Pioneer Housing Systems

[Brian Guidry]

My wife and I purchased a Pioneer Housing Systems double wide in 1999. It was built at the Leesville, Louisiana plant. I am fairly certain that their headquarters was in Fitzgerald, Georgia but I may be mistaken.

Anyway...we live in Sulphur, Louisiana which was hit hard by Hurricane Rita on 9-24-05. Our area had sustained winds of 90 mph with a peak gust recorded at 113 mph. I must admit that when we purchased the home we knew it was an entry level home. It seemed at the time to be reasonably sturdy though not anything to write home about if you know what I mean. However, this home withstood these hurricane winds with only minor shingle and vinyl siding damage. Several other homes in our community were pushed off the blocks and some had most of the roof blown off. I was very impressed with the performance of our home.

I was wondering what happened to Pioneer Housing Systems. I cannot find any information about them on the internet anymore. Any info on this company would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian Guidry

[rmurray]

They are gone from the industry...The principle Jackie Williams is now the principle in a company called Circle B Homes based in GA (not FL)..They currently have very large contracts with FEMA to build thousands of homes in your area for Katrina victims...Most of these are being built by other manufacturers..They should make enough money to have a future in manufacturing...They might well be back someday...Glad you are ok...

[Brian Guidry]

Thanks for the info and the kind words. There are quite a few Pioneer homes in this area and all the ones I've seen seemed to fair well during Rita. I saw several older homes completely demolished.

Do you know if their demise was due to slow sales, poor quality, both? I know from experience that their warranty service was great. As a matter of fact the floor pan of our shower cracked after the warranty was up and they still sent someone out to replace it!

Thanks,
Brian

[rmurray]

I am not privy to any of the real details of their demise...There are many fewer plants in GA now than there was in 1999..They probably got caught in the major industry slump many others have....Many dealers did not receive the service was as good as you describe..Making it hard to keep dealers in the hard times...For a short time they were opening their own retail store...This project did not last long...I assume they thought they would increase their own number by selling the home...Very few manufacturers are successful in retail..Other much larger manufacturers have done so and failed...Notably..Champion and Fleetwood..These plants were able to survive the losses until they both have sold out of retail...