Special Events Magazine released an insightful article last week that is a must-read piece of party rental and event rental predictions for the upcoming year. As part of their annual Special Events "30 Top Rental Companies" list, the top Party Rental companies across North America commented on the state of the industry and how they believe 2014 bodes for the industry as a whole. With the economy improving on a daily basis it seems the industry has seen year-over-year growth in 2013 with a positive yet conservative outlook for 2014 based on the lack of discounting death spirals occurring in the industry.
You can view the article in its entirety by clicking here. (Note – you will have to have a free membership in order to view the entire article)
What’s flying off the shelves?
A1 Party and Event Rental based in Covina, California noted in the article that “the trend is to provide many more options. People are demanding a much larger selection in all categories of inventory.” With the modern culture one of convenience and consumerism, this doesn’t come as a surprise but I often wonder if a Party and Event Rental company can truly survive by being one of many that offer the one-stop shop for party rental items. Wouldn’t it be better to take what you’re good at and target your customer market based on that? Perhaps you excel in tent, table and chair sales – why not become the best tent, table and chair rental company in your local area, state/province or country?
What Do You Believe?
At National Event Supply for example we’ve seen an uptick in the amount of folding tables and Chiavari chair sales. Our stemware has been gaining additional ground but that could just be because we’ve never stocked glass stemware and crystal stemware before. We’re also seeing larger than normal porcelain dinnerware orders leading us to believe the business forecast as predicted by the big rental companies is correct in its assumptions. If we’re selling more, that means our customers are turning around / renting out their inventory more.
What do you think? Are you seeing overall growth in your business or industry? What event rental items are flying off the shelves for you? Do you disagree with anything in this post? Let us know in the comments!