Rental Center: Taking aim
A-1 Rental sets its sights on serving the small equipment rental market and selling firearms in its near-downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa location.
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| A-1 Rental and A2A Firearms in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. |
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| Steve Batcheller, owner in the A2A gun safe that was salvaged from a bank in Iowa City, Iowa. |
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| Today, A-1 Rental's customer is 75 percent homeowners and 25 percent contractors, which is a flip in renters compared with the '90s. |
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| Over the years, Batcheller has bult the rental fleet to $2.5 million, made up mostly of mid-sized equipment that includes stump grinders, excavators, skid steers, trenchers and boom lifts. |
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| This carved sign welcomes A-1 Rental and A2A Firearms customers; Batcheller got it as part of a barter arrangement for equipment rental. |
Successful rental centers find their niche and build on it. For A-1 Rental in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that niche is a combination of a good fleet of smaller equipment and tools…and gun sales.
Steve Batcheller, owner of A-1 Rental and A2A Firearms, says he got into the rental business about a year after getting out of the service in 1995. “It was just by happenstance,” says Batcheller. “I moved back to Cedar Rapids after my military service and started working here in the shop and was also the backup delivery person.”
When the regular delivery person was out on medical leave, Batcheller became the main delivery person. Over about five years, he bounced back and forth between the shop, delivery and the counter. By 1999, he had become the store manager and in 2006, started buying the business on contract. In 2011, he got a bank loan to buy the business and in 2021, he was able to buy the property.
Batcheller’s brothers worked for him in the rental business, and they encouraged him to also get into the firearms business. “They convinced me that it was a good idea to get my Federal Firearms License (FFL) so we could get our guns cheaper. Cedar Rapids requires those with a FFL to have a storefront and this location fit that requirement,” he says. “We came up with a logo that has an excavator and a gun on it. We were set up to rent you an excavator or sell you a firearm.”
Changing customer base
In the ’90s, A-1 Rental’s customer base was 75 percent contractors and 25 percent homeowners; today, the customer base has essentially flipped to 75 percent homeowners and 25 percent contractors. “Our contractor market is typically smaller contractors, the rental customers the national chains aren’t interested in. We’ve found we can do better with the smaller tools and equipment,” he says.
Over the years, Batcheller has bult the rental fleet to $2.5 million, made up mostly of mid-sized equipment that includes stump grinders, excavators, skid steers, trenchers and boom lifts. He also carries scaffolding, tile strippers, concrete breakers, dehumidifiers and fans and some tables and chairs. Enclosed and open trailers are also popular rental items.
Stepping up in disasters
On June 13, 2008, the Cedar River that runs right through downtown crested to its highest level in recorded history at 31.12 feet; the previous record reached only 20 feet, according to City of Cedar Rapids records. The flood waters covered 10 square miles or 14 percent of the city. It impacted 5,390 homes and dislocated more than 18,000 residents and damaged 310 city facilities. “That happened right after I took over the business. Before the flood, we were doing around $680,000 in revenue, but when the flood hit, our revenue jumped to $1.6 million. Our fans and dehumidifiers were very popular items. We were closed for six days and was one of the first businesses to have internet access again. We tried to save everything that we could and we rented everything we could. We also bought a lot of equipment in that time,” he recalls.
Business trended downward as the Great Recession hit in 2009. “We saw revenue drop for about seven years, averaging about $900,000 in revenue annually. Then, in 2020 when the pandemic hit, we experienced a big upturn. Everyone was home and we were an essential business, so we were open and everyone was doing projects around their homes,” Batcheller says.
In August 2020, the are was hit with a derecho -- a line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving storms that moves quickly across a great distance with high winds and cause widespread damage. The city suffered a near-complete blackout, significant property damage and an estimated loss of at least half of the city's tree canopy. Total damages were estimated at more than $11 billion. “It created a lot more business for us. That, combined with the six-month reprieve on my SBA loan for the pandemic, I was able to add to our equipment inventory. With that added inventory, we’ve leveled off the last four years at right about $1.7 million in revenue,” he says.
The rental center is located on 1st Avenue, the main thoroughfare in Cedar Rapids and lies just northeast of downtown. The property was once a lumber yard and sits on on approximately two acres. The original building houses the rental counter and storage for equipment on the front of the building; Batcheller and his wife, Trudi, who also works in the business, live in the upper rear portion of the property.
Stopping theft
Thieves took note of the expanding gun business on the property and A2A Firearms and A-1 Rental experienced a break-in in 2015. “We had a contractor who was demolishing a bank in Iowa City mention he had to remove a bank vault and wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it. I told him I was interested in it if he would help us install it,” he says.
They agreed on a price and the contractor moved the Kevlar wall sections to the facility and then welded them back together. The original bank vault door is wired into the security system, and the 10-x15-foot vault houses the wide variety of guns Batcheller sells. The perimeter windows and doors also have protective bars or gates and the inside of the glass is covered with reflective film that prevents those on the outside from seeing inside.
Outside, the two-bay shop sits across from the rental center; customers drive through the yard by entering the facility off of 1st Avenue and exit onto 2nd Avenue. Shipping containers provide off-season storage for rental equipment.
Rental solutions
In looking back over the evolution of his equipment and tool fleet, Batcheller says most of the items are the same type as the 1990s-era fleet, but he now has more units overall. “We used to have to tell customers calling on about renting a piece of equipment and we had to say, ‘no’. Not anymore,” he says.
Today’s equipment purchases are driven by the numbers as well as his counterperson’s input. “When I worked the counter, it was all by my gut feel. Now I listen to the guys and look at the equipment numbers to make buying decisions,” he says. Most engine-driven equipment stays in the fleet three to five years on average. He uses Point of Rental and QuickBooks software to manage the rental business and to help him make buy-sell decisions.
“If a customer asks to rent a piece of equipment and it is less than $1,000, I will usually buy that tool or piece of equipment,” he says. “A good example is an Airsled appliance mover that allows users to move heavy items on a cushion of air. It can move vending machines and safes. The customer inquiring about it said he’d rather rent one than buy one for a one-time use.”
Another item that Bacheller and his crew has found to be a good purchase is a plastic welder. “We use it to repair boom lift covers and instrument covers, which are always getting damaged,” he adds.
DIY plumbers like the PEX tools A-1 Rental offers. “We had three people in one week ask if we rented PEX tools, so we bought one. It goes against the trend of users buying power tools – especially cordless ones – but it’s a special use type of tool that DIYers might only use for one job,” he says.
Business hours
Batcheller says business hours are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week November through April and in warmer months, A-1 Rental is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. “We found that people would only bring things back on Saturday afternoons. Not much was ever rented, so now they can pick up equipment on Friday and return equipment on Monday morning as still be charged only a one-day rate,” he says.
Batcheller says customers keep coming back because A-1 Rental offers superior customer service. “We try to keep our fleet new and well-maintained. The increased level of electronic sophistication can be a challenge, but we have found that OEM support is a great asset to troubleshoot equipment. That’s especially true with all-electric boom lifts. Haulotte now offers an app that we can hook up to equipment and helps us locate issues. That really is a time-saver when it comes to fixing boom lifts and getting them working again,” he concludes.
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