Redi Rental

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Taylor Rental – Muskegon was opened in 1968 by Lloyd and Mary Mitchell. The store was one of the earliest franchises in the Midwest granted by Taylor Rental Corporation. The parent firm originally began as a hardware supply, with headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Mitchells successfully operated the business for over ten years at 1250 Getty Street in Muskegon, MI. It was run primarily as a family enterprise with parents and children being the chief work force. Reaching retirement age, Mr. Mitchell and his wife decided to sell the business in 1978. Jim VanderWier, in his position as lead mechanic at East Shore Chemical, was familiar with the Mitchells and their Taylor Rental operation. He expressed his interest in purchasing the business and started to put together a financial package. The final papers were signed January 2, 1979. The store began and continues to operate with family members serving as key personnel. Taylor Rental – Muskegon experienced steady growth as a result of excellent customer service and a continually increasing inventory. In January of 1988 a proprietorship was incorporated to form Rental Investment, Incorporated and property was purchased for an additional store in Grand Haven. The second general rental store opened on April 1, 1988, on the corner of Beechtree and Grant in Grand Haven. In order to meet the increasing demands of party supply rentals, many changes had to occur within the corporation. One of the biggest decisions was to drop the Taylor Rental franchise. The corporation reorganized as three locations to open Special Events – Muskegon, which specialized in party consulting and rentals; Redi Rental – Muskegon, with an emphasis on tools and larger equipment and Redi Rental / Special Events – Grand Haven on January 1, 1991. With the desire to meet the rental needs of the Norton Shores area and due to an internal need for additional space, a building was purchased at 2232 Glade Street, Muskegon Heights. The vision for the Glade Street store was that of a general rental store which could encompass both general tool and party rentals. Special Events was moved to this location, and the Redi Rental store on Glade Street was opened in the fall of 1992. An opportunity appeared in 1994 to open a Grand Rapids store. The Alpine Avenue store opened in May of 1994; however the burden this placed on personnel and equipment outweighed the profitability and this location was closed in the fall of 1995. A continual growth and diversity in party inventory once again necessitated increased storage area. A warehouse was purchased one block from the Glade location in 1998. This building not only stores the large party inventory but also contains commercial size washers and dryers which allow us to clean our large inventory of linens. Because the rental business is seasonal, we saw the need and soon purchased a washer and dryer each the size of a small room to accommodate washing tents. In addition to our tents, we also service other rental stores’ canvas within the tri-state area, including Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. In the fall of 2001, a new division of Redi Rental was opened.

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