Las Vegan turns hobby into business with off-road campers

Thousands of Nevadans lost their job during the pandemic, including Las Vegas resident Loren Walker.

Walker, who worked in channel sales with software companies, decided he would spend his extra free time camping. The avid outdoorsman, who grew up near Yosemite National Park, looked into purchasing an off-road camping trailer but realized there were limited options.

“I couldn’t find enough variety, and it’s hard to get access to the big traditional RV shops — either they didn’t carry them or didn’t know very much about them,” Walker said. “I started to recognize that there is a niche for me in the RV and camping world with these off-road trailers.”

So in July 2020, two months after losing his job, he decided to launch his own business — XGrid Campers. The boutique camping trailer dealership near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway has since expanded its offerings, with exclusive agreements for some brands, and there are plans to open a second outpost in Tennessee.

Walker said because his dealership joins a handful of others across the country it has allowed him to expand his customer base, noting that about 80 percent of his customers visit from outside of Nevada.

“We have a large customer base throughout the Southwest, especially California, Arizona, Utah,” Walker said. “But we have customers that have flown across the country that live in Massachusetts or Florida, Virginia, to look at these trailers because we’re the one of the only dealers in the country where they can see so many in the same spot.”

‘Screws and wood’

Walker said XGrid specializes in campers that can be attached to the back of most vehicles — preferably ones with four-wheel drive — and be taken off-road.

Many of the trailers have heavy suspension systems to handle the bumps and turns of unpaved roads and trails and a 360-degree rotating trailer hitch. That allows them to handle the rigors of off-road camping compared with traditional RVs, Walker said.

“If you go down a corrugated road for 20 miles and campers are going thump-thump-thump for hours,” he said. “A traditional RV, they’re held together by screws and wood and things like that, it just starts popping. It just doesn’t handle it.”

Las Vegas resident Marshall Evans bought a trailer from XGrid in 2020 and said its off-road capabilities opened up the possibilities for camping with his wife and son.

“The beauty of the campers … that off-road capability allows us to go to places where there’s no one around,” Evans said. “We really don’t like to feel like we’re back in suburbia, but just at a campground.”

Evans also said because the dealership offers rentals, he was able to make sure he wouldn’t have buyer’s remorse.

Walker said trailer rentals cost $130 to $160 per night, and the retail price of its trailers can cost between $20,000 and $50,000. Pricier models can run a buyer up to $100,000.

When he launched the business, he offered four brands, but now the dealership carries eight with exclusive agreements for half the labels, which includes Xpedition Trailers, Australian Off Road, Track Trailer and Lifestyle Campers.

Track Trailer, based in Melbourne, Australia, is selling its first batch of trailers in the U.S. through XGrid, according to Lloyd Waldron, Track Trailer’s national marketing and distribution manager.

The company has been making trailers for over 40 years and chose XGrid because of its positive customer reviews and for the chance to have its products shown next to competitors in the off-road trailer market, Waldron said.

“To be amongst a broad variety of products like that means a higher level of exposure for us,” he said. “But it also helps showcase the benefits of our product against other products.”

Waldron said the company noticed a large interest from customers in the Southwest, and XGrid’s location to potential customers and nearby national parks made it an easy fit.

“Vegas is great for us and the Southwest because it kind of sits in the epicenter of all the things outdoors,” he said.

Growing interest for XGrid

Walker said new customers are found either because of referrals from trailer manufacturers it partners with or organically, such as customers who are interested in off-road trailers but not sure where to start.

Sandra Labinsky, a retiree in Henderson, learned of XGrid from trailer manufacturer TAXA Outdoors. She spent more than a year researching trailers before deciding to buy the TAXA Cricket, sold by XGrid. The 15-foot long trailer can fit two adults and two children and has a pop-up roof with a two-burner stove and covered sink.

“I’ve never owned my own camper trailer before,” Labinsky said. “I just wanted something that was small, rugged, lightweight and easy to tow and a little bit more comfortable at this point in my life than sleeping on the ground.”

Labinsky said anytime she uses her trailer, strangers often show interest.

“I feel almost like a TAXA ambassador when I go camping because I’ve given several people tours of my trailer because they’re just very interested,” she said.

Walker said demand for off-road campers exploded during the pandemic, but that demand has since “normalized.” But his business is still seeing healthy returns as he plans to open a second XGrid dealership in Knoxville, Tennessee, this year.

Walker said he chose Knoxville because of its proximity to the outdoors and its ability to serve as a closer access point for his East Coast clients.

“(Knoxville) is within a four or five hour radius of some big cities, and so customers can drive in a day, which is important for us because we get the drive-ins from Southern California and Phoenix and Salt Lake (City),” Walker said.

But as XGrid grows, Walker said the most important thing is for the business to maintain its boutique feel.

“It’s really important for me to stay hyper-focused on the customer and experience,” he said. “I want to be their tour guide on this journey to find the right camper. … Even when we expand, I think that’s probably the most important thing.”

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on Twitter.