RER’s Michael Roth spoke with Stephenson’s Rental Services CEO Willie Swisher regarding the company’s new alliance with TSC stores.

RER: Will the new branches be “departments” within the TSC stores, similar to a rental department within a Home Depot store or a Sunbelt Rentals within Lowe’s?

Swisher: They are a store within a store like Home Depot, and are manned and operated by TSC personnel. Stephenson’s provides only management, maintenance and IT services. However, we have both exterior and interior branding for Stephenson’s as well as co-branded marketing material. Our customer’s profiles are loaded on their system to make rental transactions quick and easy for existing customers. TSC has carved out approximately 4,000 square feet for a rental showroom.

Will inventory be primarily tools as opposed to large equipment?

Yes, the current inventory is geared to a full range of general tools. However we have a rental share arrangement that allows TSC full access to our entire range of products: skid steers, aerial, generators, etc, which can be delivered to their customers using Stephenson’s delivery network.

Will the inventory be owned by Stephenson’s?

Under the pilot project the fleet is owned by Stephenson’s but the permanent arrangement is for the fleet to be acquired and owned by TSC through our network of suppliers.

Will tools and equipment be shipped back to Stephenson’s branches for maintenance and repair?

One of the great values of this alliance is our mutual network of stores that are very complementary with no redundant locations. Stephenson’s currently runs a bi-weekly delivery process refreshing the fleet and performing maintenance as required.