Story and Photos by Kim Phelan
More than 150 Chicago-area professional contractors, landscapers, and public works teams attended an October 26 Customer Appreciation Open House and Lunch hosted by CE Rentals in Elmhurst, Ill.
Owner Robert Sloan and his team welcomed continuous waves of customers to his newly renovated facility where the company relocated in January 2021, about 10 minutes north of its former site on Rt. 83. Besides a bright showroom stocked with tools, supplies, and consumables for professionals, the new location has a two-bay service shop, modern offices and breakroom, abundant storage, and a deep machine-lined equipment yard large enough for semis and other long trailers to drive through.
Beginning at 11 a.m. and winding down at 3 p.m., the open house treated guests to an all-they-could-eat lunch featuring beer-boiled bratwursts and hotdogs all fresh off the grill, replete with all the fixings. After lunch, customers roamed throughout the store and yard, checking out CE Rentals’ wide array of rental tools and equipment, as well as used equipment for sale.
“Heaven was smiling on us today – instead of all-day downpours, we had one light morning shower and the rest of the day was awesome,” said Sloan. “And after seeing this terrific turnout, we’re going to keep making this bigger and better every year. We have incredible customers, and we love to celebrate them and support them every way we can. In addition to competitive pricing on all our rentals and for-sale equipment, I believe we’re the only rental house in this area that offers free delivery and pick-up on heavy equipment rentals.”
Sloan added more fun to the open house with a generous raffle including a massive DeWalt “Tough Chest” mobile storage box, DeWalt “TOUGH SYSTEM” 27-quart cooler, DeWalt jobsite fans and lights, ASV outdoor chairs, and CE Rentals-branded clothing.
The 33-year-old company, which employs about 10, is an OEM-authorized dealer for ASV compact track loaders as well as Wacker-Neuson. CE Rentals is also the exclusive Illinois distributor of AquaPatch, the one-man pot hole patch solution that cures in 15 minutes and is guaranteed for three years.