For more than 15 years, Michael RV Center has been consistently growing and helping travelers along the way.
Grant McArthur, who owns the business and started it April 23, 2001, said the shop does a number of things.
“We can do anything from rebuild, repair, remodel and selling,” he said. “On a camper, we pretty much do anything other than chasse work. We can take down and rebuild a camper from start to finish. We sell campers on consignment. We’re floating the idea of getting back into new campers, but we sell used and consignment right now. Then we have every part or accessory you would need here in stock.”
McArthur hasn’t always been in the RV business, but made the decision after his wife nearly passed away, though she has since made a full recovery.
“When she died and was put on life support (after being revived) I realized I stayed gone from my previous job, and I missed too much her life, us together and our son growing up so I needed to do something at home,” he said. “I started working at a local RV dealership that was here back then, and one thing led to another. I decided to step out on my own and started doing service work right off my kitchen table.”
What McArthur didn’t realize at the time was how much his business would grow from his kitchen table.
“Now we’re out here on the highway with three aces, a 12,000 square foot building — it’s grown way past what I figured it would ever be,” he said. “The Lord has blessed me because it’s bigger than I ever thought it would be.”
With his crew of six employees, McArthur stays busy at Michel’s RV Center with up to eight projects at a time. It’s the nature of the different projects that McArthur likes the most.
“You’re not doing the same thing over and over. It’s always something different. You’re working on a motor home today and tomorrow you’re working on a travel trailer. The next day you may be putting on a hitch. It’s something new all the time,” he said. “Also, you meet a lot of good people in this industry.”
Working on RVs and campers isn’t exactly a popular trade so McArthur had to rely on others to find quality employees who could help with repair projects.
“Strictly word of mouth,” he said of finding his employees. “Being in RV repair, you have to be a carpenter, plumber, an electrician and someone who remodels because you never know what you’re going to be working on. Every minute it can be something different. You have to be a jack-of-all-trades.”
Michael’s RV Center’s customers value the work and professionalism they receive at the Columbia shop that they are willing to travel from all over.
“I get a lot out of town business,” McArthur said. “I have people come from the Coast, the other side of Jackson, Alabama, Louisiana — we have a pretty big customer clientele. We have a good, loyal customer base.”
Going forward, McArthur has a few goals in mind of how he would like his business to evolve.
“Short term, I’m always trying to keep things updated so I’m thinking of getting some new campers to sell again. We sold new at one time but got out of it,” he said. “Long term, I just want to sit back and see where the Lord takes it. Over time, I would like to see things get more modern. I want to get more modern technology in our diagnostic tools than we have right now, but that takes time.”
McArthur knows his business would not be nearly as successful without help.
“Over the years, not taking anything away from the Lord because he’s been with us the whole time and has blessed us, but with Him guiding us and the customers supporting us we’ve really grown bigger than I ever thought we would,” he said. “I just feel blessed. Thank you is all I can say.”
Michael’s RV Center is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday. It can be reached by phone at (601) 736-0468.
Pictured Above: From left, Mark Stafford, Angela and Grant McArthur, Jessica Blansett and Alan Doane stand in Michael’s RV Center. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
