Trade Show Display Rentals

Trade show rentals have become increasingly popular for several reasons. One has to do with the state of the ecomony but even before the downturn in the Fall of 2008 rentals were picking up steam. Many companies began switching to rentals 3-4 years ago as they realized the many benefits. Among other things, renting provides the freedom to just show up to the trade show without having to worry about installation, dismantling, and stipping. But that's just the beginning.

For businesses that have just a few key trade shows per season, renting means that they can avoid a major capital expenditure in any given year. It frees up staff. No long does an event coordinator carry the responibility for managing booth storage, shipping to and fro, managing the installation and dismantling and arranging for return shipping. Gone are the worries about whether the booth will arrive to a show in tip top shape. When renting, all of this responsibility shift to the exhibit company providing the property.

Trade Show Display Rentals are getting better. The booth selection and quality has been improving steadily. Convention halls have been offering rentals for years. However, the generic display kit they tend to provide have driven many to independing exhibit houses. The positive here is that these facilities tend to have a more varied, higher quality inventory available. Some companies are even renting double deck exhibits throughout the United States and the rest of the world.

In the year since I originally posted this hub, the rental side of the trade show industry has continued to grow. This year we did our first double deck rental for a show in Las Vegas. It was quite impressive and we ended up with a happy client. What we've seen, as well, is clients coming back who've had shows move from their original venue. In other words, they as asking if we can provide rental services, often for the exact same exhibit design, in other cities. Fortunately this is a capability I've been working on for several years.

The trend towards exhibit rentals has forced major changes upon the exhibit industry. Gone are the days when one's market could be found within a 50 mile radius. Also gone are the days when you could carry a rental inventory meant to be used in only your local city. Now, with requests coming in for shows as far away as Amsterdam a exhibit company must completely change. It's no longer a self contained industry. What I mean by that is that it's no longer for one company to provide the services demanding by the changing environment. No one company can service cities all across the U.S. plus cities in Europe and Asia. It may not have been in the plans five years ago to branch out for a lot of exhibit business owners, but branch out they must in order to keep up. That means developing partnerships.

Indeed, at the last Exhibitor Show in Las Vegas roughly half the exhibitors were companies offering their services in Germany, Spain and other places around the world.

Times are a changing. If you've been considering the pros and cons of renting versus purchasing your rental options are much better than a few years ago.