Airstream trailers, known for their sleek and shiny aerodynamic aluminum bodies, have emerged as a camping mainstay. Now they are now making their mark in a totally different market — the rental industry — in part thanks to Elyse Kane, owner of Lux Lounge, Jackson, Wyo.

Like other event rental operations, Marianne’s Rentals, Oklahoma City, experienced a total shutdown during the worst days of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For the first time in her 21-year rental career, Jennifer Rodriguez, CERP, general manager, thought her family event rental operation might not be able to survive, but it did, coming back stronger and learning some hard lessons in the process.

Rental has long been recognized as the environmentally responsible way of getting projects and events done. This is inherent in the very concept of the practice: Rent one item over and over again, thereby reducing the need for several people to own – and one day cast into the garbage heap – multiple pieces of one particular item. This ecologically friendly model is what motivated entrepreneurial sisters Emilie and Stephanie Lalonde to choose rental as the vehicle for their new business, Vision Event Rentals, Gloucester, Ontario, Canada.

What will social distancing-compliant weddings of the near future look like? How can couples, who may be nervous about keeping their guests safe and staying within their locality’s guidelines, rest assured that their wedding celebration can be successfully pulled off in the early phases of post-pandemic? A unique showcase held in Oregon during the week leading up to the Fourth of July endeavored to answer these questions.

A truly niche rental inventory and a willingness to cooperate with competitors for the greater good have propelled CaterRent, Minneapolis, for 35 years and counting.