An entrepreneur new to the rental industry recently acquired A-1 Rentals in Greensboro, N.C., a tool and party rental company based in Greensboro, N.C. The new owner, William Duke, told RER he has re-named the company Rental Works and re-named the party division Partymakers.
A-1 Rentals has been in business since 1955. Duke, the sole investor in the business, told the Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area he plans to invest more than $300,000 to update the company’s computer system, buy new inventory and hire additional employees. Duke plans to do away with the company’s costume rental business and liquidate its inventory, and is already re-painting and re-organizing the business. Duke said he is replacing about two-thirds of the tool and equipment inventory because of age and wear and will add delivery as a new service to attract customers.
Duke told RER he has ordered some new equipment and has some skid-steer loaders, and a 15-foot boomlift on the way, to add to an existing fleet of tractors, mini-excavators and a range of tools. He’d like to add some more aerial units, he added.
Although the current economy is still down in the area, Duke said he is optimistic about the new business. “There’s nowhere to go but up in this climate,” he said. “We’re doing fine. We expected to hit a loss the first few months, but we might turn a profit quicker than expected.”
Duke hired a general manager, Matt Camm, who has experience in the rental industry.
Duke, who recently graduated from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, said he has friends and family with experience in the rental business and had been looking to get involved in the rental business for some time.
Former owner Don Johnson said the business was founded by his father, originally calling it The Tool Box.
