GREENWICH, Conn. — United Rentals last month opened general rentals branches in New York City, Fort St. John, B.C., and Shelby Township, Mich.; two aerial rentals branches in West Virginia; and a contractor supplies distribution center in Chino, Calif.
The West Virginia branches, in Fairmont and Huntington, will focus on aerial equipment, forklifts and scaffolding, and will also offer contractor supplies. The branches will target customers in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Jerry Adkins, district manager, high reach, for United, called the market in the region “thriving.” The branches are United's first in West Virginia.
The New York City branch is located near the site of the former World Trade Center. The facility carries a range of small to mid-size equipment for rent, and draws on the company's fleet at nearby locations to fill larger requests. United Rentals has another branch at 39th Street and 12th Avenue, and plans to open a third location in the city's Upper East Side in the next several months.
The British Columbia branch is a 7,800-square-foot facility, and will offer a full range of equipment, including specialized equipment for the natural resources business sector, as well as commercial and industrial construction, renovation and maintenance.
“Fort St. John is a thriving city in British Columbia's northeast region, and home to many of the industries that drive our economy, including oil and gas, agriculture, forestry and manufacturing,” said branch manager Larry Cranston. “We took the requirements of these industries into consideration when building our rental fleet and line of contractor supplies.”
The 17,000-square-foot Michigan facility will serve customers throughout the greater Detroit metropolitan area. It is the company's fifth branch in the area.
“The entire region north of the city of Detroit is seeing tremendous growth in both residential and non-residential construction,” said branch manager Bill Mason. “We are opening our new branch in the heart of that growth.”
The Chino contractor supplies distribution center is the fourth of the nine regional warehouses United is planning in North America. The 44,300-square-foot distribution center stocks 8,000 retail contractor supply lines, including saw blades, power tools and safety gear. “Most customers who place orders before 5 p.m. can expect overnight delivery of their supplies,” said Peter Hofbrauer, director of logistics and distribution for United Rentals.
United has established similar contractor supplies distribution centers in Atlanta, Middletown, Pa., and Aurora, Ill. It expects to stock 10,000 contractor supply items at each facility by the end of the year.
No. 1 on the RER 100, Greenwich, Conn.-based United Rentals has more than 730 rental locations in 48 states, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.
