Rumors

I had an interesting call from a gentleman yesterday. He told me that he had just come back from the Hi-Lo Factory, and that he had met with several people at the factory, including the former owner. Couple of very interesting points.

One, he is looking into the possiblility of raising the capital to re-open Hi-Lo, possibly moving it to chapter 11. He is doing due dilligence at the moment, and calling various Hi-Lo groups, including ours, to gauge the interest in re-opening the company.

Two, he mentioned there had been some other interest from a couple of companies.

These all all just rumors at the moment, so don't get too excited. Pie in the sky sort of thing. But... it is hopeful none the less that there are people looking at the possiblility.

I repeat... these are rumors , so handle with care...

Neal

Be great if it happens. I'll keep my hopes up.

- Jack

The Hi Lo trailer is a fantastic design and should definitely be preserved.

Any idea who was the previous owner ?

I know that HI-LO was sold by the Snyder family in 1977, then sold again in 2003, but I don't know to whom. Did the Snyder family buy it in back 2003 ? Eventhough the official release stated that HI-LO Board Of Directors chose to close, I don't believe it was publicly held, and I heard it was owned by an individual who borrowed heavily last year to get the beautiful 2010 models built in hopes of surviving. Can anyone share any details on who actually owned HI-LO ?

I know around 2003 they purchased the Bellville facility (the Butler facility was pretty rough and dated -- I watched them build my 2002 26' Classic at Butler). I think Bellville was previously a chicken farm ?

Thanks,
Jeff N.

Neal and Bev said:

I had an interesting call from a gentleman yesterday. He told me that he had just come back from the Hi-Lo Factory, and that he had met with several people at the factory, including the former owner. Couple of very interesting points.

One, he is looking into the possiblility of raising the capital to re-open Hi-Lo, possibly moving it to chapter 11. He is doing due dilligence at the moment, and calling various Hi-Lo groups, including ours, to gauge the interest in re-opening the company.

Two, he mentioned there had been some other interest from a couple of companies.

These all all just rumors at the moment, so don't get too excited. Pie in the sky sort of thing. But... it is hopeful none the less that there are people looking at the possiblility.

I repeat... these are rumors , so handle with care...

Neal

Click to expand...

nusslejj said:

Can anyone share any details on who actually owned HI-LO ?

Click to expand...

I had the same questons myself ... would love to find out more along these lines. I did find the following information in an article on the Trailer Life Magazine web site ...

"The company was founded in 1955 as Snyder's Hi-Lo Trailer Co. by the late Don Snyder, who engineered Hi-Lo's basic design because he wanted a popup-like trailer that was safer to tow and had hard sides so that it could be used in the winter. The company later passed to the founder's son, Jim Snyder, who remained active in the company after selling it to New Zealand native Thompson, who came across Hi-Lo while working in marketing in New York City."We did the deal, and Oct. 28, 1977, we bought the company (and) for the next three years I commuted between New York where my family was — literally every week." Thompson ran Hi-Lo for three years before he and Orthwein acquired Airstream Inc. from Beatrice Foods, beginning to build Thor Industries into a national power. Thompson and Orthwein owned Hi-Lo into the middle of this decade, before quietly selling the company in July 2003."

So the question is ... who was the owner since 2003?????

Having owned (4) HI-LO's (looking for #5), and having followed the Company for over 15 years, I would not only like to see the HI-LO Brand recover, but also would consider becoming an investor. In fact, I would bet there are other HI-LO enthusiasts out there that would consider investing under the right conditions. Additionally, having significant Information Technology training and experience in both Manufacturing Systems (GE Lighting), as well as current responsibilities in Systems, Email, and Storage Administration with my current employer, I'd offer my services gratis for the good of the Brand, in order to help get the HI-LO company up and operational again. I live relatively close to the factory, and would be willing to offer help in my area of expertise.

Finally, I'd ask anyone else out there that also feels passionate about the HI-LO Brand and would be willing to consider making a commitment, to respond to this site or directly to Neal and Bev, and ask them to pass information back to their contact for consideration.

Thanks,
Jeff N.

As a retired HiLo dealer and service mgr. for 20 years, I would love to see the brand and qullity of design have a come back. I would be welling to by stock in such a venture, if the new owner were qullified and had the nessary capitol to pull it off.
Sam

I just had some contact with hi-lo ! ! !

Earlier this week I sent a probing email to the parts email address, and just now received a response ! My original email is at the bottom. It turns out that Joel (Hi-Lo Plant Manager) is the one responding to your parts requests and filling orders.

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Hi Jeff;

On the other end is the plant manager, Tom and everyone else is gone. (sad to say) there are several interested parties that would like to buy and keep hilo running however, nothing has happened to this point.
thank you for your concern;
Joel
p.s. if I don't get back w/you right away it is because I am swamped w/emails.
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On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Nussle, Jeffrey J. <NussleJJ@hiram.edu> wrote:
A number of us HI-LO owners ordering parts from you (who also regularly post on two different HI-LO Internet forums) are wondering who is at the other end of the email responding back to us? Can you give us a clue so we don’t go bonkers wondering if it is Tom Stacey or one of the several others we have dealt with over the years at HI-Lo ? Both groups are dying out there wondering what is going on and if anything may be in the works to save the company we all have grown to love.