Back in 1953, Roman Booms started Booms Construction in Bad Axe, Mich., located in the thumb region of the state’s lower peninsula. It seemed like a natural transition to expand into rental, so in 1982 the rental division was begun with the ownership moving to Daniel Booms, son of Roman, Dan’s brother and Dan’s nephew when they bought out the rest of the family in 1984.
Today, 40 years after the establishment of the rental division, Booms Rent-All and Booms Construction continue to coexist to best serve the needs of customers in the area. Now, Roman’s grandsons, Gary and his brother, Rick, serve as president and vice president, respectively. Their father, Daniel, continues to work at the business every day, weather permitting.
“The rental business was a spinoff of the construction company,” says Gary, who also serves as secretary on the ARA of Michigan board. “Rental seemed like a good idea, but where we are located – with 35,000 people in the entire county and water on three sides of us, allowing us to draw from only about a 20-mile radius on those three sides — a rental company couldn’t survive on its own in the 1980s, 1990s or even early 2000s. The construction company has served as the anchor and driving force. We bought out another rental company, The Rental Mart, when Boom’s Rent-All started. This added to our inventory. While the rental can stand on its own now, throughout the years it always has been hand-in-hand with the construction company. We are still all on the same property. We share an office and a yard. Everything is together.”
Even though Gary grew up in the business, starting in earnest at 14 years old by mowing lawns, sweeping floors and cleaning equipment, he wasn’t sure he wanted to make the business his career.
“I worked here every summer through high school, working on the construction crew, and then did rental on weekends while I was in college. I even worked for another construction company for three summers, so I had someone else besides my dad be my boss. I graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology. Just as I was thinking of sending out resumes and looking at possibly working at one of the big three automakers, my dad asked me to come work at the business full time. That was December 1994,” Gary says. “I was surprised because at the time it was still a tough industry to be in and pay the bills, but he did it out of need. I would have come back at some point, and it was OK with me to come back to the business at that time.”
When he came back, Gary started on the construction side. “I was an estimator and project manager. I would help out with rental as needed because our office was in the same building. When the rental got busy, I
would walk out and help at the rental counter. My time was split — about 75 percent construction and 25 percent rental,” he says.
Over the years, that changed. “Now it is probably 25 percent construction and 75 percent rental. I still wear two hats here, but most of my time is managing the rental division with my brother working primarily in construction. I still work the counter,” Gary says.
As soon as the rental division was established, Booms Rent-All became a member of the American Rental Association (ARA).
“My father joined for the resources and education. When I got back involved in the business full time, I made sure our business was covered by ARA insurance,” he says.
In 2018, he began his volunteer service on the ARA of Michigan board. “I am a big volunteer guy. I am a member of the Lions Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Knights of Columbus. I also am the mayor of the town I live in — Harbor Beach. This is my 12th year as mayor. It is all about service and giving back. I am all about that. I wanted to give back to the rental places in Michigan. Being a member of the ARA of Michigan board, I also am on the front lines. I get information firsthand and am there regarding legislation at the state and federal levels. There is so much to learn from the ARA of Michigan and from ARA national. There is so much education on RentalU. I encourage my guys to go there and check out the offerings there and the entire ARA website. Because I am always looking to learn more and meet new people, ARA is a great resource for our operation,” he says.
Since its inception, the rental company has made a point to cater to all markets. “That is why we are a ‘Rent-All,’” Gary says. “There has always been an Ace Hardware in town, too. Between the two of us, we have what anyone wants to get a job done. As a commercial general contractor, we also have had the specialty tools that the average person wouldn’t have. A lot of contractors come to us. Besides our contractor, do-it-yourself and lawn-and-garden customers, we also cater to the party market. We bought out an area party operation three years ago, which helped expand our party inventory. We have the basic supplies and the bigger tents. We cater to everyone.”
The company has evolved over the years. “In the 1980s, we became a Partner chain saw and Snapper lawnmower distributor. Now we sell Country Clipper lawnmowers. In the mid-1990s we got into mini storage. We built our first set of 10 units in 1995 and now have 132 units on our property. We were a U-Haul dealer for more than 20-plus years and then got into filling propane tanks. We have a propane filling station on our property. In 2017 we became a full-line distributor for Stihl power equipment,” Gary says.
No matter how the company has changed, what has stayed the same is that Booms Rent-All is “the place where people come to have their problems solved, whether for a building project, a mechanical repair or a party,” Gary says.
Helping customers deal with various issues is one of the main reasons he loves the business so much. “I really like helping people solve their problems. Our customers will come in for a piece of equipment for a project and come back and let us know it turned out great. We provide them the equipment, materials and knowledge to get their projects done correctly. That is neat,” he says.
There have been challenges over the years, the most recent being the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The initial shutdowns hit just as our showroom was torn apart for remodeling. We were working out of our cold storage warehouse in the middle of winter with temporary heaters. During this time, I also had an attempted theft. All our cameras were in our showroom and not functioning. It was an interesting time. We had two new counter people, a showroom remodel, an attempted theft and COVID,” Gary says.
Initially, he and his brother cut back on hours. “When we realized that we were an essential service, we stayed open and followed all the safety protocols. We allowed one person in the office at a time and did curbside service. Eventually we went back to full-time hours as our equipment side became very busy with people renting tillers and other equipment to work on their gardens and do home improvement projects,” he says.
While the party side came to a complete stop in the early months of the pandemic, Gary started renting tents in September, October and November for smaller outdoor events. This past year, his party business
“took off. We will see whether that maintains,” he says.
While business is back to normal, Gary, like every other rental operator, has been struggling with supply chain disruptions. “I ordered three new concrete floor saws in October and they just showed up in February. Some things are readily available while other items are out so far. Then you have the price increases. We have enough stock to take care of customers. It has been a learning experience, especially last year. We have a lot more back stock than we used to have and are more proactive with our ordering. I am not selling any of my rental equipment until I can replace it,” he says.
While all of this has put a strain on operations, Gary says he is glad his business can continue serving his valued customers.
“We are like family around here. We are in a small community. We take care of our customers. We don’t tell a person ‘No, we don’t have it’ or ‘I don’t know.’ We say, ‘I don’t know, but I will find out.’ We are the problem-solvers in the community and customer service is No. 1 with us. People call here all the time just for advice. It is who we are. We have that one-big-family kind of culture around here where everyone supports everyone else,” he says.
As the company marks its 40th anniversary, Gary says he and his brother are not content to stay status quo. “We are always looking to grow our company and grow with the times. We want to continue to maintain our equipment, stay up with the trends and change with the times,” he says.