Faires- Charlotte Airstream dealer

Moonshot · 10-21-2003, 09:11 PM

Does anyone remember Faires, the Airstream dealer in Charlotte, NC?

I remember as a kid riding the bus uptown with my mother to go shopping and looking at the shiny Airstreams on the lot at Faires on North Tryon Street.

When I was 18, I got the idea that I could buy an Airstream and live in it. I didn't find one, but did buy a 1963 Casa Manana (House of Tomorrow) and lived in it for a few years.

In 1995, I married at the age of 34 and my wife and I bought our first Airstream from Faires shortly after we married. This was a 1963 Tradewind. B.W. Faires and his brother (forgot his name) showed us everything about the unit. The Faires brothers were mild mannered and caring and we were made to feel extra special. They told us Airstreams were the best and we knew they were right. While in the office discussing the AS we were about to buy, BW got up and started doddering off. "BW, going to the bathroom?", his brother asked. "Yeah..." he answered. My wife and I have good memories from Faires. Faires closed a year or two after we bought our Airstream.

Today, I found where BW died on August 30th of this year at the age of 82. His brothers and sisters have all gone too. I'm a little bummed out about that.

Scott

**wahoonc** · 10-22-2003, 05:06 AM

Scott,
The name lives on...sort of. We just purchased a 75 Sovereign that has the Faires sticker still on it. Glad to know a little history about the orginal selling company. I hadn't taken the time to track it down yet. Other things have take precedence

If I can come up with any additional info I will be glad to share it with you.

Aaron

Inland RV Center, In · 10-22-2003, 08:26 AM

I called on Faires many times in the early 70's to approve estimates they had written for Caravanner Insurance Company.

The Faires?

Characters.........yes!!

But, very nice, polite and honest ones!!

Andy

Moonshot · 10-22-2003, 06:29 PM

Aaron,

My wife tells me B.W.'s brother's named Frank.

I agree Andy, the Faires were characters. A story goes that in the early 1950s they setup a $7,500 mobile home as a publicity gimmick on their lot. The mobile home had it's own built-in swimming pool! This was an unheard of price for a mobile home at the time.

Also, while the film "The Long, Long Trailer" with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz was showing at the Carolina Theatre the Faires towed a New Moon mobile home downtown and parked it on the street for theatregoers to tour through.

B.W. was an avid Airstreamer. He and his wife toured the country with their unit. A story in the Charlotte Observer says they were planning to take their Airstream to Alaska this year.

I did a search on this site for Faires and came up empty. Now, there's a thread on here about Faires, Inc. for anyone who searches one day.

How about some new threads on old Airstream dealerships?

Scott

jaco · 03-15-2004, 08:48 PM

My 74 Excella was originally sold by Faires as well.
Did the dealership close? or was it taken over by new owners?
Is the follower still an Airstream dealer? Same location?
What is the new name if any?

**wahoonc** · 03-16-2004, 04:07 AM

jaco,
We go thru Charlotte quite a bit. Best I can tell Faire's Brothers is gone,

there is nothing listed in the Phone book and the street address is now a Stop-n-Rob corner gas station. The closest AS dealer to Charlotte that I am aware of is Out-of Doors Mart
They are about an hour or so away up in Colafax, NC near Greensboro. BTW they have been an AS dealer since the mid 60's so they are expierenced and have a pretty decent parts supply. Real nice folks to deal with too. What is interesting is that the dealer I bought my AS from is listed in my 1975 Owner's manual as being an authorized AS Dealer. But they gave it up years ago.

Aaron