David Sanders / Arizona Daily Star

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Beaudry RV is negotiating a sale of its Tucson operations to Florida-based Lazydays RV Center Inc., according to a company memo forwarded to the Arizona Daily Star.

The June 30 memo, from Beaudry Motor Co. CEO Thomas Sylvester, says that Beaudry RV entered into a "letter of intent" with Lazydays on June 27 for the purchase of the Tucson business.

Sylvester said the memo is accurate but would not comment further.

The Beaudry RV dealership is at 3200 E. Irvington Road. The next-door Beaudry RV Resort is at 5151 S. Country Club Road.

Lazydays identifies itself as "the largest single site RV dealership in North America." Its combination dealership and RV park — which features a Cracker Barrel and a Hampton Inn among other amenities — is in Seffner, Fla., near Tampa.

Lazydays chief marketing officer Stewart Schaffer also would not comment on the possible sale.

Sylvester's memo said the RV dealers will be working on the agreement for the next 30 to 60 days and indicated that the sale is not certain.

A letter of intent "allows people to negotiate and fine-tune prices, terms and conditions," said Denise Yardy, chairwoman of the Southern Chapter of the Arizona Business Brokers Association Yardy is not involved in the Beaudry deal.

But unlike contracts, letters of intent do not create "a firm legal obligation," and either party could walk away, she said.

RV sales have slumped in recent months, Lazydays' Schaffer said..

Lazydays, which has publicly traded debt, showed a drop of about 10 percent in new vehicle sales revenue in the first three months of the year compared with the same time last year, according to a financial report the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Used-vehicle sales showed a slight dip of 3 percent over that time, according to the report.

But while rising gas prices might seem like an obvious culprit for the falling sales, Schaffer said a tight financing market is having a much bigger impact. RV buyers often use home equity as a down payment for buying an RV. With home loans and RV financing harder to come by, some would-be buyers are unable to make purchases, Schaffer said.

The average price of RVs bought from Lazydays in 2007 was $107,430, according to a financial report. The industry average last year was about $41,000, the report said.

"It is positive news and a tribute to all of you that a fine RV organization like Lazydays is interested in acquiring Beaudry RV despite this difficult economic climate," Sylvester wrote in the memo.