All American Group (formerly Coachmen Industries) was an American company whose divisions produced

pre-fabricated housing A prefabricated building, informally a prefab, is a building that is manufactured and constructed using prefabrication. It consists of factory-made components or units that are transported and assembled on-site to form the complete building. Vario ...

, recreational vehicles (RVs) and system-built homes. Based in

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in tu ...

, it was founded in 1964 as Coachmen Industries. It was listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

(NYSE) under the symbol COA until 2009, when it was delisted for failing to maintain continued NYSE listing standards.

History

Coachmen Industries was founded by three brothers: Tom Corson, Keith Corson and Claude Corson. The brothers started the company in a plant in downtown

Middlebury, Indiana Middlebury is a town in Middlebury Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is located approximately 35 miles east of South Bend, 130 miles east of Chicago, Illinois, and 165 miles north of Indianapolis. Middlebury is nestled in Nort ...

producing 12

travel trailer A caravan, travel trailer, camper, tourer or camper trailer is a Trailer (vehicle), trailer towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent (although there are popup camper, fold-down ...

models, 1 truck camper style and 80 truck caps. Since 1964, Coachmen Companies have produced nearly 600,000

recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and ca ...

s of all sizes and types. Following a weakening U.S. economy and rising gas prices, sales within the RV industry dramatically reduced causing financial difficulties for the company. In December 2008, the company sold all of the assets of its RV Group to Forest River, Inc., a unit of

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

. Following the sale of its recreational vehicles business, Coachmen Industries changed its name to All American Group in 2009. In the same year, HIG Capital extended a $20 million 2-year financing arrangement to Coachmen Industries to support their working capital needs. The financing package comprised a convertible debt of $10 million and a revolving credit line of a further $10 million. Another division, All American Specialty Vehicles, a joint venture with ARBOC Mobility, manufactured ADA-accessible buses. All American merged into Arboc in 2011. The company continued to operate in the modular housing business under the ALL AMERICAN HOMES and Mod-U-Kraf brand names. All American was acquired by Innovative Building Systems in 2011. Innovative Building Systems subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and closed American Homes and Mod-U-Kraf.

References

External links

All American Homes websiteMod-U-Kraf website
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1964 Companies based in Elkhart County, Indiana Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana 1964 establishments in Indiana 2008 mergers and acquisitions 2011 mergers and acquisitions Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2016 2016 disestablishments in Indiana {{Manufacturing-company-stub