.

The dealership chose Huntley based on demographics and the strong Illinois RV market, Stufft said.

 "We felt we could do a good job coming into that market, giving folks in that market another option," he said.

Illinois' RV market is strong, but the economy has affected overall sales, Stufft said. General RV is able to work with manufacturers and get good deals to pass onto customers, he said.

The RV market should definitely be better by the spring when the Huntley location opens, Stufft said.

 "It will be a long road, but we are headed in the right direction," he said.

Huntley has continued to have businesses open, however, General RV will "definitely be the largest" new business to open in awhile, Griffin said.

 "The economy is suffering now," she said. "We are happy to see any new business, especially something as big as this. We are happy to see it come here."