Posted by Andy Lewis on Mon, Jan 30, 2012 @ 01:40 PM
Birmingham, AL, January 23, 2012—Altec Industries, Inc., announced today the company’s strategic partnership with Compact Power Equipment Centers (CPEC) to offer Altec chippers in Home Depot Tool Rental stores across the nation and in Canada. Since 2008, CPEC has provided customers with towable rental equipment for a variety of projects, which now includes Altec’s DC610 chipper.
“This partnership with CPEC represents a significant milestone as we continue to expand our environmental product offerings,” said Tony Gann, Regional Vice President of Altec Industries. “Our new DC610 chipper creates a great opportunity for our products to be used by a new segment of customers.”
“The DC610 is a valued addition to our product mix at The Home Depot. Safety and productivity are engineered into every aspect of the machine,” said Andy Lewis, Director of Marketing for Compact Power Equipment Centers. “The ease of serviceability enables rental readiness by alleviating downtime.”
A user-friendly design and state-of-the-art safety features make the DC610 ideal for operators looking to tackle tough projects. The 6” x 10” in-feed chipper incorporates electronic controls with diagnostics capabilities, the Altec “Panic Bar” system, which provides operators a dedicated stop mechanism for the feed system independent of the feed control bar, and multiple innovative features.
• The Feedsense® control system prevents stalling.
• Road tires accommodate steady towing, but soft on turf.
• Ground stability, easy storage and transport.
• “Hedgehog” feed roller with an aggressive grip and secure feeding system gets the job done easily.
• Powered by Honda gas engine.
Altec’s DC610 will be available in approximately 50 locations of The Home Depot in the U.S. and Canada, with a 2012 expansion goal of more than 50 additional locations. A full list of Compact Power Equipment Centers with Altec rental equipment is available online at CompactPowerCenter.com/Locations.
“We are excited to be partnering with Altec to provide our customers with high quality chippers,” said Jon Richardson, Corporate Fleet Director for Compact Power Equipment Centers. “The Altec name is highly regarded among contractors in the tree care industry, and the design features of the DC610 are appealing. We’ve begun deploying the new units, with high expectations for high utilization and future growth.”
Altec is a leading equipment and service provider for the electric utility, telecommunications, contractor, and tree care markets. The company provides products and services in more than 100 countries throughout the world.
Compact Power Equipment Centers rent and maintain equipment, including mini-skid loaders, aerial equipment, loaders, mini excavators, trenchers, aerators, chipper shredders and stump grinders to Home Depot locations throughout the United States and Canada.
Posted by Andy Lewis on Thu, Dec 29, 2011 @ 08:49 AM
A landscaping play: CPEC's Roger Braswell explains the Home Depot rental contract.
Written by Murray Pollok - 04 Jan 2010
Roger Braswell, president of Compact Power Equipment Centers (CPEC).
When Compact Power Inc (CPI) won the deal to run rental stores outside Home Depot stores earlier this year it must have been a great moment for Roger Braswell.
As chief executive of CPI and now the chief executive officer of Compact Power Equipment Centers (CPEC) - the newly created business that will run the Home Depot rental locations - he has been selling the concept of compact utility loaders in the US ever since he saw an Australian Dingo loader at a US trade show in 1995.
"The Home Depot agreement gives me the opportunity to introduce that technology to a wide variety of end users", he tells IRN, "Now we have the opportunity to do that in a rental environment where there is traffic. It's exciting - it's the culmination of 14 years of effort."
That opportunity is the contract to run rental stores at 115 Home Depots in six US states (Now 280+ stores - added by Andy Lewis, Director of Marketing) - Texas, Oklahoma, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida - and the possibility of increasing that to as many as 250 in a second phase.
Under the agreement, CPEC has acquired the existing outside store rental fleets operated by Home Depot at the 115 stores - around 700 units in all - to be supplemented by 500 new machines supplied by CPEC, including many of the compact loaders and other equipment produced by Boxer Equipment, sister company to CPI.
These ‘parking lot' rental operations will be separate from the in-store rental operations for smaller tools and equipment already run at around 1300 Home Depot locations. The external fleets - all designed to be towed away by the customer in a small trailer - will be owned, maintained and repaired by CPEC. Most of the staff at these CPEC locations will be Home Depot employees, although with back up from CPEC staff.
"The separation is invisible for the Home Depot customer", says Mr Braswell, "They could rent a sod cutter and a loader on the same ticket. They are still renting from Home Depot."
Progress in establishing the business is rapid; "We've now completed Stage 1, which was acquiring the Home Depot equipment. We're well on our way to redeploying and repairing that equipment, and by the end of the year we will have delivered the new machines."
Mr Braswell will not go into details about how much CPEC is investing in the venture, although he acknowledges that raising the funds - the majority coming from three US private equity firms, St Cloud Capital, Main Street Capital and Banyan Mezzanine Fund - was one of the main challenges, given the current business environment.
The progress being made comes after a long period of cooperation between Mr Braswell, Compact Power and Home Dept. Mr Braswell has been a supplier to the retail chain since 2001 (see box story) - developing trailer, compact machine and attachment combinations that fit with its customer base. This culminated in CPI suggesting the rental operation in October 2007, with the first pilot stores opened in April 2008 and seven eventually in operation (four in the Charlotte area and three in greater Atlanta).
Mr Braswell says these pilot stores quickly showed good returns; "We learned that we could build a business over time by taking care of the small contractors and DIYers. Provide information, advice, and a slightly broader selection of equipment [than the existing fleets]: there was a tremendous increase in revenues." In fact, he says revenues more than tripled, with larger fleets and new signage also playing a part.
Home Depot has been very successful in renting smaller equipment inside its stores, says Mr Braswell, "but managing their towable equipment has been difficult and getting the fleet mix right has been challenging. But they were adamant that they wanted to provide customers with the one-stop shop of materials, small tools and larger tools."
Compact Power was running these trials at the same time that Caterpillar was piloting rental stores as Home Depot locations. Mr Braswell is not triumphant about winning the contract. He says the two rental models were simply different and that "Home Depot chose our model." The Cat Rental Stores were being run on a more autonomous basis and also had slightly larger equipment.
The strategy for Compact Power's Home Depot stores is to target landscaping jobs with small contractors and homeowners. "It's a landscaping play", says Mr Braswell. The fleet will be a mix of skid steers, backhoes, mini skids, trenchers and larger stump grinders.
"We're also looking at a fairly broad list of other items that might work", although he is unwilling to provide details, with any additions subject to agreement with Home Depot. "It will be machines that small contractors and homeowners would use to improve the landscaping in their yard. That's the driver here", he says, "What you would use to improve a property, whether it's tilling, trenching, fencing or tree-planting."
In addition to investing in the new equipment, Compact Power is also redeploying some employees from its sister companies and has engaged around 50 additional staff. The rental business will also be able to call upon the services of the maintenance business Compact Power Services (CPS), previously a subsidiary of CPI but now managed by CPEC. CPS has 190 mobile technicians operating in 46 US states; "We have quite a footprint to start this with", he says.
Mr Braswell is unwilling to say what kind of rental revenues he is expecting from the first year of operation (Home Depot will take in the revenues and pay CPEC an unspecified "compensation"). However, he clearly sees an opportunity for the operation to expand further: there are around 2200 Home Depot stores in total and 1300 of these have some kind of tool rental operation, although of these approximately 900 are able to have an outside rental operations (for reasons of space or local restrictions).
Home Depot has said publically that it could envisage 250 stores in another year's time, and Mr Braswell is confident of the growth potential; "If we are successful, we'll look to grow it. We expect to be successful."
The launch of the new rental venture comes at a difficult time for the US economy, and more specifically for the construction and rental market. Does that concern him? "I am confident - that's a strong word, but here's why: one, our business in this area is less dependent on new construction than it is on re-modeling and landscaping. Most rentals will be for existing properties. Where we are, with Home Depot, has not been affected nearly as badly as the guys depending on new construction.
"Second, I've been in the landscaping business since 1968, and I've see people more and more focused on improving their environment, the aesthetics of their environment. It's a trend I don't see ending."
Ultimately, though, it is the link to a brand as powerful as Home Depot that is the big attraction. "We've tried a number of marketing methods - TV, newspapers, direct mail, internet, sales calls", says Mr Braswell, "But at the end of the day, we haven't found anything more efficient than having a good offer at the store...there's nothing better than being there."
He also thinks that CPEC and Home Depot will not hurt existing rental chains; "The business is not taken away from other rental companies. We're taking it away from the shovel. They come in to buy material and see there is a better way of doing it; we're creating a rental business that isn't there." That may be true in relation to the RSCs and United Rentals of the world, but the local ‘mom and pop' rental stores may well see things differently.
From his perspective, will it be difficult to switch from being a manufacturer and distributor of equipment to running a rental business? It doesn't sound like it; "We've been partners with Home Depot since 2001, so this gives us the opportunity to put into practice our ideas and what we've learned over the last 8 years, for both Compact Power and Home Depot.
"It's a different structure, but it's not a new thing", he concludes "For all of our people, it has been a very natural extension of what we've been doing for eight years."
BOX STORY
Compact history
Roger Braswell was a landscaping contractor in the states of North and South Carolina when he spotted potential in an Australian made Dingo loader he saw at a trade show.
He started selling the Dingo in the US and then partnered with Toro in 1997, who still sell the Dingo range of compact utility loaders. Mr Braswell helped Toro establish itself in the Dingo market and then in 2000 formed PowerHouse Equipment, a Toro dealer.
PowerHouse starting selling compact loaders and other equipment to Home Depot in 2001. Mr Braswell then founded Compact Power Inc (CPI) and acquired the manufacturing rights to the Australian-made Kanga loaders - a competitor to the Dingo.
CPI's well known Boxer brand arrived in 2004 when CPI acquired Mertz Manufacturing, owner of Boxer. CPI no longer distributes the Kanga machines in the US, although it does repair and maintain a "significant number" of Kanga machines in the existing Home Depot rental fleet (some of which have just been acquired as part of the Home Depot deal).
CPI, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, now sells loaders under the Compact Power and Boxer brands, as well as a range of attachments and transport trailers.
Posted by Andy Lewis on Thu, Dec 29, 2011 @ 08:24 AM
Rental Management:
Why do you feel now is the time to expand your rental business?
Roger Braswell:
After a test in 2008, we launched in the fourth quarter of 2009 with 112 stores. We expanded to 170 stores in 2010 and now have 280 locations with The Home Depot. Our business has performed well despite the flat economy. Now, we want to expand and The Home Depot would like us to continue to expand.
Rental Management:
Do you foresee having Compact Power Equipment Centers available in every Home Depot store?
Braswell:
The Home Depot has been extremely supportive of the company and its expansion. Our relationship dates back to 2001, when we began to sell them equipment for their towable fleet. They have been supportive at every turn and we completed a long-term agreement after the test. We would like to be represented in every Home Depot tool rental center that can support a towable rental fleet. They have more than 1,200 locations in the United States and Canada.
Rental Management:
Are you also considering the idea of setting up stand-alone equipment rental centers outside of Home Depot?
Braswell:
Our focus is on our partnership with The Home Depot. They have the best locations from a real estate viewpoint. They have a customer base that needs the fleet we provide. We provide a solution for them that allows their customers to buy materials, rent small tools and large towable equipment at one location. It’s an ideal partnership.
Rental Management:
How does Compact Power Services fit in with this? Will you be expanding this part of the company, too?
Braswell:
We launched Compact Power Services in January 2007 and it has grown steadily with compound annual growth rates in the double digits. This is our largest business and we expect to continue to see it grow. We have employees in 49 states. We work for almost all of the major big box retailers as a national mobile service. We are in every Best Buy and in 800 Home Depot stores. We service the equipment inside of the stores, like paint shakers, carpet carousels and man lifts. We work on the mobility carts in Walmart. We maintain the Levelor blind cutting machines in Lowe’s. Compact Power Equipment Centers is our rental business and CPECdirect.com is an online direct sales business that allows us to move off fleet as needed.
Rental Management:
Will the inventory mix of Compact Power Equipment Centers change?
Braswell:
We continue to diversify and expand the fleet. The core of the inventory is pretty much what it was two years ago. Trenchers and mini skid-steers are our lead products. We follow that with compact track loaders, mini excavators and tractor loader backhoes. Most of our inventory is light construction, ground-engaging equipment. Chippers also are part of our fleet, but they are chippers built into or on a trailer.
Rental Management:
Who do you consider to be target customers for Compact Power Equipment Centers?
Braswell:
The small contractor and the DIY homeowner. We also think that with the type of equipment we have — mini skid-steers and excavators — people see what they can do with equipment versus a shovel. The customers we get are often new to equipment rental.
Posted by Andy Lewis on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 @ 07:04 AM
Kubota Enters Consumer Rental Market,Partners With Compact Power Equipment Centers
Select Kubota Models Now Available for Rent at The Home Depot
TORRANCE, Calif., Dec 12, 2011 -- Kubota Tractor Corporation announced today a strategic partnership with Compact Power Equipment Centers (CPEC) allowing it to offer select construction equipment for rent within various locations of The Home Depot Tool Rental. Since 2008, CPEC has provided customers with towable rental equipment for a variety of projects, which now includes Kubota's K008-3 excavator and BX25 Tractor/loader-backhoe (TLB).
The K008-3 and BX25 TLB are currently available in approximately 100 Home Depot locations nationwide including The Home Depot flagship store in Georgia, as well as stores in Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, Florida and Mississippi. CPEC hopes to place Kubota equipment in each of its 280 current locations, with a 2012 expansion goal of more than 400 additional locations. A full list of Compact Power Equipment Centers carrying Kubota rental equipment is available online at www.CompactPowerCenter.com/Locations .
"Our partnership with CPEC makes Kubota available to an entirely new customer base of rental users," said Tim Bauer, Kubota National Accounts Manager. "During these uncertain economic times, the rental option serves customers who are hesitant to invest in equipment ownership, conserving their cash flow and lines of credit.
This partnership will expose many new consumers to the quality, durability and versatility of Kubota equipment. People who have rented Kubota products are visiting their local dealers to see more of our products, and in some cases, purchasing products for their own permanent use."
Kubota continues to penetrate all levels of the rental market, working with large players in the industry, regional rental companies and expanding rental departments within Kubota dealerships nationwide. The company's high-quality reputation and new focus on the rental customer is right in line with CPEC's standards and goals.
"With people choosing to stay in their homes longer, we're seeing a large portion of rentals going towards property improvement projects," said Andy Lewis, Director of Marketing for CPEC. "Our partnership with Kubota takes us to a new level. At CPEC, we pride ourselves on providing top tier equipment and Kubota's reputation lends further credibility to our dedication to quality. Kubota's K008-3 excavator and BX25 TLB's ease of operation and functionality make them high-demand rental items. And, just as importantly, their durability and ease of service ensure rental readiness. Having the equipment serviced and operational at all times is a key requirement of The Home Depot."
SOURCE: Kubota Tractor Corporation
Kubota Tractor Corporation, Torrance, Calif., is the U.S. marketer and distributor of Kubota-engineered and manufactured equipment, including a complete line of tractors up to 118 PTO hp, performance-matched implements, compact and utility-class construction equipment, consumer lawn and garden equipment, commercial turf products and utility vehicles. For product literature or dealer locations, contact Kubota Tractor Corporation at 3401 Del Amo Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503, (888) 4-KUBOTA [(888) 458-2682], Ext. 900, or visit www.kubota.com .
Posted by Andy Lewis on Thu, Oct 27, 2011 @ 02:44 PM
TEREX® CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE THROUGH COMPACT POWER EQUIPMENT CENTERS
Southaven, Miss. – (October 27, 2011) – Terex® PT-30 and PT-50 compact track loaders, TSR50 skid steer loaders and TC16 compact excavators are available for rent at Compact Equipment Power Equipment Centers (CPEC) located in 280 select locations of The Home Depot Tool Rental. Compact Power Equipment Centers have partnered with The Home Depot, the leading source for home improvement products, to provide commercial contractors with towable rental equipment for many projects.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Terex,” says John Poag, director, Rental, Government and Remarketing, Terex Construction. “We are pleased to have the Terex brand presented to customers alongside such well-known, reputable brands asCompactPowerEquipmentCentersand The Home Depot.”
According to Poag, when the partnership between Home Depot andCompactPowerEquipmentCenterswas formed earlier this year, Terex placed equipment in 170 Home Depot locations. Top performing locations include The Home Depot flagship store inAtlanta,Ga., as well as stores inNashville,Tenn.;Rock Hill,S.C.;Greenville,S.C.;Fort Worth,TX;Tampa,Fla.;Dallas,TX;Memphis,Tenn.; and Olive Branch.Miss.Both theMemphisand Olive Branch stores are just 30 miles from the Terex Construction operations office inSouthaven, Miss.
According to Jon Richardson, director of corporate fleet, Compact Power, working with Terex is critical to best serving commercial contractors. “For contractors who are trying to keep their overhead low or need some extra equipment for a big job, our goal is to provide solutions for all of their equipment needs,” saysRichardson. “This means having the right equipment, like Terex compact track loaders, skid steers and compact excavators, available when and where contractors need it.
“Whether a contractor is looking for a long-term rental contract or simply requires equipment for a few hours,” continuesRichardson, “our centers are dedicated to providing these customers with excellent service, helpful advice and versatile, affordable equipment solutions for every rental need.”
Tony Rust, director, Terex Financial Services – Construction, adds, “Compact Power Equipment Centers provide cost-saving solutions that help contractors focus on bottom-line profitability, while providing quality equipment that customers need to get their projects done. This relationship is yet another way for Terex to best serve contractors’ equipment needs.”
Compact Power CEO Roger Braswell says, “Compact Power Equipment Centers, stocked with Terex compact construction equipment, are the go-to source for our customers’ rental needs. Our goal is to open an additional 300 Compact Power Equipment Centers in the future — our strategic relationship with Terex is very important in achieving this.”
Poag finishes, “We look forward to growing this relationship with Compact Power Equipment Centers, and serving more commercial contractors, as it expands into additional The Home Depot Tool Rental locations in the future.”
To find a CompactPowerEquipmentCenterwith Terex equipment, visit: Compact Power Equipment Centers
About Terex
Terex Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer operating in four business segments: Terex Aerial Work Platforms, Terex Construction, Terex Cranes and Terex Materials Processing. Terex manufactures a broad range of equipment for use in various industries, including the construction, infrastructure, quarrying, mining, shipping, transportation, energy, refining, and utility industries. Terex offers financial products and services to assist in the acquisition of Terex equipment through Terex Financial Services. More information on Terex can be found at www.terex.com.