February 14, 2023
Attendees flooded onto the trade show floor of the Orange County Convention Center North/South building, Orlando, at The ARA Show™ 2023, following an exciting Keynote Session presented by Daymond John. Rental store attendees and vendors were excited to be doing business in person on the first day on the floor. Attendees were ready to check out new products and services from more than 700 exhibitors. Tim Clark, Zartman Equipment Rental, Northumberland, Pa., says “we like to come and look to see what the new innovations are. We appreciate being able to get some good deals for our stores.” “We’re here this year just to look for new and innovative items,” says John Benney, PDQ Rentals, Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Exhibitors also were looking forward to connecting with longtime customers and meeting new customers. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive on the first day of the trade show.
“It’s gone very well. We’ve had a lot of good traffic and spoke to a lot of people who are interested. It’s nice to see. The industry is back on track and it’s good to see and talk to all of the people here,” says Rachael Dieffenbaugher, Storage in Motion, Richfield, Ohio.
“We’ve gotten a lot of good leads and we’re showing a new attachment,” says Scott Clevenger, Arrow Material Handling Products, Lenexa, Kan. “The show has been very well attended. A lot of customers — and a lot of new customers — have been coming by. It seems like they really want to get back out and see the products, so it’s nice to be back.” “The show has been good. Everyone has been helpful so far and prices have been better than I thought they were going to be,” Mark Buri, Ed’s Rental, Sicklerville, N.J. “I was expecting them to be a lot higher.” “It’s great to have the show and that things are returning to normal,” says Keith Kitchens, CERP, Tomball Rental Center, Tomball, Texas. “I’ll be happy when the supply chain catches up and we can get stuff more timely. We don’t have anything in particular, equipment-wise, that we are looking for this year, although we are looking for some heavy equipment — skid steers and stuff like that — which is always great to see here at the show. We’re excited to see what’s new.”
