Building of New Jellystone Park™ in Utah Unexpected Surprise
Building of New Jellystone Park™ in Utah Unexpected Surprise
Scott Nielson Develops Yogi Bear™ Jellystone Park Camp-Resort Zion Utah
Camp-Resort at Hurricane Sand Hollow
Mr. Scott Nielson, the founder of Nielson RV, one of America’s top RV dealerships, is developing a family entertainment and glamping complex near Southeast Utah’s famous Sand Hollow State Park, located in Hurricane, Utah. It will be Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts’ first Utah franchise agreement.
With this endeavor, Mr. Nielson solidifies his standing in the outdoors industry. After building Nielson RV’s inventory to exceed $20 million historically and the company’s land and buildings to be valued at approximately $12 million, Mr. Nielson then sold Nielson RV with all its assets, land, inventory, and improvements to Camping World (stock symbol NYSE: CWH), the largest RV retailer and publicly traded RV company in the United States and run by Marcus Lemonis, CEO of Camping World Holdings INC. The transaction included Mr. Nielson’s three locations, including his RV storage facilities and dealership in Hurricane. Before the sale, Nielson RV was on track to generate $50 million in revenue in 2018. The Southern Utah locations averaged approximately $30 million in annual revenue and employed up to 100 employees at their peak.
Mr. Nielson will leverage his extensive business experience to make the impressive Jellystone Park the site of his next endeavor. He chose the park, which is highly popular with families because it is famous for its water slides, pools, splash grounds, wagon rides, foam parties, jumping pillows, and interactions with Yogi Bear-costumed characters. Jellystone Park has more than 75 locations in the United States and Canada, and guests enjoy a wide variety of glamping and camping accommodations.
Originally announced as Glampers Inn RV Resort, Mr. Nielson’s 52-acre development will be known as Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort at Hurricane Sand Hollow. Families will enjoy Jellystone Park’s full array of activities and attractions as well as the adjacent Hanalei Bay Water Park and boat, dune buggy, and ATV rentals. With construction set to begin later this summer, Mr. Nielson expects that the first RV sites and luxury cabins will be available this fall.
“Partnering with Jellystone Park was an easy decision because no other brand is focused on the rapidly growing family camping and glamping market,” Mr. Nielson said. “Jellystone Park provides new franchisees with all of the marketing, activities, branding, and merchandise needed to get up and running quickly, and everybody loves Yogi Bear, especially kids.”
Mr. Nielson’s new park will be located off I-15, four hours south of Salt Lake City and two hours north of Las Vegas. The site is adjacent to Sand Hollow State Park and Reservoir. Zion National Park is 30 minutes away. Other state parks, golf courses, and hiking and biking trails are also nearby.
“We are thrilled to have Scott and his team developing this new park,” said Mr. Jim Westover, vice president of Product Development & Sales for Leisure Systems, Inc., which franchises Jellystone Park. “Scott has a great track record of building extremely successful businesses that are very customer-focused.”
Mr. Westover noted that research recently conducted for Jellystone Park found that families in the Western U.S. are more likely to go camping or glamping than those in other regions. “There is great demand among families for new and better camping options in the West, and we are fortunate to have territories still available to investors looking to seize this opportunity.”
Mr. Nielson’s Hurricane location will be the fourth new Jellystone Park to open in 2021. The brand posted its 14th straight year of same-park sales increases in 2020. Even though many locations did not fully open until mid-summer, annual sales grew nearly 10% last year. Advance 2021 bookings are up more than 300% over 2020.
For more information:
Video tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbROgcoWYF0
Contact:
Ritter Communications, Mr. Brad Ritter
740.815.1892