The CEO of Camping World, a national RV dealer with stores in 200-plus locations, is defying yet another city’s threat of legal action over the store’s signature, massive, 40 feet by 80 feet American flag that waves outside the dealership.
Marcus Lemonis is responding to a request from the city of Sevierville, Tennessee, to remove a 100-foot flagpole on its property “in violation of the Municipal Zoning Ordinance,” according to a letter from the city that Lemonis posted to X.
“[T]he flag and flag pole aren’t coming down,” Lemonis wrote on X, along with a copy of the city’s letter. “It’s currently our standard flag pole of 130 and flag is 40×80. We are excited to continue to send all the new tax revenue from the 20 million dollar facility we built in your town on former farmland.”
A giant U.S. flag flies atop a 130-foot-tall flag pole outside RV retailer Camping World’s French Camp, California, location.
It is not the first time Lemonis has defied orders to remove the huge Camping World flags; he has had similar experiences across the country and even takes on daily fines in some areas.
“We dealt with it in Statesville [North Carolina]; Morgan Hill, California; Onalaska, Wisconsin; and now Greenville, North Carolina,” Lemonis told FOX Business’ “The Bottom Line” in late January. “And I think this is a perfect example … of local and city and state municipalities putting regulations on businesses that don’t advance the business. They just create more noise and unnecessary distractions.”
CAMPING WORLD CEO: ‘I’D RATHER GO TO JAIL’ THAN YIELD TO CITY IN AMERICAN FLAG CONTROVERSY
A giant U.S. flag flies atop a 130-foot-tall flag pole outside RV retailer Camping World’s French Camp, California, location after a showdown with local authorities over permitting rules. ( )
Lemonis was born in Lebanon and left on the doorstep of an orphanage, according to the Camping World website. A couple from Miami adopted him when he was 9 years old.
CAMPING WORLD’S MASSIVE US FLAG PRAISED BY FORMER BOXER ON CALIFORNIA BOARD THAT GREENLIT DISPLAY
A giant U.S. flag flies outside RV retailer Camping World’s French Camp, California, location.
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“I do it because I believe in it. I’m an immigrant in this country,” Lemonis told “The Bottom Line.” “This country gave me an opportunity to earn a living and to employ 13,000 people. I just choose to have a big flag because I’ve had one since I was a little kid.”
He argued that the city’s crackdown on his patriotism is one example of how local governments harm business and represents “a small example of why things [get] more expensive.”
