Camping World as a service network?

[Capt. Mike]

I was recently in the Camping World store in Columbia, MO and one of their employees told me there are plans to open a new store somewhere in the St. Louis area. Typically, when they expand, they buy an existing dealership and convert it to a CW store, but continue to sell RVs - some on consignment, and some new. That brought up a question in my mind...

We have all heard people say "I tried to get service from such-and-such a dealer, but was told that because I didn't purchase my unit there, they wouldn't work on it" and we all know the oft-repeated answer that dealerships are independent businesses and, unlike franchise dealerships in the auto industry, FR can't "force" the dealer to work on each and every unit of the brand they sell.

Given all of that, I wonder 1) are Camping World stores all company-owned facilities or are they franchised?....and 2) if you buy your RV from a CW location, will they do warranty work on it at other CW locations? (I know they'll do other types of "paid" repairs, because that's what they are in business to do.) But are they the first true example of the "auto industry network" model in the RV industry?