Dometic acquires Front Runner Vehicle Outfitters

[Road]

I think that practice of “white labeling” or sanitizing the source country is more prevalent than we’d like.

The sad part is that some materials and know how cannot be sourced here. There’s a great song titled “We can’t make it here” by James McMurtry that perfectly captures how we’ve been sold out.

But time marches on. I’ll use Vietnam as an example - most “tactical consumer” soft goods are made there and honestly, they’re becoming a global leader not just based on price but also quality. They’re REALLY really good at sewing bags and such. They filled the void.

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McMurtry and his social commentary/protest songs are a favorite when I'm sewing or putzing around my workshop/studio.
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See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock​

They're just gonna set there 'til they rot​

Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack​

Just busted concrete and rusted tracks​

Empty storefronts around the square​

There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere​

You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score​

We can't make it here anymore​

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It's interesting that McMurtry starts the song off by singing about a Vietnam Vet with "one leg missing and both hands free" and more coming home from other wars and

That big ol' building was the textile mill​

It fed our kids and it paid our bills​

But they turned us out and they closed the doors​

We can't make it here anymore​

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and that now Vietnam has become a leader in soft goods.

Same happened after WWII with Germany excelling in manufacturing with an exactness rarely matched.

I've seen it around New England for decades. Towns that used to be leaders in textiles and shoe-making and leather tanning, etc adjusting to outsourcing and bottom-line pencil-pusher decisions. Families that for generations depended on the local mill; the towns they live in even built up around the mill--hence the name mill towns--now scrapping to get by and trying to keep their kids out of trouble and from leaving the state, because there they just can't make it here anymore.

Not trying to make a political statement, though stating the trends I see first-hand over the decades I've wandered North America, and the great sadness that imbues communities around the country as the middle class disappears and, as McMurtry sings, the chasm between the haves and have-nots widens.

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Another great pointed social commentary song of his is Choctaw Bingo.
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[Dean]

The sad part is that some materials and know how cannot be sourced here. There’s a great song titled “We can’t make it here” by James McMurtry that perfectly captures how we’ve been sold out.

But time marches on. I’ll use Vietnam as an example - most “tactical consumer” soft goods are made there and honestly, they’re becoming a global leader not just based on price but also quality. They’re REALLY really good at sewing bags and such. They filled the void.

Same with us. We do 100% of our manufacturing here in Virginia, we use US sourced fabric and as many US sourced components as possible, but there are just some things we have no choice but to order things from overseas.