BRONX, N.Y. — Bronx, N.Y.-based Durante Rentals, in business slightly more than two years, opened its third location, in Queens this month. What makes the move unique is the facility was the headquarters of the original Durante Rentals, owned by John Durante Sr., father of current co-owner John Durante Jr.
Durante Sr. founded the original Durante Rentals with his brother Thomas in 1969, and still owns the building. Thomas' son Anthony is John Jr.'s partner — along with third partner Christopher Jones. John Sr. sold Durante Rentals to United Rentals in 2000, and then nine years later the second generation started Durante Rentals again in a small lot alongside the expressway leading to the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx. The Durantes and Jones founded the business in the midst of a recession, with a firm belief in customer service, a visible roadside location and the benefit of a name already known in the New York equipment rental scene.
“We had a great 2011 as we crushed our projected numbers,” John Durante told RER. “We just ordered two more trucks — putting our fleet at six — and hired our 19th employee.”
The building is 34,000 square feet with a 15,000-square-foot yard. Durante Rentals has a third location in Westchester, N.Y.
To read more about the founding of Durante Rentals in 2009 and the group's history and philosophies, visit rermag.com/trends_analysis/interviews/durante-family-rental-20100901/index.html or check out the Sept. 2010 issue of RER magazine.
