Nation's Largest RV Retailer, FreedomRoads, Acquires Burnside RV; Located in Houghton Lake and Gaylord, Leading Northern Michigan RV Dealer Joins To Take Dealership to Next Level

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.--Aug. 1, 20043, 2004--FreedomRoads, LLC, the nation's largest recreational vehicle retailer, today announced the acquisition of Burnside RV, expanding into another prime RV market. The market leading Northern Michigan dealer joins an elite group poised to take the industry to the next level.

According to Burnside RV's Mike Burnside, "We were really flattered to have been approached to join with FreedomRoads," he said, "when we took a look at the people and programs they had in place it became clear to us that this is the kind of organization we wanted to be part of. This was more than just a managerial perspective, our associates were also very impressed and eager to get going and be part of something even bigger."

Johnny Sirpilla, Mid-America Regional President and FreedomRoads Co-Founder returned the sentiment commenting, "Having the Burnside family on our team is truly a compliment to our organization. Mike and Jim Burnside both run quality stores that are a perfect fit with the customer service model at FreedomRoads" he said adding, "they have both learned well from their father, Larry, and have worked with him to grow their business into one of the top travel trailer and fifth wheel dealerships in the state of Michigan. Their stores are clean, customer centered, and a power house in delivering towable products - 600 new products per year!"

Burnside RV is the largest fifth wheel RV dealer in Northern Michigan and one of the largest towable dealers in Michigan. The dealership was founded by Larry Burnside in 1979 is now run by his sons Mike and Jim. They will continue to run the dealership under FreedomRoads ownership. According to Jim Burnside, "My dad created this business and then passed on his know how and values to us. He gave us the tools to succeed and trusted us to make our own way. He is both a great father and a great mentor," he said. "Now we have this opportunity to get to the next level with a company that has the hands-on know how and the human and capital resources to actually get everyone to the next level, especially in the area of customer service. People like our CEO Marcus Lemonis, Regional President Johnny Sirpilla and the other Co-Founders are so tightly focused on this I can't imagine it not happening, " he continued.

Marcus Lemonis, Co-Founder, President and CEO FreedomRoads concluded, "When we looked at Burnside RV to consider them for our team, we saw good and talented people who made high levels of customer service a top priority. We also saw people with a personal passion for the RV lifestyle and products they sell. This is not missed by the customer. They're genuine, they're the real thing, and that's important because it's well appreciated."

About FreedomRoads

FreedomRoads is a dynamic national network of well-established local and regional RV dealerships who have united to benefit customers, employees, suppliers and the RV industry. FreedomRoads operates as a multi-store retail chain engaged in the retail sale, finance and service of recreational vehicles.

FreedomRoads is America's largest RV retailer. It currently employs over 1500 associates and owns and operates 44 locations in 18 states including; Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington.

FreedomRoads stocks over 250 million dollars of new and used recreational vehicle inventory and retails over 28,000 units annually. For additional information, please visit http://www.FreedomRoads.com, where more than 6,000 recreational vehicles are available for sale.