Staff writer
Doug Regnier became a U-Haul dealer last November with one goal in mind: to bring rentable moving equipment available to Marion residents once again.
“The town needs to have a dealership,” the co-owner of Marion Auto Supply said. “When the local hardware store closed, it took away the U-Haul rental place as well. People had to go all the way to McPherson to rent one.”
Gary Wittkopp, the president of U-Haul Company of Kansas, said the company is proud to be partnering with “quality, successful independent businesses, such as Marion Auto Supply” and looks forward to building the partnership in the local area.
While Regnier hopes Marion residents will take advantage of the moving services and equipment available. So far, several people have come into his shop looking for a rental vehicle.
“People are mostly are transporting furniture or other heavy objects,” he said.
“Just the other day, I rented one out to a woman who was moving from the Marion County Lake to the Marion Reservoir. No one has moved out of Marion with the equipment as far as I know. They just need it to move stuff from place to place.”
Regnier said the store currently has three rental trucks available.
“So far, the amount has met our demand,” he said. “If we rent out the three trucks and another customer comes in looking for a rental, they’ll have to look elsewhere. We just don’t have more rentals available right now.”
The store may add more rental truck options in the future, but Regnier said it made good business sense to start small.
“In this economy, you got to know when to say enough is enough,” he said.
While timid about projecting too far down the road, Regnier said he is impressed with the amount of people who have come into the store, looking to rent a U-Haul or to purchase moving supplies.
“We’ve seen a lot of traffic come through the store,” he said. “I’ve had quite a few more people come into the store. Sometimes people come into the store to buy moving supplies or equipment to hitch their trailer to their vehicle. It’s great for business. When people come in, they start looking for one thing — and then they most always find something else that they can’t live without.”
Regnier looks forward to servicing the Marion area — and hopes that everyone will “rent local” when it comes to their moving needs.
“It’s great that we have something like this in town again,” he said. “We will continue to be a dealer as long as it is profitable. We saw a definite need in the area — and hopefully, we are meeting it.”
For more information, or to rent moving equipment, call (620) 382-3174.