Crown Rental, headquartered in Burnsville, MN, is celebrating nearly 30 years in business. Through its three locations, the store rents both equipment and party goods. All three locations are also Stihl Power Equipment Dealers and the Burnsville location is also a Honda Service Center.
Looking into his crystal ball, company President Doug Haas sees some larger specialty companies being consolidated by larger national chains, a trend that will likely continue since they both compete for the same customer. Haas, however, doesn’t foresee much consolidation in the future for smaller independent companies, those that cater to homeowners and small- to medium-size contractors.
“One thing that prevents this from happening is the national companies are too cumbersome for the independent contractor to do business with,” he noted. “The large rental companies cannot respond quickly enough or carry the smaller rental items that the independent contractor needs. This will keep the independent rental companies viable.”
He continued, “I see the need for web-based rental in the future. We are working on implementing rental kiosks and mobile apps that will reduce reliance on counter personnel and allow 24/7 access to rental equipment for our customers. With the tight employee market and the need for instant access by our customers, especially the younger generation that does everything online, we see this as a way of staying relevant.”
