There are so many reasons to get into the equipment and event rental industry. For Dave Wilcox II and his father, it was the memory of selling a trencher that launched General Rental Center — a “community rental store” — that has been successfully serving the rental needs of the Frankfort, Ky., area for nearly 45 years.
It all started when the business that Wilcox’s father, David, had been working at closed. “My dad worked for an equipment distributor, selling light construction and farm equipment. One item he sold was Davis trenchers. After the business closed, my father and I were kicking around what to do. We explored the fast-food business and then my dad said, ‘How about the rental business?’ I gave him a puzzled look as the only rental business I knew about was U-Haul. I had no idea about equipment rental businesses,” says Wilcox, president of the business.
“Dad said that when he worked for the distributor, he had received a call about a Davis trencher from a rental operator in Tennessee. He took it down and demonstrated it to the owner, who said he would buy it. He was expecting to hear that a check would be mailed at a later date, but the guy sat down and wrote a check for it. My father said that was very unusual. A year later, that same owner called back and said they’d had such good luck with the trencher that he could use another one. Again, Dad went down and was expecting to wait on a check, but the rental owner pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check on the spot. After seeing that, my father said, ‘Something tells me that the rental business might be a pretty good business,’” Wilcox says with a laugh.
Joining his father in this venture seemed like a good fit because Wilcox, who had graduated from college in 1973 with an education degree, could not find a teaching job. “When I got out of school, there was a surplus of teachers. In addition to women going into the field, many men were, too, as they had gone to college to avoid going to Vietnam,” he says.
So, Wilcox, his father and first cousin decided to start a rental business. “When we were originally looking into it, Dad saw a classified ad in the newspaper that said if you wanted to get into the rental business, call this number. My dad called. It was General Rental Center out of Dayton, Ohio. The company was helping people open rental businesses. We decided to pursue that. The company sent down a representative, who gave us a rough idea of a business plan and the criteria to be successful, such as how much rent you should pay, how big a building you would need, etc.,” Wilcox says.
When they couldn’t find an affordable location in Lexington, Ky., where they were living, Wilcox’s cousin found a building in Frankfort that rented for $150 a month, which went up after a year to $175 a month — significantly less than General’s guideline of not paying more than $1,000 a month for rent.
To help them learn the rental business, they went to a training session in Dayton that was offered by General Rental. “We worked a couple of days at a rental operation that had opened up. We shadowed the owner and received a lot of feedback,” Wilcox says.
After that, General Rental had a basic inventory package ready to get them started — “enough diversified inventory to help those in our community with a heavy emphasis on general tool,” Wilcox says. “The largest thing we had at the time that was close to heavy construction was an air compressor, jackhammer and some concrete equipment. The only party item we had was a champagne fountain. We didn’t know what that was. We tried to guess what it was — perhaps a milk separation machine? Customers would come in and ask. We said, ‘Well we haven’t figured that out yet,’” Wilcox says, still amused at the memory.
General Rental also had helped other rental operations open in Kentucky. Those businesses would become “like a little club,” Wilcox says. “We met every 90 days and shared war stories. We were all learning by trial and error.”
While Wilcox worked in the store during the week, his father would come in on the weekends to handle the mechanical work.
All was going well until the winter of 1978, when the Kentucky River had a record flood. “Our facility was across the highway from the river. That December we had 6 ft. of water in our building. That was the first time I had ever experienced a flood. I got there early and saw that the water was getting close to the parking lot. I started calling everyone I knew to help us move everything out of the first floor, either in our Ryder trucks that we would take to higher ground or upstairs. We were out of commission for about a week,” Wilcox says.
By their second year in business, Wilcox and his father had bought their cousin’s share of the operation. Wilcox’s wife, Sandy, started working with him at the store.
The flood wasn’t the only challenge they faced early on. “The economy was pretty bad in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We survived because our overhead wasn’t that big. With our rent at only $175 a month and because we weren’t taking any money out of the company and didn’t have the overhead, we were able to weather the storm,” Wilcox says.
Then, in 1980, Wilcox was working after hours on a septic system at a farmhouse he and his wife had purchased. “I went out one afternoon by myself to get a head start before my dad came. When I was putting some gravel in the ditch, I turned over the skid steer. It went right on top of me. I ended up in the hospital for nine weeks because I broke my back. When I got hurt, my dad had no choice but to come into the business full time. He, my wife and my grandfather came in to help out until I was able to get back on my feet,” Wilcox say, admitting that he was not only lucky to be able to walk after the accident but also to be capable of running a rental operation.
In 1983, he moved the operation to its present location in Frankfort. Over the years, Wilcox has seen many changes. “Technology probably has had the most impact, with the computerization of the business and then the inventory. What was popular in the 1970s, such as automotive equipment, is obsolete today,” he says, adding that “as our inventory became more sophisticated and user-friendly to some degree, the image of the industry also evolved with it.”
Wilcox, who bought his father’s share of the business in 1995, has grown the operation just as his community has, serving primarily small contractors and homeowners with their equipment and event needs. “I refer to my type of store as a community rental store. Eighty-five percent of my business is within my city and county. We primarily serve our immediate demographics. Our growth primarily mirrors our community that we are in,” he says.
What he is most proud of is that “we have survived. This past year, during the worst of the pandemic, we were deemed essential. We had a pretty good year. We had a lot of homeowners who utilized us to do their projects. From a party standpoint, the revenue that we annually generate was offset with the demand we had for the tools. We were a lot luckier than many of our rental friends who were more heavily invested in party,” he says.
From the beginning, the business’s mission has been “to provide the best and up-to-date equipment and service with the goal of complete satisfaction by our customers. We take great pride in achieving that mission and goal,” he says.
In addition to serving his community, “the business has enabled us to have an adequate living and allowed my valued employees and their families to have a living while serving the community. We have been part of our community for so long — nearly 45 years. I am not saying that we have earned the title of institution by any means, but we are now serving the children and grandchildren of our initial customers,” Wilcox says.
It is a legacy he wants to continue. “As long as my health holds up and my employees want to put up with me, I might hang in here for a while. I am not ready to go home and do nothing,” he says.
Involvement in ARA was vital to helping Wilcox learn and grow his business
Ever since gathering with other rental operators who had signed up as General Rental stores in Kentucky, Dave Wilcox II, president, General Rental Center, Frankfort, Ky., has understood the value of networking and leaning on other rental operators.
He learned about the American Rental Association (ARA) from Harold Brown, a manufacturer’s rep whose daughter now serves on the ARA of Kentucky board. Ever since, Wilcox has been a strong advocate of the association.
He was on the ground floor in the establishment of the ARA of Kentucky. “Harold Brown and Mr. Purdon, who owned Purdon Rental in Lexington, organized a dinner. The Region Five director at the time came and talked about ARA. We started the ARA of Kentucky that night. Mr. Purdon was our first president. The year I was vice president, the president was invited to go to Washington, D.C., to a leadership conference. He didn’t want to go and asked me to go. That was the first year I went to a leadership conference and the first Washington, D.C., caucus, which they had at the same time. Then, after the state association had its fourth president, they looked for others to take the role. They asked me and I said yes.”
Since that time, Wilcox has served in every role on the ARA of Kentucky board, even serving as president for a second time. His involvement with the state association prompted his volunteerism at the national level. He served as ARA Region Five director from 1996-1999, was elected ARA president in 2002, served on the ARA Foundation board of trustees in 2003 and then from 2007-2009. For his efforts, he received the ARA Distinguished Service Award in 2005. Since 2015, he has served as an honorary member of the ARA of Kentucky.
Being involved in that way helped him to be a better rental owner and grow his business.
“I have not been exposed to a lot of other industries. I can just go by those who have worked in other industries. One of the things they say about our industry is that it’s dynamic. It was amazing to them how rental owners would network and share information. Some of these people came from other industries. It didn’t seem like that type of networking and sharing of information was that prevalent. The reason I believe it was so dynamic was because the industry had a big rapid growth spurt. A lot of us never worked in the industry — we got into it as we thought it was a good idea. We were somewhat naïve. We were seeking reinforcement from other rental operators. For instance, in my case, in spite of myself, did I do something right? That is what was so important about the networking,” he says.
Wilcox credits ARA in helping expand his event inventory. “My wife and I met a party vendor through ARA. We went to her home in Florida, where she wrote a suggested inventory list for getting into the party business. I, in turn, took it to the bank and was able to expand our party business. With all our inventory, it was customer demand and the networking with other owners that helped me learn what was hot, what was going cold and so forth,” he says.
He also joined a Peer Advisory Group. “Joining and learning from others who are a lot better at the rental game than me has been very helpful,” Wilcox says.
Wilcox credits his staff for allowing him to volunteer the way he has over the years. “I have great staff, many of whom have been with me a long time. I have one employee who has been with me nearly 40 years. He has enabled me to have the liberty to serve on the state and the national levels. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to volunteer as I have been,” he says.