In 1961, Edgar Alleman and his friend, Leon Chastanet, saw a need and opened Lafayette Rental Service in Lafayette, La. Since 1982 the operation has been under the leadership of Edgar’s son, Byron, and longtime employee Tim Brasseaux. Since the beginning, the business has had one primary focus: meeting the needs of their primarily small contractor and homeowner customers.
“We have always operated from our values of honesty, integrity and hard work. We are here to offer quality equipment, competitive prices and superior service,” says Byron, who has served on the ARA of Louisiana board since 2005, currently in the dual roles of secretary and treasurer.
Byron has never regretted joining the family rental operation, but he admits it wasn’t always on his radar as a career option. “I had been around the business since I was 5 years old, but I went to school at UL Lafayette, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering. I worked in my field for a while and was involved in one of my dad’s side businesses, a KOA Campground of Lafayette, which he started in 1967. At the campground, I was involved in the construction of the buildings and growing of the campground,” he says.
But the call of rental lured him back in 1982, when his father and Chastanet were planning to retire. “There was real appeal of coming back to the family business. Tim had already been working for my dad and Leon for many years, so they invited Tim and I to co-manage the business so they could step back,” Byron says.
It has been a successful partnership. They have overseen many expansions of their current location. “Dad and Leon were in a small location for five years. Then they moved to our present location. Since moving here, we have expanded about five times — buying property and adding to the buildings,” Byron says.
Their facility is now about 18,000 sq. ft. “Our rental business is one huge building that includes our warehouse and 2.5 acres of yard space. We now take up about three-quarters of a block. We even purchased two little rental houses right next to our property, both with very large yards. I grew up in one of the houses and my grandpa grew up in the other one. Both have been sold two or three times over the years. When they came back on the market, I bought them because they bordered our property. We took the back half of each yard so we could expand our lots for our equipment. We rent out the houses, which still have nice yards,” he says.
A unique feature of their operation is a drive-thru warehouse. “I think my dad and I put our heads together for one of our expansions, which took place about two years after I came back. We wanted a flow-thru
situation where people could pull in, get their equipment loaded, go out the other side and keep on going. It has worked well. People drive in — as all our small tools that we need to store under a roof and in a nice environment are up front with our party-related equipment, such as our tables, chairs and tents, toward the back. I think the drive-thru is about 100 ft. long from one end to the other. It works out well. What has helped us is about 10 years ago the city of Lafayette fixed it up, so when someone comes out of our warehouse, they are on a side street and there is a light and full access to the main highway we are on. Customers can get out safely. It is a really nice setup,” Byron says.
While being in business all these years, Byron and Brasseaux have had to cope with many challenges. One that the business has dealt with since opening is the ups and downs of the oil and gas industry, which is such a dominant business entity in the state.
“The oil and gas business goes up and down like a yo-yo,” Byron says. “That has always impacted our business. We have had years when we felt like we were on fire and have been able to get our finances straight. Then the industry takes a dive. Even if our customers are not directly impacted by the oil and gas industry, they are indirectly impacted. That is why my father and Leon started successful side businesses besides having our rental business. Luckily, those ups and downs have leveled off a lot over the past 10 years as the city of Lafayette has diversified, but the oil and gas industry still impacts us.”
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been another challenge that began with panic. “In March 2020, we were scared as March, April and May are our big months for the party side — graduations and those types of events. Our party side went from wide open to zero. For months, we had no party business whatsoever. The tool business was less too,” Byron says.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) helped carry them through. “About June of that year, people were home, many with government checks, so the weekend home fix-up projects picked up and our tool rental flourished like I hadn’t seen in a long time. Then we had multiple hurricanes — near-misses on both sides of Lafayette. One hit us, but not hard. It took the rest of our tools to pick up all the damaged properties nearby us. We couldn’t keep equipment in our store. All the rest of 2020 and 2021, it was chaos to get a piece of equipment in, serviced and back out. Our business was booming. I used that time to get our finances back in good order. We put money back in the business. We bought some new equipment. We got healthy. We are very healthy today because of the good fortune that we had during the last year and a half,” Byron says.
Over the years, the business has successfully developed a niche market: small-scale contractors. “Contractors with two or three trucks and four or five employees, such as electricians, plumbers, yard maintenance operators and tree specialists, have become our niche. Their projects are diversified, and they can use us to maximize their equipment needs. We do well with larger contractors and homeowners, too, but that size of contractor is our staple customer,” he says.
That niche has helped dictate its construction and general tool equipment mix. “We don’t carry any equipment that is more than 8,500 lbs., so our largest equipment includes mid-size excavators and tractors. Our smallest covers everything from pressure washers to chain saws and pumps,” Byron says.
One challenge they haven’t had to face to a great extent is the labor shortage. “We have 14 employees. We have had five or six employees who have retired from our business. I think that is a pretty strong statement for such a small company. Now we have a new batch of employees. We try to coach our employees. They learn from Tim and me and we learn from them,” Byron says.
They also are grateful to have had the American Rental Association (ARA) and ARA Insurance to assist them over the years.
“In 1964, my dad went to an ARA convention in New Orleans,” Byron says. “That helped him go from a little bitty operation to one that could grow because it was connected with vendors, other rental operators and such. My first show was in Miami in 1982. Since then someone from our operation has been going to the show very regularly. When the show is in New Orleans, we take everyone who works for us. Before I got involved with the ARA of Louisiana, I was part of the Gulf States Rental Association — Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. When the ARA of Louisiana formed, I was on the ground floor. Participating has helped me develop a lot of friends in the industry. We share war stories, help each other with solving common problems and take part in training,” he says.
Even after all these years, the most satisfying part of owning a rental business continues to be “helping customers get their projects done,” Byron says. “We analyze what tool is needed to get the right tools on the job and then we can see the results of that labor. Our goal always has been to key in on service and loyalty to our customers who are loyal to us. We stay courteous, outgoing and friendly. We have been blessed with great customers, employees and other rental store owners and vendors. They, along with ARA, have put us where we are today. I just have to say thank you.”