A Tool Shed, celebrating 70 years in business in northern California, recently opened a new branch in Salinas, Calif., on a yard that formerly housed Powers Rentals, founded by the late Paul Powers Jr. A Tool Shed acquired the facility from current owner Paul Powers III and opened its seventh branch on the site April 1, 49 years to the day from when Powers Rentals opened in April 1, 1966.
“It’s great to be back in the Salinas market,” A Tool Shed CEO Robert Pedersen told RER. “We were there from 2002 through 2008 before the downturn in the economy. With the downturn we pulled back. Now things are picking back up so we’re back in that market and expanding. It’s doing better than I expected. We’re still trying to get the word out that we’re there but it’s picking right up.”
Paul Powers III, still involved in the equipment rental business as a partner in Catalyst, a merger-and-acquisition firm, as well as owner of a trailer and RV dealership called Powers RV, still owns the facility and A Tool Shed is leasing it from him. “It’s great to have a rental yard back on the property,” Powers said.
“Paul and I grew up together in the business so it’s great to lease the facility from him and to be on the property where the Powers business was founded,” Pedersen added.
In February 1996, RER visited the same Salinas facility and ran an article on Pedersen and Powers called “The New Leaders,” profiling the two as up-and-coming California rental people.