Hello! Welcome to our RV, Motorhome and Boat Blog!
This is our place to help provide you with news and information related to RVing, camping, and boating. Bretz RV & Marine will be regularly posting articles that help answer questions and give some insight into using your RV, travel trailer, fifth wheel, or boat. Here at Bretz RV, we love being outdoors, camping, and using our RVs. We have a real desire to share that love and want to do what we can to help you enjoy your camping experience. If you have specific RVing questions that you’d like to see answered, please ask! We will do our best to get you an answer!
Before we launch into specific topics, I’d like to take some time in this first post to introduce you to the Bretz RV and Marine family tradition of dealerships.
A Little History
In 1967 Frank and Vi Bretz opened Bretz Trailer Sales & Rentals. The business was conducted from a leased service station with a focus on renting small travel trailers. This was a new opportunity for local families to have great summer outings at affordable prices. Parts were readily available from the back of a pick-up truck, complete with a canopy. From these meager beginnings, Bretz RV & Marine has blossomed into one of the premiere RV and Boat dealerships in the Northwest and the nation!
The business grew into its first building in 1970 on Kensington Ave, on the south side of Missoula, Montana. It was slightly over 2000 square feet and sat on about 2/3 of an acre of land. The building was designed to hold the largest travel trailer being sold at the time, with a tow vehicle hooked up to it. This dimension was only 40 feet! A size that ultimately would not even hold the largest vehicle we now sell, excluding the tow vehicle. In 1984 an addition of almost 1000 square feet was added to this building for office and retail space.
In 1987, it was time to move again. The Kensington location was sold, and a new property was purchased. The new location on Mullan Road had a much-needed 4 1/2 acres of land and a 10,000 square-foot building. Frank and Vi retired in 1990 and the dealership was turned over to their two sons, Mark and Dave Bretz who had literally grown up in the business. By the early 90s Bretz RV was ready to expand again with an addition of 6,000 square feet to the shop, the purchase of two additional acres, a building remodel, increased customer parking, and an enlarged sales lot.
As the business continued to grow, we found that once again an expansion was necessary. So, in the summer of 1998, we made the decision to purchase the 30 acres of land on Grant Creek Road where our current Missoula facility is located.
We were able to install a dump station, and power and water hookups for customers. Our 26 RV service bays are outfitted with 50, 30, and 20-amp electrical services, water, sewer drains, and other essential RV repair equipment to provide top-notch RV service, and we are proud to have the most RVDA-certified technicians under one roof. Dealers from across the nation and top executives from Fleetwood and Winnebago have toured our facility and given it rave reviews. Our goal and store design are custom-tailored for customer service.
Since 2008 the Bretz RV & Marine family of dealerships has continued to expand.
With locations in Billings, Montana, and Boise, Idaho, the dealership continues to thrive as the largest RV dealer in Montana, Idaho, E. Washington, Wyoming & the Dakotas. With our combined purchasing volume, consumers now have access to the region’s largest selection of new and used travel trailers, camping trailers, fifth wheel trailers, pickup campers motorhomes, and boats.
Consumers can take advantage of exclusive RV insurance programs, 99-cent propane, RV service specials, financing programs, Volume Discount pricing on new RVs and boats, and the ONLY “Certified Pre-Owned” RVs in the state of Montana.
As stated by Bretz RV & Marine’s Owner and CEO, Mark Bretz: “This alliance is exciting because it allows all the dealerships access to a greater selection of inventory and puts us at an advantage in our ability to negotiate the best deals for our customers.”
Well – that’s a little about us. We’re looking forward to sharing RV news, tips, and helpful hints. Is there something that you are wondering about? Let us know, and we’ll do our best to answer your questions!
